Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You don't have to allow your child to take the classes that will result in grades on the high school transcript. Just say no if you think it's a bad idea for your child.

This response is more stupid than the MCPS policy. If your 5th or 6th grader is ready for Algebra 1 he should not face the challenge since he may get a B or B+ and he doesn't want that to factor into his HS grade point average? Will you advise the child to wait 4 years before taking Algebra? Or do you believe that appropriate challenge for children means they should automatically get an A?

Algebra is a credit course in MCPS. If you want your child to take it at the earliest point that he/she is ready, then you may have to agree to the credit. I personally don't have a problem with MCPS policy of giving HS credit in MS so it's not a decision I have to make. But for those who are so adamantly opposed or who feel so strongly that kids shouldn't be in this position, you can opt them out.

These shouldn't be the only two choices - that's what everybody here is saying. How about a third option: allowing kids to take advance classes but without the risk, because these are middle schoolers, of bad grades.

Algebra is a credit course in MCPS. If you want your child to take it at the earliest point that he/she is ready, then you may have to agree to the credit. I personally don't have a problem with MCPS policy of giving HS credit in MS so it's not a decision I have to make. But for those who are so adamantly opposed or who feel so strongly that kids shouldn't be in this position, you can opt them out. As an additional matter, you only get the credit if you pass the test at the end of the year. It's not automatic credit simply for getting passing grades throughout the year. If your kid doesn't pass, then they take it again the next year.

May 2 cents: If Algebra is a credit course to get a HS diploma in MCPS and you take it in Grades 9 to 12 it rightly belongs in theofficially calculated HS grade point average and on your transcript. If you take Algebra in K through 8 it belongs on your HS transcript (credit course for HS diploma) but not on your officially calculated HS grade point average.

Yes, there are a few who do which is why the policy is anachronistic. If Algebra 1 is a requirement for a HS diploma by all means give the kid the credit towards the HS pigskin if he or she meets it, or wants it at the end of the day. But, to officially factor this into the calculated HS grade point average 7 years later is plain stupid. Some kids move on to College before the 12th grade.

Oh, and I've never heard that a 5th grader in MCPS can get credit for their HS transcript. That is still ES and I've only heard that 6th and up get credit. But, I could be wrong about that since I don't have genius kids.

You are wrong.

Algebra is a credit course in MCPS. If you want your child to take it at the earliest point that he/she is ready, then you may have to agree to the credit. I personally don't have a problem with MCPS policy of giving HS credit in MS so it's not a decision I have to make. But for those who are so adamantly opposed or who feel so strongly that kids shouldn't be in this position, you can opt them out. As an additional matter, you only get the credit if you pass the test at the end of the year. It's not automatic credit simply for getting passing grades throughout the year. If your kid doesn't pass, then they take it again the next year.

Why should taking Algebra for credit mean the grade is factored into your high school grade point average 6 years later? Taking it for credit means ultimately getting a high school diploma.


I have no problem with the high school giving me credit for any course I took in elementary or middle school...towards the diploma. I'll take the credit. But, I have a problem with the HS factoring ancient grades into calculating the High School Grade point average. You may not appreciate this subtle distinction. I have no problem with listing all courses taken in K through 12. The high school grade point average should reflect courses taking in 9 through 12 only. If I decide to leave high school in the 10th or 11th grade I want my high school grade point average calculated by the school to reflect the courses taken in high school. I'm ok with the HS leaving the A or F I earned in Algebra 1 in 5 th grade on the transcript if that's the practice.

If MCPS offered "middle school" foreign language classes, and then let kids also take a "high school" foreign language class-- e.g. one taught at a 9th grade level, with other 9th graders even-- then it might make sense to tell parents to pick which one they wanted.

But the idea that since MCPS has deemed 6th grade Spanish a "high school" course that kids who want their high school transcript to include only grades from grades 9-12 have to postpone taking a language until high school seems ridiculous, and I certainly would never tell my kid to do that (for one thing, I expect colleges aren't stupid about these things).

They ought to have a middle school, and elementary school even, foreign language curriculum.

Oh, and I've never heard that a 5th grader in MCPS can get credit for their HS transcript. That is still ES and I've only heard that 6th and up get credit. But, I could be wrong about that since I don't have genius kids.

Anonymous wrote:

You don't have to allow your child to take the classes that will result in grades on the high school transcript. Just say no if you think it's a bad idea for your child.

This response is more stupid than the MCPS policy. If your 5th or 6th grader is ready for Algebra 1 he should not face the challenge since he may get a B or B+ and he doesn't want that to factor into his HS grade point average? Will you advise the child to wait 4 years before taking Algebra? Or do you believe that appropriate challenge for children means they should automatically get an A?

Algebra is a credit course in MCPS. If you want your child to take it at the earliest point that he/she is ready, then you may have to agree to the credit. I personally don't have a problem with MCPS policy of giving HS credit in MS so it's not a decision I have to make. But for those who are so adamantly opposed or who feel so strongly that kids shouldn't be in this position, you can opt them out. As an additional matter, you only get the credit if you pass the test at the end of the year. It's not automatic credit simply for getting passing grades throughout the year. If your kid doesn't pass, then they take it again the next year.

You don't have to allow your child to take the classes that will result in grades on the high school transcript. Just say no if you think it's a bad idea for your child.

This response is more stupid than the MCPS policy. If your 5th or 6th grader is ready for Algebra 1 he should not face the challenge since he may get a B or B+ and he doesn't want that to factor into his HS grade point average? Will you advise the child to wait 4 years before taking Algebra? Or do you believe that appropriate challenge for children means they should automatically get an A?

You don't have to allow your child to take the classes that will result in grades on the high school transcript. Just say no if you think it's a bad idea for your child.

If Joshua Starr has any kids with brains and they stay in the public system he will soon be educated about this foolish practice. Courses taken in elementary school should form the elementary school grade point average. Courses taken in middle school should form the middle school grade point average. Courses taken in high school should form the high school grade point average. This is independent of high school diploma requirements. Audited courses and not graded. If a capable child takes a foreign language in elementary or middle school why should this grade factor into a high school grade point average? If a child takes Algebra 1, 2, or honors geometry in elementary or middle school why should these grades (even if all A+) be factored in the high school grade point average? Do vocational schools, universities and colleges pay attention to grades obtained 5 to 8 years ago? Grades earned during the high school years are the only grades that should be factored into the high school grade point average.

You are preaching to the choir here. I have an eighth-grader with several "high school" courses under his belt and when I think that grades he earned as an ELEVEN YEAR OLD will be viewed by colleges, it makes me want to scream.

The only way to make a MS grade earned for HS credit disappear is for the student to re-take the class in HS. Right now we are struggling with whether to have DS repeat math next year, because this year he got a C for the first half of the year. While I know the real question is whether he has absorbed the material, I am also wondering how badly that C will effect him going forward wrt college admissions.

MCPS is effed up in this regard, IMO. But I don't know how to make it change. The truth is, I feel completely voiceless and powerless in this bureaucratic system.

Yes, it's annoying, because how many middle schoolers are ready to have their grades show up on the high school transcript?

Plus, competitive colleges want 3-4 years of high school-level foreign language, but they won't take middle school-level foreign language classes towards this requirement. This means that DC's grades from middle school foreign language classes will show up on DC's transcript, for better or worse, but the grades won't help the college application and could even hurt it if the grades are bad.

Moreover, if your high school tops out at Spanish 5 or 6, DC will probably have to choose another language in junior or senior year. That is, if DC is applying to a college that requires 3-4 years of high school-level foreign languages.

FWIW, My kids have actually done just fine with this and I like that they'll have done two foreign languages. But it does seem incredibly dumb.

It's quite ludicrous and reflects the sheer stupidity of the MCPS leadership. If MCPS wants to put all courses from elementary and middle school on a high school transcript for trends this is ok but to integrate some "high school" course grades some elementary and middle school students earn into the high school grade point averages forwarded on the colleges and universities is pure assininity. And we the tax payers are paying these idiots to draft such dumb policies is beyond me. Perhaps the entire MCPS leadership should consult the leadership in the Colleges and Universities for some help and guidance.

You are right. The principals in the county worship this stupid and anachronistic policy. I do not know where it came from but I guarantee you it was motivated by factors having absolutely nothing to do with the best educational interests of our children.

Dumb policy from dumber bureaucrats.

Can someone explain this to me? Our kid isn't in MS yet, but my understanding is that if a course is considered to be part of the HS curriculum, then grades for that course are included in the HS transcript. Of course, since MoCo considers all foreign language instruction to be part of the HS curriculum, then 6th grade spanish is considered a "high school" course, and part of the HS curriculum. I assume the same thing happens to all those kids doing accelerated math.

I admit I don't know much, but this just seems stupid all around. Does anyone really think that 6th grade Spanish I is the equivalent of 9th grade Spanish I? Put another way, if they are teaching 6th grades and 9th graders the same, then isn't there something deeply wrong in the system? Does anyone think a college cares about how kids do in 6th grade classes? It seems the only thing this does is cause stress for kids (and probably some parents), and maybe make some MCPS official feel better.

Could someone explain how this got started, and why it doesn't change? Maybe even what I've missed and why it makes sense?