Reply to All secondary classes will have homework next year(even PE)

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The homework is a small part of the grade and I don’t think that adding homework to all classes is a bad thing. MY kid had homework in 7th grade this year, 90% of the time he could finish it in school. He had friends who were working on it at home. I don’t think this is a huge change for Honors and AAP classes.

What thrills me is that they are starting to course correct the retakes. No more 100% retake options. You have to score below a 90% and can only earn up to a 90%. I would guess that they choose that threshold because the majority of retakes were kids scoring 90-93% and wanting an A. [/quote]

If true that majority of retakes were kids who scored 90-93 and don’t want them to be able to retake, then stop ALL retakes. But if a B+ kid can retake to get an A- and a B kid can retake to get an A- and so on down the line, then an A- kid should be able to retake to improve their grade too. Either allow grade improvement for all or just shut retakes down entirely, which the latter is what assume teachers would prefer.[/quote]

I agree with this. It’s not fair the A kids are punished. If they get an A- they now aren’t allowed to improve their grade. Meanwhile all the other idiots can get up to an A-. Not fair.[/quote]+1. A student can get a 91% and they aren’t allowed to retake, yet another student could get a 68% and do the retake to get a 90%— almost an identical grade to the first student. [/quote]

I would guess that less then 5% of the kids who had a C or D grade that retook a test ended up with a 90% or higher. The kids who normally do well in school and had an off day because they were sick or something upsetting happened are the ones who would retake and score what they normally scored. The kid who regularly scores a 68% and is retaking probably ends up with a 70something grade, maybe a low B. But it doesn't matter because those were not the majority of kids retakign exams. The teachers on this board said that the majority of kids retaking exams were kids with a high B, low A- that wanted to get an A. Dropping the max score to a 90% means that the kids who had been retaking to get the A no longer can and it saves the teachers a ton of work.

I know from talking to my friends with MS and HS kids this year that a number of them commented that their kid would blow off studying for one test to focus on a second test because they knew they could make up the other test. They tended to ignore the class they were stronger in in the hopes of doing well enough to not have to retake but knowing that it would be easier for them to do the work to retake then the harder class. Changing the threshold means that the kids who were full on gaming the system will have to study for both tests and not blow one off because they can retake to an A.

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Kids aren’t “gaming the system” when they are acting within the exact parameters that FCPS gives them. What is gaming the system is not allowing all students to improve and arbitrarily designating a percent above which FCPS says no improvement allowed. Either all allowed or shut it all down and based on teacher input, shut all retakes down. IEP kids that need more time and other assistance for tests can separately be handled according to their plans.[/quote]

It is gaming the system when they choose not to study for a test because they know they can retake it if they don’t like the grade. It creates extra work for the teachers that takes them away from prep, helping kids who need help, and grading all because kids are choosing not to study because they know they can retake the test. I would bring it back to no retakes if a grade is over an 80% and cannot be higher then an 80% recovered. [/quote]

My son is a rising senior in Gen Ed classes, and had multiple assessments every week.  It is a constant grind.  Sometimes, when you have multiple tests on the same day (it happens), you have to prioritize.  These kids weren't trying to "game the system", they were making wise decisions about how best to allocate limited resources (time and energy).  Perhaps if FCPS didn't have so many assessments, kids could study for the ones they have and not need as many make-ups.  On the flip side, I guess, my son didn't do many retakes because by the end of the year no one assignment or test was a make or break in his grade.  He finished the year with all A/A-, despite have some failing assigments/assessments and a zero here or there.

I am fine with curbing the retakes for the B+/A- crowd, but FCPS needs to examine the workload and the constant grading of every single thing the kids do.  It creates a lot of unnecessary anxiety.  [/quote]

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