Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of complainers but the reality is the ABCDF system really doesn't make much sense when D, E and F are all essentially the same. A 3 to 4 scale system is actually a LONG OVERDUE.

But it won't really be a 3 or 4 scale system. the goal is to have everyone get a P. ES does mot equal A. ES will be very rare.

hearsay.. only the facts mam

Anonymous wrote:Lots of complainers but the reality is the ABCDF system really doesn't make much sense when D, E and F are all essentially the same. A 3 to 4 scale system is actually a LONG OVERDUE.

But it won't really be a 3 or 4 scale system. the goal is to have everyone get a P. ES does mot equal A. ES will be very rare.

Lots of complainers but the reality is the ABCDF system really doesn't make much sense when D, E and F are all essentially the same. A 3 to 4 scale system is actually a LONG OVERDUE.

A silly new grading system designed by the consultants who brought us 2.0. Consultants need to justify their role: usually by creating a new system, org. chart, synergy, curriculum, grading system, whatever. This is what consultants do.
It is about re-inventing the wheel and using new terminology to make it sound better. Smoke and mirrors, silliness.
It also represents another problem with 2.0: when you change everything in a system(the curriculum, the report card, the grading structure, etc), it is hard to pinpoint what is working and what is not. Oh, yeah, that means you need to hire more consultants in a few years to sort that out. Hmmm.

Also OP, K-2 previously was evaluated on an Outstanding-Satisfactory-Needs Improvement scale, not ABCDF, which began in 3rd grade.

This year, K-3 is on ES-P-N scale, but grades 4+ are still on the "traditional" ABCDF scale, as 2.0 has not been rolled out to those grades yet.

If your child is in K, you have different timing of the report cards. The K report cards are in January and then in June. Grades 1-3 will be the new report card and be given quarterly.

The new grading is already in place, OP... it is not beginning in the winter.

OP here. My child is only in K. I understand they will start this grading in the winter.

Fighting grade inflation and hyper-competitiveness are admirable goals, and I can get behind that. In that light, this might be a good idea.

Still, I can't help but feel that pubic educators like to tinker constantly, constantly complicating the simple, always eager for the "new" thing.

I don't understand it at all....my child's progress report, which came home Tuesday was all Ps. Which is great. But the report said it was for the year. So she knows everything FOR THE YEAR. 30 days into school? That makes absolutely no sense.

Anonymous wrote:Help me understand why this needs to be done.

I guess I am annoyed b/c I just finished reading the WaPo's article stating that this would be a lot more information for parents to absorb and understand, that parents should watch a 10-minute video online and to top it off the recommendation was that parents study the curriculum!

Look, I love my kids as much as the next parent, but study the curriculum? I feel like the world has gone mad! My parents, and I'm pretty sure the parents of my friends, were not so overly involved in our academic lives, and we turned out great -- good colleges, good jobs etc.

Seems nutso to me. What's wrong with A,B,C,D and F?

Please help me see why this makes sense.

I haven't watched the video (and I believe all that encouragement is to head off the crazies who would whine about a lack of transparency), but common sense tells me this is to ward off the competitiveness of grades among students in our hyper-competitive area and combat grade inflation.

Kind of like TC Williams in Alexandria deciding it will no longer rank students.

It goes with Curriculum 2.0. What grade is your child in this year?

In addition to the new grading system, there is a new report card, too. While I am not sold on 2.0, I do think that (last year) trying to fit the 2.0 "stuff" in the traditional grading system (and report card) of O-S-N didn't work well.

I am very curious how all this will roll out when it finally gets to middle school grades and high school.

And at the same time, when kids get Cs and Bs how many parents - on this board, in particular - are up in arms b/c Little Suzie Q Genius received a grade that doesn't represent her "true talent?"

My daughter's private is taking the same route. They are "progressing" for quite some time, with the goal being mastery by the end. Those who don't receive master in certain areas are given support the following year as well. As a parent who does review her work, I know exactly what she has mastered and what she continues to struggle with. That's all a school wants - an involved parent. Sadly, this will not be the case in many broken homes or homes where little English is spoken.

Personally, I doubt any "gray" grades will ever hit high school, as we're too content and course driven.

That's why, on average, 40 percent of MCPS 2nd graders are gifted and at a few schools this percentage is as high as 80 %. Dr. Feelgood.

This comes from the same people who eliminated dodge ball and tag.

Its important for everyone to feel good about themselves. God forbid that anyone kid fail or not be made to think that he is at the same level of others.

"Good job, honey. You got straight P's!!"

New bumper sticker: "My child is a straight ES student!"

Help me understand why this needs to be done.

I guess I am annoyed b/c I just finished reading the WaPo's article stating that this would be a lot more information for parents to absorb and understand, that parents should watch a 10-minute video online and to top it off the recommendation was that parents study the curriculum!

Look, I love my kids as much as the next parent, but study the curriculum? I feel like the world has gone mad! My parents, and I'm pretty sure the parents of my friends, were not so overly involved in our academic lives, and we turned out great -- good colleges, good jobs etc.

Seems nutso to me. What's wrong with A,B,C,D and F?

Please help me see why this makes sense.