I found this to be fairly common. The individual exam grades were not necessarily a good predictor of the final quarter grade. I could only assume that the teachers were more familiar with the average student population for that school than I am with only my kids as a sample size and there was a method to the madness. I would wait for the quarter grade and then ask for a conference if the grade is lower than expected.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have girls at a coed Catholic high school with tough exams and grading. They tell me that honors classes at their high school have a lot more girls than boys in them. (The school general population is 50% girls and 50% boys.) I once asked why and their take on it was that boys spend a lot more time playing sports than studying.

Interesting.

I wonder if our kids are at the same school?

FWIW, my son commented that the girls tend to have the highest grades in all the classes. But some/many of these girls are also athletes or heavily involved in extracurriculars. And I know some boys who are athletes and they have excellent grades. (My kid is an A/B student and an athlete.)

PS - I believe at least 2 of the teachers are subpar and aren’t adequately teaching, and most kids aren’t equipped to teach themselves certain content.

I'm the PP you are responding to.

My girls are in all honors course, A students, and play sports. School comes first for them though and they've been known to skip practice to study for a test. Their female friends who are athletes and honor students also largely get As. However, their academic friends who are also serious athletes often stay up well past midnight every night doing homework to do well at sports plus get good grades. Girl culture seems to encourage a lot of studying. Does boy culture? I'm not sure because I don't have boys.

As far as bad teachers goes, my kids school has a lot of tutoring/academic support options available. We've generally been pleased with my kids' teachers, but when they don't understand what their teacher is teaching, my girls go to the academic suppport centers. (Kids have to be encouraged to do this. Most would rather try to teach themselves, but usually doesn't work.)

Anonymous wrote:I have 2 boys. One always reported that the tests were so hard and everyone failed and there would be a curve and the teacher was the worst. The other didn't say much but when pushed would say the test aligned with expectations. You can guess their grades.

My takeaway is that our school was rigorous, old fashioned (in that we even had high stakes midterms and finals that other schools don't seem to do) and that kids respond in different ways.

I'll also share the first son is doing incredibly well at college. It was practically against his will, but he learned how to study, how to work hard, and how to write well.

I have a similar DS to your first also at Gonzaga, this gives me hope!

Anonymous wrote:I have girls at a coed Catholic high school with tough exams and grading. They tell me that honors classes at their high school have a lot more girls than boys in them. (The school general population is 50% girls and 50% boys.) I once asked why and their take on it was that boys spend a lot more time playing sports than studying.

Interesting.

I wonder if our kids are at the same school?

FWIW, my son commented that the girls tend to have the highest grades in all the classes. But some/many of these girls are also athletes or heavily involved in extracurriculars. And I know some boys who are athletes and they have excellent grades. (My kid is an A/B student and an athlete.)

PS - I believe at least 2 of the teachers are subpar and aren’t adequately teaching, and most kids aren’t equipped to teach themselves certain content.

I have girls at a coed Catholic high school with tough exams and grading. They tell me that honors classes at their high school have a lot more girls than boys in them. (The school general population is 50% girls and 50% boys.) I once asked why and their take on it was that boys spend a lot more time playing sports than studying.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have 2 boys. One always reported that the tests were so hard and everyone failed and there would be a curve and the teacher was the worst. The other didn't say much but when pushed would say the test aligned with expectations. You can guess their grades.

My takeaway is that our school was rigorous, old fashioned (in that we even had high stakes midterms and finals that other schools don't seem to do) and that kids respond in different ways.

I'll also share the first son is doing incredibly well at college. It was practically against his will, but he learned how to study, how to work hard, and how to write well.

So your one son who did well in HS did well in college—or are you saying even the kid who struggled in HS did well in college?

Can you name the HS?

The only who got a lot of Cs on his midterms and finals (but grades were As and Bs) and complained a lot is now thriving at college. In fact, finds it easier. He's at a Lafayette/Lehigh/Colgate type school. Gonzaga

Sounds to me it’s a wake-up call for students used to skating through middle school. The message is that this is high school and we are going to demand more from you. For some, the effort they have given isn’t going to cut it.

Sounds like the school doing its job to me.

My kids are in honors and they start studying for midterms 2 weeks before including weekends and have always done well. They know others who have done well, but that is the group they hang out with. They also know others who have not done well, but they dont really review or study so it's expected.

My son earned solid Bs on most midterms (and one low A). He said the averages were very low Cs—and in one or two classes the bulk of the scores were low to mid Cs with only a handful of kids scoring higher. He said two teachers said they would apply a curve and make some adjustments.

As a parent of a freshman, I’m curious what my takeaway should be.

Not sure how my son did on all of his midterms yet, but I am not aware of any curves being applied for his exams. Mostly honors classes and the teachers seem pretty strict. I know of kids who were just moved to regular Algebra from Honors Algebra for 2nd semester based on their 1st semester grades.

Anonymous wrote:I have 2 boys. One always reported that the tests were so hard and everyone failed and there would be a curve and the teacher was the worst. The other didn't say much but when pushed would say the test aligned with expectations. You can guess their grades.

My takeaway is that our school was rigorous, old fashioned (in that we even had high stakes midterms and finals that other schools don't seem to do) and that kids respond in different ways.

I'll also share the first son is doing incredibly well at college. It was practically against his will, but he learned how to study, how to work hard, and how to write well.

So your one son who did well in HS did well in college—or are you saying even the kid who struggled in HS did well in college?

Can you name the HS?

I have 2 boys. One always reported that the tests were so hard and everyone failed and there would be a curve and the teacher was the worst. The other didn't say much but when pushed would say the test aligned with expectations. You can guess their grades.

My takeaway is that our school was rigorous, old fashioned (in that we even had high stakes midterms and finals that other schools don't seem to do) and that kids respond in different ways.

I'll also share the first son is doing incredibly well at college. It was practically against his will, but he learned how to study, how to work hard, and how to write well.

Perhaps they didn’t have a solid foundation from their K-8 experience?

I have a son at a local Catholic and he reports low averages as well. He was saying yesterday some kids in his class are failing several of their classes, which surprised me.

I’m curious what your sons are reporting on midterms at local catholic high schools.

More directly: how did they do, and what did they say was the average grade?

I’m hearing (from multiple moms along with my own kid) that the average score was very low and there will be a curve applied.

This worries me.

What should the takeaway be?

The test was too hard? The kids weren’t properly prepared? Lots of kids just aren’t that bright?