Reply to MCPS just isn't so great anymore

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Reply to "MCPS just isn't so great anymore - WashPo Opinion 9/6/2013"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote]Agree with you that it's crazy that MCPS rules about test security mean that students never actually get to review their tests and learn from them. At the elementary level, C2.0 has solved this problem by simply ... eliminating the tests. The longer unit tests that have numerical reports on skills mastery (i.e. 3 out of 6 correct in geometry, 5 out of 6 right in computation, etc.) have been eliminated in favor of "ongoing" assessment by the teacher which can mean anything from the teacher walking around the classroom looking to see if he/she thinks the student "gets it" to short 1-2 question exercises on paper. 
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I would also add that in addition to C2.0 eliminating tests . . . MCPS has also (essentially) eliminated for all intents and purposes grading that conveys any information - at least through 5th grade.

Example: my DD reads well above grade level.  She has a deep/rich understanding of texts and meaning.  On standardized testing, she tests well above grade level for reading comprehension.  On her first report card last year, she received a "P" for reading comprehension.  I asked her teacher why "P" and not "ES" considering that both standardized testing and the teacher's own oral assessment conveyed to me (and quite frankly what I know myself because I know my daughter) that she was certainly exceeding the grade-level standard in this area, and was told that "ES" was not handed out simply for being above the grade-level standard.  "ES" (Exceeds Standard) is given out for something "exceptional" (whatever that might be).

In her 3rd report card of the year, DD received an "I" for reading comprehension (the only "I" on the entire report card).  This really made no sense to me, and I asked the teacher about it.  She told me that this was due to my DD not completing graded classwork.   It turns out that there were 2 pieces of graded classwork (as opposed to other classwork that is not graded, merely marked with a check mark rather than an I/P/ES grade).  I had never seen the graded classwork since it didn't come home from school until after the report card came out (this was apparently due to distribution problems with the Friday folder).  Of course, this graded classwork was not called a "test" and I'm sure appeared to my DD just like any other worksheet/classwork that she got on any other day.  But apparently not completing the graded classwork was reason enough to get an "I" in reading comprehension.

So what do DD's grades tell me?  Absolutely nothing.  I know, and her teacher knows, that she reads & comprehends well above grade level.  But this is not at all apparent from the report card (which has no free text option at all for the teacher to provide any comment whatsoever).  What is the grading policy telling DD?  Not much.  If she exceeds the grade-level standard, she gets a P.  If she barely meets the grade-level standard, she gets a P.

About the only thing DD could "learn" from this experience is that any piece of classwork - whether it's called a test or not - might in fact be a test, and therefore if she doesn't complete it she might (or might not) receive an I.

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