Reply to HS Teachers, I'm curious-- do this semester's grade distributions look different from prior years?

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Reply to "HS Teachers, I'm curious-- do this semester's grade distributions look different from prior years?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]In the old system, a student could earn a 79.5 (Marking Period 1) and an 89.5 (Marking Period 2) and earn an A for the semester. And they would earn the same grade as someone who earned a 98 and a 95. So yes, there are probably more students earning Bs, but the new system is a MUCH more accurate reflection of students' abilities.[/quote]

explain how you came to this 
mathematically dubious claim[/quote]

DP, but this is absolutely true.  79.5% becomes B for first quarter.  89.5 becomes A for second quarter.  B+A=A in the old MCPS grading (up til this year).  This year, they still do the rounding, but now the (80+90)/2 = 85 which is solid B.

The new system makes total sense.  I don't think anyone will try to argue otherwise though one can quibble with some details (like maybe there should be minuses and plusses).  But it's a really stressful transition for kids.  They've been socialized to think the need straight As to get into a good college (even need close-to-straight-As to get into UMD from W schools) and the new system makes it harder.  In the long run, if this change really does reduce the number of kids getting straight As, the bar will also go down (since kids are evaluated for college with peers in the same school).  But right now, it's a big unknown so really stressful.
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