Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And MCAP

MCAP doesn’t affect students’ grades in any way. It’s a report card for the school. Not the same at all.

You're clearly not the parent of a secondary student, for which certain MCAP exams factor into the 2nd semester grade

I'm the parent of a sophomore and the only MCAP that has factored into his grade is the biology MISA. Are there others?

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/siteassets/district/curriculum/eoc/mcps_eoc_studentflyerwfaqs-updated2024-06v1.pdf

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And MCAP

MCAP doesn’t affect students’ grades in any way. It’s a report card for the school. Not the same at all.

You're clearly not the parent of a secondary student, for which certain MCAP exams factor into the 2nd semester grade

I'm the parent of a sophomore and the only MCAP that has factored into his grade is the biology MISA. Are there others?

Anonymous wrote:Definitely not coming back.

2 of ours are in college now, after graduating from MCPS, 1 still in an MCPS HS. For the top kids, they know for every exam what they need for their A (can get a 59 on some assessment for example). For the bottom, they don't care. So exam scores weren't good and that was bad optics for MCPS.

Because teachers give a rubric, kids are taught how to game the system - do the minimum to get the maximum

Our college kids (one in private one at an OOS flagship) are doing great, one will to graduate summa cum laude amd the other expects to do the same.

You don't have to be summa cum laude to figure the math. My 2.98 kid at an OOS flagship has done the same.

The middle kids (like mine) would have cared. Mine only took 1 final in MCPS -- a foreign language exam at the end of 6th grade. I was helping her study and she clearly didn't understand what was going to be tested. It would have been nice to have seen a grade (all we got was the grade that was put on the report card).

It was only a few AP courses in HS that acted as a final. Like I said, "middle kids". She wasn't overloaded with APs or IBs, but did take a few. Unfortunately, the Covid APs in 2020 were not a good measure of a final.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Definitely not coming back.

2 of ours are in college now, after graduating from MCPS, 1 still in an MCPS HS. For the top kids, they know for every exam what they need for their A (can get a 59 on some assessment for example). For the bottom, they don't care. So exam scores weren't good and that was bad optics for MCPS.

Because teachers give a rubric, kids are taught how to game the system - do the minimum to get the maximum

Our college kids (one in private one at an OOS flagship) are doing great, one will to graduate summa cum laude amd the other expects to do the same.

[b]That isn’t how rubrics work.

Yes, it is. Kid has a 96.2, has an assessment worth 15% of their grade, they can and do, do the math, and figure out they need xx on the assessment and can skip the rest of the 10% homework assigments and still get an 89.6, which equals an A in MCPS.

Rubric lays it all out for them

Umm those same percentages are laid out in course syllabi in college. Students have been doing the math forever. Heck, I had professors whose finals were optional just because of this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And MCAP

MCAP doesn’t affect students’ grades in any way. It’s a report card for the school. Not the same at all.

You're clearly not the parent of a secondary student, for which certain MCAP exams factor into the 2nd semester grade

Anonymous wrote:And MCAP

MCAP doesn’t affect students’ grades in any way. It’s a report card for the school. Not the same at all.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Definitely not coming back.

2 of ours are in college now, after graduating from MCPS, 1 still in an MCPS HS. For the top kids, they know for every exam what they need for their A (can get a 59 on some assessment for example). For the bottom, they don't care. So exam scores weren't good and that was bad optics for MCPS.

Because teachers give a rubric, kids are taught how to game the system - do the minimum to get the maximum

Our college kids (one in private one at an OOS flagship) are doing great, one will to graduate summa cum laude amd the other expects to do the same.

[b]That isn’t how rubrics work.

Yes, it is. Kid has a 96.2, has an assessment worth 15% of their grade, they can and do, do the math, and figure out they need xx on the assessment and can skip the rest of the 10% homework assigments and still get an 89.6, which equals an A in MCPS.

Rubric lays it all out for them

And MCAP

They have District Assessments which are like finals.

Anonymous wrote:Definitely not coming back.

2 of ours are in college now, after graduating from MCPS, 1 still in an MCPS HS. For the top kids, they know for every exam what they need for their A (can get a 59 on some assessment for example). For the bottom, they don't care. So exam scores weren't good and that was bad optics for MCPS.

Because teachers give a rubric, kids are taught how to game the system - do the minimum to get the maximum[b]

Our college kids (one in private one at an OOS flagship) are doing great, one will to graduate summa cum laude amd the other expects to do the same.

That isn’t how rubrics work.

Learning how to study for exams covering large amounts of material is absolutely a valuable skill for college preparedness. Obviously kids taking AP classes don’t need an additional final created by the teacher, but most non AP classes should have a final exam or paper. I’m not sure why that’s a controversial idea. I understand it’s more work for everyone but there is real value there.

For students who take AP exams they serve the same function as finals so they’re prepared for college. For this who don’t take AP classes I imagine the exam process poses a challenge.

Definitely not coming back.

2 of ours are in college now, after graduating from MCPS, 1 still in an MCPS HS. For the top kids, they know for every exam what they need for their A (can get a 59 on some assessment for example). For the bottom, they don't care. So exam scores weren't good and that was bad optics for MCPS.

Because teachers give a rubric, kids are taught how to game the system - do the minimum to get the maximum

Our college kids (one in private one at an OOS flagship) are doing great, one will to graduate summa cum laude amd the other expects to do the same.

Nope. Best you will do is state exams and AP/IB exams.

Do you think MCPS will bring back finals? It seems like we’re heading toward a future where finals may be gone for a long time, and I worry this will negatively impact students’ futures, especially when it comes to developing essential study skills for college.
While ongoing assessments have their place, high-stakes exams like finals teach valuable lessons in time management, stress management, and long-term studying. Without this experience, will students be as well-prepared for higher education?