Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids are older now (middle and high school) so I can tell you another downside to standards based grading, and why the middle school teachers in particular don’t like it. Our kids hit 6th grade and have no idea how to calibrate the time and effort they need to be successful in school. The over-achieving type kids freak out if they don’t get 100% on everything, because they aren’t used to getting anything marked up on their papers. They don’t understand that an A is an A in APS, regardless of whether you get a 90% or a 100%. (Unlike FCPS, APS doesn’t give an A-.) Then there are the smart, but laid back kids who have skated through elementary school with half-ass effort, but nobody called them out because their SOL scores were okay. Those kids start getting Bs and Cs when they don’t turn in work or don’t study, and they don’t even realize why they need to care. Both groups get ignored from an academic and social-emotional perspective, because APS middle and high schools are huge, so the focus is on the kids who are truly struggling to meet grade standards. It is unfortunate too, because a lot of these kids will take high-school credit math and language classes starting in 7th grade. They have no idea what that means. We should be bringing back the A-B-C scale at least for 5th grade, so the kids have a less pressured year to adjust to real grades and understand why they matter on transcripts.

Meh.

Most kids are not taking algebra in 7th grade. Most are taking a language. But it’s also very easy to drop the high school credits taken in middle school off transcript and in fact many kids who get As in them do because with weighting it helps their GPA to drop them.

Middle school IS the time to sort out all the things you are describing. How to study, how to plan work, what to do when you bomb a test, learning how to advocate to the teacher or ask for help. That’s what it’s for and it’s a good time to do it. Let elementary school be elementary school.

APS isn't helping kids do that in middle school. Very little homework and no effort to build executive functioning skills.

Tell that to my kid who has spent the last two weekends doing nothing but homework as a 7th grader in APS.

DHMS Algebra?

Gunston Algebra and Intensified English paper

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids are older now (middle and high school) so I can tell you another downside to standards based grading, and why the middle school teachers in particular don’t like it. Our kids hit 6th grade and have no idea how to calibrate the time and effort they need to be successful in school. The over-achieving type kids freak out if they don’t get 100% on everything, because they aren’t used to getting anything marked up on their papers. They don’t understand that an A is an A in APS, regardless of whether you get a 90% or a 100%. (Unlike FCPS, APS doesn’t give an A-.) Then there are the smart, but laid back kids who have skated through elementary school with half-ass effort, but nobody called them out because their SOL scores were okay. Those kids start getting Bs and Cs when they don’t turn in work or don’t study, and they don’t even realize why they need to care. Both groups get ignored from an academic and social-emotional perspective, because APS middle and high schools are huge, so the focus is on the kids who are truly struggling to meet grade standards. It is unfortunate too, because a lot of these kids will take high-school credit math and language classes starting in 7th grade. They have no idea what that means. We should be bringing back the A-B-C scale at least for 5th grade, so the kids have a less pressured year to adjust to real grades and understand why they matter on transcripts.

Meh.

Most kids are not taking algebra in 7th grade. Most are taking a language. But it’s also very easy to drop the high school credits taken in middle school off transcript and in fact many kids who get As in them do because with weighting it helps their GPA to drop them.

Middle school IS the time to sort out all the things you are describing. How to study, how to plan work, what to do when you bomb a test, learning how to advocate to the teacher or ask for help. That’s what it’s for and it’s a good time to do it. Let elementary school be elementary school.

APS isn't helping kids do that in middle school. Very little homework and no effort to build executive functioning skills.

Maybe exec functioning things should be taught at home by parents and not expected that schools teach it?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids are older now (middle and high school) so I can tell you another downside to standards based grading, and why the middle school teachers in particular don’t like it. Our kids hit 6th grade and have no idea how to calibrate the time and effort they need to be successful in school. The over-achieving type kids freak out if they don’t get 100% on everything, because they aren’t used to getting anything marked up on their papers. They don’t understand that an A is an A in APS, regardless of whether you get a 90% or a 100%. (Unlike FCPS, APS doesn’t give an A-.) Then there are the smart, but laid back kids who have skated through elementary school with half-ass effort, but nobody called them out because their SOL scores were okay. Those kids start getting Bs and Cs when they don’t turn in work or don’t study, and they don’t even realize why they need to care. Both groups get ignored from an academic and social-emotional perspective, because APS middle and high schools are huge, so the focus is on the kids who are truly struggling to meet grade standards. It is unfortunate too, because a lot of these kids will take high-school credit math and language classes starting in 7th grade. They have no idea what that means. We should be bringing back the A-B-C scale at least for 5th grade, so the kids have a less pressured year to adjust to real grades and understand why they matter on transcripts.

Meh.

Most kids are not taking algebra in 7th grade. Most are taking a language. But it’s also very easy to drop the high school credits taken in middle school off transcript and in fact many kids who get As in them do because with weighting it helps their GPA to drop them.

Middle school IS the time to sort out all the things you are describing. How to study, how to plan work, what to do when you bomb a test, learning how to advocate to the teacher or ask for help. That’s what it’s for and it’s a good time to do it. Let elementary school be elementary school.

APS isn't helping kids do that in middle school. Very little homework and no effort to build executive functioning skills.

Ok not my kids experience in middle school. It ramps up a good amount by 8th grade.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids are older now (middle and high school) so I can tell you another downside to standards based grading, and why the middle school teachers in particular don’t like it. Our kids hit 6th grade and have no idea how to calibrate the time and effort they need to be successful in school. The over-achieving type kids freak out if they don’t get 100% on everything, because they aren’t used to getting anything marked up on their papers. They don’t understand that an A is an A in APS, regardless of whether you get a 90% or a 100%. (Unlike FCPS, APS doesn’t give an A-.) Then there are the smart, but laid back kids who have skated through elementary school with half-ass effort, but nobody called them out because their SOL scores were okay. Those kids start getting Bs and Cs when they don’t turn in work or don’t study, and they don’t even realize why they need to care. Both groups get ignored from an academic and social-emotional perspective, because APS middle and high schools are huge, so the focus is on the kids who are truly struggling to meet grade standards. It is unfortunate too, because a lot of these kids will take high-school credit math and language classes starting in 7th grade. They have no idea what that means. We should be bringing back the A-B-C scale at least for 5th grade, so the kids have a less pressured year to adjust to real grades and understand why they matter on transcripts.

Meh.

Most kids are not taking algebra in 7th grade. Most are taking a language. But it’s also very easy to drop the high school credits taken in middle school off transcript and in fact many kids who get As in them do because with weighting it helps their GPA to drop them.

Middle school IS the time to sort out all the things you are describing. How to study, how to plan work, what to do when you bomb a test, learning how to advocate to the teacher or ask for help. That’s what it’s for and it’s a good time to do it. Let elementary school be elementary school.

APS isn't helping kids do that in middle school. Very little homework and no effort to build executive functioning skills.

Tell that to my kid who has spent the last two weekends doing nothing but homework as a 7th grader in APS.

How many complete novels have been assigned reading this year?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids are older now (middle and high school) so I can tell you another downside to standards based grading, and why the middle school teachers in particular don’t like it. Our kids hit 6th grade and have no idea how to calibrate the time and effort they need to be successful in school. The over-achieving type kids freak out if they don’t get 100% on everything, because they aren’t used to getting anything marked up on their papers. They don’t understand that an A is an A in APS, regardless of whether you get a 90% or a 100%. (Unlike FCPS, APS doesn’t give an A-.) Then there are the smart, but laid back kids who have skated through elementary school with half-ass effort, but nobody called them out because their SOL scores were okay. Those kids start getting Bs and Cs when they don’t turn in work or don’t study, and they don’t even realize why they need to care. Both groups get ignored from an academic and social-emotional perspective, because APS middle and high schools are huge, so the focus is on the kids who are truly struggling to meet grade standards. It is unfortunate too, because a lot of these kids will take high-school credit math and language classes starting in 7th grade. They have no idea what that means. We should be bringing back the A-B-C scale at least for 5th grade, so the kids have a less pressured year to adjust to real grades and understand why they matter on transcripts.

Meh.

Most kids are not taking algebra in 7th grade. Most are taking a language. But it’s also very easy to drop the high school credits taken in middle school off transcript and in fact many kids who get As in them do because with weighting it helps their GPA to drop them.

Middle school IS the time to sort out all the things you are describing. How to study, how to plan work, what to do when you bomb a test, learning how to advocate to the teacher or ask for help. That’s what it’s for and it’s a good time to do it. Let elementary school be elementary school.

APS isn't helping kids do that in middle school. Very little homework and no effort to build executive functioning skills.

Tell that to my kid who has spent the last two weekends doing nothing but homework as a 7th grader in APS.

DHMS Algebra?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids are older now (middle and high school) so I can tell you another downside to standards based grading, and why the middle school teachers in particular don’t like it. Our kids hit 6th grade and have no idea how to calibrate the time and effort they need to be successful in school. The over-achieving type kids freak out if they don’t get 100% on everything, because they aren’t used to getting anything marked up on their papers. They don’t understand that an A is an A in APS, regardless of whether you get a 90% or a 100%. (Unlike FCPS, APS doesn’t give an A-.) Then there are the smart, but laid back kids who have skated through elementary school with half-ass effort, but nobody called them out because their SOL scores were okay. Those kids start getting Bs and Cs when they don’t turn in work or don’t study, and they don’t even realize why they need to care. Both groups get ignored from an academic and social-emotional perspective, because APS middle and high schools are huge, so the focus is on the kids who are truly struggling to meet grade standards. It is unfortunate too, because a lot of these kids will take high-school credit math and language classes starting in 7th grade. They have no idea what that means. We should be bringing back the A-B-C scale at least for 5th grade, so the kids have a less pressured year to adjust to real grades and understand why they matter on transcripts.

Meh.

Most kids are not taking algebra in 7th grade. Most are taking a language. But it’s also very easy to drop the high school credits taken in middle school off transcript and in fact many kids who get As in them do because with weighting it helps their GPA to drop them.

Middle school IS the time to sort out all the things you are describing. How to study, how to plan work, what to do when you bomb a test, learning how to advocate to the teacher or ask for help. That’s what it’s for and it’s a good time to do it. Let elementary school be elementary school.

APS isn't helping kids do that in middle school. Very little homework and no effort to build executive functioning skills.

Tell that to my kid who has spent the last two weekends doing nothing but homework as a 7th grader in APS.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids are older now (middle and high school) so I can tell you another downside to standards based grading, and why the middle school teachers in particular don’t like it. Our kids hit 6th grade and have no idea how to calibrate the time and effort they need to be successful in school. The over-achieving type kids freak out if they don’t get 100% on everything, because they aren’t used to getting anything marked up on their papers. They don’t understand that an A is an A in APS, regardless of whether you get a 90% or a 100%. (Unlike FCPS, APS doesn’t give an A-.) Then there are the smart, but laid back kids who have skated through elementary school with half-ass effort, but nobody called them out because their SOL scores were okay. Those kids start getting Bs and Cs when they don’t turn in work or don’t study, and they don’t even realize why they need to care. Both groups get ignored from an academic and social-emotional perspective, because APS middle and high schools are huge, so the focus is on the kids who are truly struggling to meet grade standards. It is unfortunate too, because a lot of these kids will take high-school credit math and language classes starting in 7th grade. They have no idea what that means. We should be bringing back the A-B-C scale at least for 5th grade, so the kids have a less pressured year to adjust to real grades and understand why they matter on transcripts.

Meh.

Most kids are not taking algebra in 7th grade. Most are taking a language. But it’s also very easy to drop the high school credits taken in middle school off transcript and in fact many kids who get As in them do because with weighting it helps their GPA to drop them.

Middle school IS the time to sort out all the things you are describing. How to study, how to plan work, what to do when you bomb a test, learning how to advocate to the teacher or ask for help. That’s what it’s for and it’s a good time to do it. Let elementary school be elementary school.

APS isn't helping kids do that in middle school. Very little homework and no effort to build executive functioning skills.

Anonymous wrote:My kids are older now (middle and high school) so I can tell you another downside to standards based grading, and why the middle school teachers in particular don’t like it. Our kids hit 6th grade and have no idea how to calibrate the time and effort they need to be successful in school. The over-achieving type kids freak out if they don’t get 100% on everything, because they aren’t used to getting anything marked up on their papers. They don’t understand that an A is an A in APS, regardless of whether you get a 90% or a 100%. (Unlike FCPS, APS doesn’t give an A-.) Then there are the smart, but laid back kids who have skated through elementary school with half-ass effort, but nobody called them out because their SOL scores were okay. Those kids start getting Bs and Cs when they don’t turn in work or don’t study, and they don’t even realize why they need to care. Both groups get ignored from an academic and social-emotional perspective, because APS middle and high schools are huge, so the focus is on the kids who are truly struggling to meet grade standards. It is unfortunate too, because a lot of these kids will take high-school credit math and language classes starting in 7th grade. They have no idea what that means. We should be bringing back the A-B-C scale at least for 5th grade, so the kids have a less pressured year to adjust to real grades and understand why they matter on transcripts.

Meh.

Most kids are not taking algebra in 7th grade. Most are taking a language. But it’s also very easy to drop the high school credits taken in middle school off transcript and in fact many kids who get As in them do because with weighting it helps their GPA to drop them.

Middle school IS the time to sort out all the things you are describing. How to study, how to plan work, what to do when you bomb a test, learning how to advocate to the teacher or ask for help. That’s what it’s for and it’s a good time to do it. Let elementary school be elementary school.

Anonymous wrote:My kids are older now (middle and high school) so I can tell you another downside to standards based grading, and why the middle school teachers in particular don’t like it. Our kids hit 6th grade and have no idea how to calibrate the time and effort they need to be successful in school.

This reply is really validating! A PP asked if we all had first/only kids. I'll admit my kid is a first kid, and I don't know what I should be doing to help with this calibration. Maybe SOLs will give a better sense of how she's doing?

My kids are older now (middle and high school) so I can tell you another downside to standards based grading, and why the middle school teachers in particular don’t like it. Our kids hit 6th grade and have no idea how to calibrate the time and effort they need to be successful in school. The over-achieving type kids freak out if they don’t get 100% on everything, because they aren’t used to getting anything marked up on their papers. They don’t understand that an A is an A in APS, regardless of whether you get a 90% or a 100%. (Unlike FCPS, APS doesn’t give an A-.) Then there are the smart, but laid back kids who have skated through elementary school with half-ass effort, but nobody called them out because their SOL scores were okay. Those kids start getting Bs and Cs when they don’t turn in work or don’t study, and they don’t even realize why they need to care. Both groups get ignored from an academic and social-emotional perspective, because APS middle and high schools are huge, so the focus is on the kids who are truly struggling to meet grade standards. It is unfortunate too, because a lot of these kids will take high-school credit math and language classes starting in 7th grade. They have no idea what that means. We should be bringing back the A-B-C scale at least for 5th grade, so the kids have a less pressured year to adjust to real grades and understand why they matter on transcripts.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So kids are being graded in MP1 on what they are expected to gave learned by June and not by the expectation of what they were supposed to learn in MP1?

I don't think this is right. It is not motivating and not helpful for parents. Where can we give feedback about this? I think that MP1 grades should be assessed against MP1 goals. I don't think a teacher or principal is the right place...how can I communicate that I don't agree with this new grading. The school board?

It is an improvement over what they were doing last year, which was quarter based. That was completely indecipherable. I don't like this new system either, but it's an improvement of sorts.

I don’t understand how this is better. Can you please elaborate… what was indecipherable?

Last year there was no "Exceeds Expectations" so the best a kid could do was get a "Meets".

Each quarter the teacher would pick the substandard that were covered that quarter and give students and "Approaching" or a "Meets Expectations.". But the standards were completely random and obscure so you had no idea what your kid had learned.

For instance, in Q4 my kid in math got a Meets Expectations for:
2.6b determines sums and differences using various methods. [What methods? Are they proficient?]
2.6c. Created and solves problems using addition and subtraction [What sorts of problems?]
2.16 Identify, transfer, create and extend patterns found in nature, pictures and shapes [Wasn't this what they did in preschool at the pattern table?]

That's it for math. Science had gems like "Student will understand that plants provide oxygen" and history had "Student will understand that people of the United States made contributions to their communities." Oh, PE had this great one too: "Describe flexibility as important in moving in many directions." What the heck does that mean?

One problem was that if your kid got an Approaching, that standard never showed up again to tell you if they ultimately learned it. And if you look at the list of standards that were shared in report cards, they don't add up to what they were supposed to learn that year. They're just random bits that aren't clear and don't add up to a whole picture. Totally worthless. This year the report cards should at least be somewhat helpful in Q3 and Q4.

Anonymous wrote:Direct complaints/questions to Syphax staff. Teachers and school based administration had little to no input in this process and central office rolled it out poorly to teachers.

Understatement of the century!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The party line is that APS is now assessing progress on the year-end expectation. For ELA all standards are covered throughout all 4 quarters so proficiency is not expected until q3-4 when it has all been taught. So highest is a 2 since students have only shown partial understanding since only part has been taught the standards are much broader than what is on the report card; go look them up.

For math some of the units cross quarters and some are within one quarter only so if it has been fully taught a 3 or possibly 4 is possible.

We cannot give a 4 if the student has not shown extension in all parts of the standard. APS has not standardized what makes a 4 especially in ELA. Right now it’s on teachers to develop that… and with what time!

This is what APS has directed schools to do. We have spoken up. They are not changing until parents raise concerns because we have brought them ourselves to no avail.

-a teacher

Has APS formally solicited feedback from teachers on their thoughts on this version of SBG? Are you getting the sense that the only people in favor of this model are sitting in offices and who don’t deal with students /parents everyday?

Hahahaha! They just sent out a survey last week. Retroactive feedback, I guess.

We found out about the report cards just a few months before you did.

Anonymous wrote:I'm in agreement - this is a huge improvement from last year. Definitely not perfect - the comments on both of our kids' report cards (same school, different grades) look like the teachers were given a menu of options to plug and play. Not getting too much depth from comments. But good to see trends across categories. For what it's worth, both my kids got a mix of 2s and 3s.

So how is this an improvement?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So kids are being graded in MP1 on what they are expected to gave learned by June and not by the expectation of what they were supposed to learn in MP1?

I don't think this is right. It is not motivating and not helpful for parents. Where can we give feedback about this? I think that MP1 grades should be assessed against MP1 goals. I don't think a teacher or principal is the right place...how can I communicate that I don't agree with this new grading. The school board?

It is an improvement over what they were doing last year, which was quarter based. That was completely indecipherable. I don't like this new system either, but it's an improvement of sorts.

I don’t understand how this is better. Can you please elaborate… what was indecipherable?

Yeah, I thought this was even worse than last year.