Anonymous
11/05/2018 13:06
Subject: How common are straight A’s in middle school in APS
ack. 13:05 again. "good enough grades so that the school system isn't at all concerned about her." She's capable of higher, but she's A/B honor roll, so whatever.
Anonymous
11/05/2018 13:05
Subject: Re:How common are straight A’s in middle school in APS
Anonymous wrote:i would also add that if you have a kid with good executive functioning skills, that helps tremendously in getting all A's. My DD is very bright, and always scores well on tests and quizzes, but can't turn in work on time for the life of her if she misses a day or two of school. The number of assignments with points taken off because they were late is amazing -- she has had her grades lowered because of that, not because of her knowledge of the material. She's working on it, but it's very demoralizing. Friends of hers who aren't taking challenging classes but have strong organizational skills will get that valedictorian status, but she won't.
Yes. This is the way it will be in life, too. Organizational skills are very important. Instead of making it sound like this is the teacher or school's fault somehow, PP, maybe you should be glad that your daughter is learning the importance of these skills now, and changing her habits so that she'll excel in high school.
Oh, I'm not making it the schools fault, especially not with her -- we are stressing those points with her now and learning this now in a low-cost situation in a good thing. I've read "The blessing of a b minus" and getting on board with it. It's just hard to manage the emotions, especially in a 7th grade girl with hormones all over the place and anxiety/depression/suicidal thoughts but good enough grades (mostly As, maybe one or two B/B+s depending on when the teachers finish accounting for work done but turned in late in the system and also one test last week that hasn't shown up yet in intensified algebra).
Anonymous
11/05/2018 12:52
Subject: Re:How common are straight A’s in middle school in APS
How many HS credit classes is she taking?
Is she in “Intensified Algebra 1”?
My 7th graser has always received straight As, but currently has a B+ in HS Algebra.
Is she in “Intensified Algebra 1”?
My 7th graser has always received straight As, but currently has a B+ in HS Algebra.
Anonymous
11/05/2018 12:48
Subject: Re:How common are straight A’s in middle school in APS
i would also add that if you have a kid with good executive functioning skills, that helps tremendously in getting all A's. My DD is very bright, and always scores well on tests and quizzes, but can't turn in work on time for the life of her if she misses a day or two of school. The number of assignments with points taken off because they were late is amazing -- she has had her grades lowered because of that, not because of her knowledge of the material. She's working on it, but it's very demoralizing. Friends of hers who aren't taking challenging classes but have strong organizational skills will get that valedictorian status, but she won't.
Yes. This is the way it will be in life, too. Organizational skills are very important. Instead of making it sound like this is the teacher or school's fault somehow, PP, maybe you should be glad that your daughter is learning the importance of these skills now, and changing her habits so that she'll excel in high school.
Anonymous
11/05/2018 12:45
Subject: How common are straight A’s in middle school in APS
Anonymous wrote:Very true -- and until 6th grade, my DD was consistently straight As at a school that 93-100 was an A. Now, however, it's like teaching an old dog new tricks -- what got her through before doesn't always work (but sometimes still does!) and so it's challenging for her to manage. On the other hand, if a child is getting As on exams, should homework matter? I struggle with this, as a student who always turned my work in on time and still keeps multiple checklists going, and so I think it matters, but on the other hand, I don't think it should count for 30-40% of a semester grade. To be clear, I'm not fighting with any of her teachers about this, and I'm working with her on trying to stay organized, but it requires lots of extra bottles of liquor on tap for me. And also managing lots of tears (and anxiety and depression) when she's so frustrated that she can't seem to stay on top of it.
This drives me crazy. APS policy is for homework to count as no more than 10% of the grade for exactly this reason -- the grade should reflect what the child is learning. In most of my child's classes, classwork (which often means whether the child keeps her notebook organized) counts for approximately 30-50%. Inconsistent with the spirit if not the letter of the homework policy.
Exactly. Who the heck cares if her notebook is organized if she's learning the material? Same for the classwork piece, although in her case she does it, and then forgets to put it in the bin on her way out of class (for the paper work -- online work is generally all turned in on time because it automatically submits when she finishes - usually.)
Anonymous
11/05/2018 12:40
Subject: How common are straight A’s in middle school in APS
Very true -- and until 6th grade, my DD was consistently straight As at a school that 93-100 was an A. Now, however, it's like teaching an old dog new tricks -- what got her through before doesn't always work (but sometimes still does!) and so it's challenging for her to manage. On the other hand, if a child is getting As on exams, should homework matter? I struggle with this, as a student who always turned my work in on time and still keeps multiple checklists going, and so I think it matters, but on the other hand, I don't think it should count for 30-40% of a semester grade. To be clear, I'm not fighting with any of her teachers about this, and I'm working with her on trying to stay organized, but it requires lots of extra bottles of liquor on tap for me. And also managing lots of tears (and anxiety and depression) when she's so frustrated that she can't seem to stay on top of it.
This drives me crazy. APS policy is for homework to count as no more than 10% of the grade for exactly this reason -- the grade should reflect what the child is learning. In most of my child's classes, classwork (which often means whether the child keeps her notebook organized) counts for approximately 30-50%. Inconsistent with the spirit if not the letter of the homework policy.
Anonymous
11/05/2018 12:35
Subject: How common are straight A’s in middle school in APS
Very common because of grade inflation.
Anonymous
11/05/2018 12:34
Subject: Re:How common are straight A’s in middle school in APS
I think it's fairly common -- not universal, but easy enough to do if your kid is motivated. A little harder in 8th grade. I know a couple of super-bright, highly-motivated kids who barely squeaked an A out of World Geography. No one wants to start high school with lower than a 4.0.
Anonymous
11/05/2018 12:31
Subject: How common are straight A’s in middle school in APS
Anonymous wrote:Good executive functioning skills are an valuable skill set for life. It make sense that they would correlate to better grades at least at the margins.
Very true -- and until 6th grade, my DD was consistently straight As at a school that 93-100 was an A. Now, however, it's like teaching an old dog new tricks -- what got her through before doesn't always work (but sometimes still does!) and so it's challenging for her to manage. On the other hand, if a child is getting As on exams, should homework matter? I struggle with this, as a student who always turned my work in on time and still keeps multiple checklists going, and so I think it matters, but on the other hand, I don't think it should count for 30-40% of a semester grade. To be clear, I'm not fighting with any of her teachers about this, and I'm working with her on trying to stay organized, but it requires lots of extra bottles of liquor on tap for me. And also managing lots of tears (and anxiety and depression) when she's so frustrated that she can't seem to stay on top of it.
Anonymous
11/05/2018 12:10
Subject: How common are straight A’s in middle school in APS
Good executive functioning skills are an valuable skill set for life. It make sense that they would correlate to better grades at least at the margins.
Anonymous
11/05/2018 12:06
Subject: How common are straight A’s in middle school in APS
i would also add that if you have a kid with good executive functioning skills, that helps tremendously in getting all A's. My DD is very bright, and always scores well on tests and quizzes, but can't turn in work on time for the life of her if she misses a day or two of school. The number of assignments with points taken off because they were late is amazing -- she has had her grades lowered because of that, not because of her knowledge of the material. She's working on it, but it's very demoralizing. Friends of hers who aren't taking challenging classes but have strong organizational skills will get that valedictorian status, but she won't.
Anonymous
11/05/2018 11:44
Subject: Re:How common are straight A’s in middle school in APS
When DS graduated from APS MS, they recognized as "valedictorians" everyone who had all As for all quarters for all 4 years. It was not a very big group. Maybe 10-15 kids?
FWIW, my DD, now in 8th, seemed to have no trouble getting all As all 4-quarters in 6th-7th but might not make it this 1st quarter of 8th grade. The workload and requirements has definitely ratcheted up.
For any one quarter, I've seen the All-As and A-B Honor Roll lists posted. Maybe 40-50 kids on the All-A honor roll.
FWIW, my DD, now in 8th, seemed to have no trouble getting all As all 4-quarters in 6th-7th but might not make it this 1st quarter of 8th grade. The workload and requirements has definitely ratcheted up.
For any one quarter, I've seen the All-As and A-B Honor Roll lists posted. Maybe 40-50 kids on the All-A honor roll.
Anonymous
11/05/2018 11:27
Subject: How common are straight A’s in middle school in APS
I'd say you have a smart kid on your hands, but there are a lot of smart kids in APS. In my DC's graduating class last year close there were about 100 kids who had a 4.0 or better. That doesn't mean they got straight A's all the way through, but with weighted classes for AP their cumulative GPA was over a 4.0) Based on the kids on the list, most of them took fairly challenging classes.
Anonymous
11/05/2018 11:11
Subject: How common are straight A’s in middle school in APS
OP, you left out the possibility that the curriculum is not very challenging.
Anonymous
11/05/2018 11:02
Subject: How common are straight A’s in middle school in APS
DD has had straights A’s throughout 6th grade and now 1st quarter of 7th grade. Just wondering if grades are so inflated that this is common amongst middle schoolers or if I might have a smart kid on my hands.