I agree that the move away from standardized tests is not good for kids without a lot of family support. I came from a basically nowhere town and had good grades but not straight As. No tutors. No paid prep classes but I did get an SAT prep book at Waldenbooks (yes, I’m old) for under $20–so a few nights babysitting money. I got a phenomenal score on the SAT and was able to get into a bunch of really good schools. Would not have happened without the SAT, I am sure.

Khan Academy has free customized test prep available to all kids. That’s what we are using for my teen, even though we are 1%ers (thanks to my great college education!). You just need enough prep to get yourself familiar with the test, to allow your actual skills to show through. I don’t think you get any more advantage from a four figure test prep class than you do from the free program. Unlike the essay or extracurricular stuff, where the effects of parent $$$ are huge. When you find out how many parents are paying for private sports coaches, expensive extracurricular camps and tournaments, etc., it’s shocking. I often feel like a tourist in the lane of the rich and I’m constantly surprised by how they do things here!

The only class my kid was allowed a retake was in AP Physics and often the retake was harder than the initial test.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With all of the opportunities given to students (retakes, no late penalties), are straight As meaningful anymore? I have read when students spend hours on course work and other no time, but both end up with straight As. My DD works hard and uses the retakes whenever possible. A parent I know complains her DS does nothing and is getting mostly As. How is a college supposed to figure out who's the best fit? It seems like a GPA doesn't mean anything anymore. Thoughts?

YMMV, none of my high schooler’s teachers allow retakes and only some penalize late assignments. I wonder if the policies put in place during virtual instruction are no longer available.

I thought they were required to offer a retake for at least one quiz per quarter? Anyone know?

My rising DCC 10th grader only had 2 teachers that allowed 1 retake for quizzes. Two teachers didn’t penalize students for late work but these classes were electives.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With all of the opportunities given to students (retakes, no late penalties), are straight As meaningful anymore? I have read when students spend hours on course work and other no time, but both end up with straight As. My DD works hard and uses the retakes whenever possible. A parent I know complains her DS does nothing and is getting mostly As. How is a college supposed to figure out who's the best fit? It seems like a GPA doesn't mean anything anymore. Thoughts?

YMMV, none of my high schooler’s teachers allow retakes and only some penalize late assignments. I wonder if the policies put in place during virtual instruction are no longer available.

I thought they were required to offer a retake for at least one quiz per quarter? Anyone know?

At our FCPS high school there would be a reception for the The All "A" Honor Roll. Year after year it was typically 3% of the class. So, no Op not in our experience. And it's a HS where almost all are college bound.

Anonymous wrote:With all of the opportunities given to students (retakes, no late penalties), are straight As meaningful anymore? I have read when students spend hours on course work and other no time, but both end up with straight As. My DD works hard and uses the retakes whenever possible. A parent I know complains her DS does nothing and is getting mostly As. How is a college supposed to figure out who's the best fit? It seems like a GPA doesn't mean anything anymore. Thoughts?

YMMV, none of my high schooler’s teachers allow retakes and only some penalize late assignments. I wonder if the policies put in place during virtual instruction are no longer available.

Anonymous wrote:The problem with national standardized test (SAT and ACT) is that so many families PAY to learn how to take the exam and even cheat (program calculator). This isn't fair or transparent.

Do you also have a problem with the essay on the college application? When everyone goes on and on about how the SATs and ACTs aren't fair because so many families PAY to learn how to take the exam, why aren't you also complaining about the college essay?

You know those same families are paying someone to help their kid with the essay too, right?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With all of the opportunities given to students (retakes, no late penalties), are straight As meaningful anymore? I have read when students spend hours on course work and other no time, but both end up with straight As. My DD works hard and uses the retakes whenever possible. A parent I know complains her DS does nothing and is getting mostly As. How is a college supposed to figure out who's the best fit? It seems like a GPA doesn't mean anything anymore. Thoughts?

I don't think they give retakes and late passes for hard classes at our high school. That's what went on in elementary mainly.

It depends on the teacher in high school. Some teachers are strict, some are lenient, and as long as they explain their rules at the beginning of the year, students are fine with it. The problem is when you get the rare teacher who's just bad, and changes the rules at a whim, or never really clarifies the rules and changes their mind every week, depending on the student. It just happened to my junior with one of his AP classes. Pure torture all year. I may send an email to the Principal to remind this teacher they need clear rules.

Anonymous wrote:With all of the opportunities given to students (retakes, no late penalties), are straight As meaningful anymore? I have read when students spend hours on course work and other no time, but both end up with straight As. My DD works hard and uses the retakes whenever possible. A parent I know complains her DS does nothing and is getting mostly As. How is a college supposed to figure out who's the best fit? It seems like a GPA doesn't mean anything anymore. Thoughts?

I don't think they give retakes and late passes for hard classes at our high school. That's what went on in elementary mainly.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem with national standardized test (SAT and ACT) is that so many families PAY to learn how to take the exam and even cheat (program calculator). This isn't fair or transparent.

This is the crap rhetoric that colleges have insidiously used for their own benefit, against the students' best interests. Don't fall for it. A lot of families pay for tutors to get their children's GPA up too! Grades are very much tied to HHI. Nothing in education is independent from family income. Standardized tests are not the big bad wolf here, although I certainly wish they could be free and organized by the Department of Education, instead of being a private product. Other countries have government-organized end-of-high school exams, such as A levels, Baccalaureat, Abitur, etc... The exams are free and mandatory, and are the most transparent way of assessing all students' mastery of subjects. It makes the job of university admissions so much easier when they have such exam scores to compare. Here, our equivalent is SAT/ACT and AP/IB exams.

But currently, please understand colleges are using the "equity" excuse against students.

So you're not happy about it but don't really disagree with anything the PP said just don't feel that it isn't in your personal interests.

Anonymous wrote:The problem with national standardized test (SAT and ACT) is that so many families PAY to learn how to take the exam and even cheat (program calculator). This isn't fair or transparent.

This is the crap rhetoric that colleges have insidiously used for their own benefit, against the students' best interests. Don't fall for it. A lot of families pay for tutors to get their children's GPA up too! Grades are very much tied to HHI. Nothing in education is independent from family income. Standardized tests are not the big bad wolf here, although I certainly wish they could be free and organized by the Department of Education, instead of being a private product. Other countries have government-organized end-of-high school exams, such as A levels, Baccalaureat, Abitur, etc... The exams are free and mandatory, and are the most transparent way of assessing all students' mastery of subjects. It makes the job of university admissions so much easier when they have such exam scores to compare. Here, our equivalent is SAT/ACT and AP/IB exams.

But currently, please understand colleges are using the "equity" excuse against students.

The problem with national standardized test (SAT and ACT) is that so many families PAY to learn how to take the exam and even cheat (program calculator). This isn't fair or transparent.

Anonymous wrote:With all of the opportunities given to students (retakes, no late penalties), are straight As meaningful anymore? I have read when students spend hours on course work and other no time, but both end up with straight As. My DD works hard and uses the retakes whenever possible. A parent I know complains her DS does nothing and is getting mostly As. How is a college supposed to figure out who's the best fit? It seems like a GPA doesn't mean anything anymore. Thoughts?

Are you one of these people who think grades should be on a bell curve? That’s stupid.

Colleges have these things called “applications” that help them choose cohorts.

My son has LDs, low processing speed and has extra time guaranteed on his IEP. He gets As.
My daughter works fast and gives the impression she "does nothing" for her As.

Yet each of them deserve the grades they get.

Also, I am a huge proponent of national standardized test scores, because high school systems in the US have different grading practices and it's difficult for colleges to compare them.

Don't give me the equity crap. It's in colleges' best interest, financial and branding-wise, to have the murkiest possible admissions system, so they can cherry pick students and pretend they're equitable, but really pick the ones who can pay full price and showcase the few who have been given aid. Parents should push for a completely transparent system with very clear criteria. It doesn't matter what the criteria are, as long as colleges apply them with the utmost transparency so everyone knows what to expect. This is what other nations do, and it makes admissions much less stressful.

With all of the opportunities given to students (retakes, no late penalties), are straight As meaningful anymore? I have read when students spend hours on course work and other no time, but both end up with straight As. My DD works hard and uses the retakes whenever possible. A parent I know complains her DS does nothing and is getting mostly As. How is a college supposed to figure out who's the best fit? It seems like a GPA doesn't mean anything anymore. Thoughts?