Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work in a Title One elementary school in MCPS. Our behaviors are off the charts this year. I honestly don't know how our admin continues to come to work each day. They constantly have kids in their offices. Even our staff development teacher, reading specialist, math coach AND both counselors are constantly with kids displaying behavior issues or eloping class. Admin can't suspend kids for running the halls, even in elementary school. I feel bad for our core team above because they can't do their actual jobs as they basically play security all day. I have some difficult kids but at least I can close my classroom door and ignore the chaos that's unfolding in rooms across the school.
Parents need to wake up and start parenting their kids rather than ignoring them on their phones or trying to be their friend. I applaud all of you who are trying your best to do right by your kids. Raise hell with the county council and board of ed. Your neighborhood school's principal can't do anything to make the changes we need to see.

You all need to work with the parents and let them know what's going on and have parents come in and volunteer and help vs. complaining. This isn't something new. Even before covid, may schools were closed to parents and yet, the teachers and admin complained bitterly about the parents. We cannot help if we don't know what's going on. Kids behave differently so they may be behaving at home and not school so if that's the situation it's on the teachers to communicate. We'd email the teachers and rarely get a response back.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 50% grade thing for doing nothing was done in the name of equity. They foujnd that too many kids of certain groups were not doing any work. By giving 50% for doing nothing, then if they at least did one or two assignments, it would be enough for a D and they'd pass.

Otherwise, MCPS would fail its equity goals because certain groups would have too high of a failure rate.

As a POC, it's a sick, twisted fix and I don't agree with it in the name of equity.

I do understand mathematically that too many zeros can make it mathematically impossible for a kid to recover from mistakes, but that's why I think due dates and deadlines are already a good grace that allows for revision and correction. Also, I think a policy that drops the three lowest grades, which used to be in effect when I was in MCPS in the '90s for some classes, also works too.

But the 50% automatic rule lowers the bar too much.

+1000 agree. When I went to HS eons ago in a rough area with not a lot of high achievers, high FARMS rate, they also let us drop the few lowest test scores. That is a much better way to deal with recovery because it still encourages them to try.

This 50% rule BS is not doing those kids any favors.

To be Devil’s advocate on just this one point, what is so wrong with a kid coasting through and barely passing with straight D’s? The alternative is not that they will somehow get their sh*t together and become model students. The alternative is that dropout rates will go through the roof. These kids aren’t going to college. Straight D’s aren’t much of a prize. They just mean maybe you can qualify for a menial job.

Frankly, a D should not be "passing" for a high school diploma, IMO. The long-term consequence in letting D being the standard for graduation, means that the high school diploma is worth less, which forces employers to rely on a bachelor's degree instead, just to get someone who can speak, write and read at a professional level, which then pushes more kids to college when they might just want to work.

So lowering the bar has all kinds of downstream effects that we pay for as a society. One of the reasons why previous generations could build wealth and own homes is that they actually could get a decent paying job with just a high school diploma. You could argue that society becoming more complex has also necessitated the push toward bachelor's degree as being the new standard, and that's part of it, but I also think lowering the standards for a high school diploma contributes to the problem too.

I would argue a HS diploma meant more 50 years ago than today. The standards are too low today for just HS grads to get a job as an electrician, for example. Some of these kids can barely read or do Algebra, do fractions.. yet, MCPS thinks these kids will be fine? They just unleash these graduates on society, and let society bear the burden of dealing with them.

It's a school to societal burden pipeline.

Please explain how failing out of high school makes someone less of a burden on society than giving them a weak diploma. I have classmates who skipped classes and dropped out and ones who D'd through, for whom education just didn't work, with no college degree, who have decently paying white collar jobs.

Anonymous wrote:I work in a Title One elementary school in MCPS. Our behaviors are off the charts this year. I honestly don't know how our admin continues to come to work each day. They constantly have kids in their offices. Even our staff development teacher, reading specialist, math coach AND both counselors are constantly with kids displaying behavior issues or eloping class. Admin can't suspend kids for running the halls, even in elementary school. I feel bad for our core team above because they can't do their actual jobs as they basically play security all day. I have some difficult kids but at least I can close my classroom door and ignore the chaos that's unfolding in rooms across the school.
Parents need to wake up and start parenting their kids rather than ignoring them on their phones or trying to be their friend. I applaud all of you who are trying your best to do right by your kids. Raise hell with the county council and board of ed. Your neighborhood school's principal can't do anything to make the changes we need to see.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 50% grade thing for doing nothing was done in the name of equity. They foujnd that too many kids of certain groups were not doing any work. By giving 50% for doing nothing, then if they at least did one or two assignments, it would be enough for a D and they'd pass.

Otherwise, MCPS would fail its equity goals because certain groups would have too high of a failure rate.

As a POC, it's a sick, twisted fix and I don't agree with it in the name of equity.

I do understand mathematically that too many zeros can make it mathematically impossible for a kid to recover from mistakes, but that's why I think due dates and deadlines are already a good grace that allows for revision and correction. Also, I think a policy that drops the three lowest grades, which used to be in effect when I was in MCPS in the '90s for some classes, also works too.

But the 50% automatic rule lowers the bar too much.

+1000 agree. When I went to HS eons ago in a rough area with not a lot of high achievers, high FARMS rate, they also let us drop the few lowest test scores. That is a much better way to deal with recovery because it still encourages them to try.

This 50% rule BS is not doing those kids any favors.

To be Devil’s advocate on just this one point, what is so wrong with a kid coasting through and barely passing with straight D’s? The alternative is not that they will somehow get their sh*t together and become model students. The alternative is that dropout rates will go through the roof. These kids aren’t going to college. Straight D’s aren’t much of a prize. They just mean maybe you can qualify for a menial job.

Frankly, a D should not be "passing" for a high school diploma, IMO. The long-term consequence in letting D being the standard for graduation, means that the high school diploma is worth less, which forces employers to rely on a bachelor's degree instead, just to get someone who can speak, write and read at a professional level, which then pushes more kids to college when they might just want to work.

So lowering the bar has all kinds of downstream effects that we pay for as a society. One of the reasons why previous generations could build wealth and own homes is that they actually could get a decent paying job with just a high school diploma. You could argue that society becoming more complex has also necessitated the push toward bachelor's degree as being the new standard, and that's part of it, but I also think lowering the standards for a high school diploma contributes to the problem too.

I would argue a HS diploma meant more 50 years ago than today. The standards are too low today for just HS grads to get a job as an electrician, for example. Some of these kids can barely read or do Algebra, do fractions.. yet, MCPS thinks these kids will be fine? They just unleash these graduates on society, and let society bear the burden of dealing with them.

It's a school to societal burden pipeline.

Anonymous wrote:Many schools don’t want parents involved.

Anonymous wrote:That teacher is not at a school with high property values.

If kids refuse to learn, that's a tragedy, but not harming others.

If a kid has a terrible behavior case, teacher shouldn't complain about skipping! That's a tragedy and a home and societal failure, but not the school's job.

MCPS needs to remove distruptive students from the classroom with the students who behave well, though. That's the main thing the admin can fix.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 50% grade thing for doing nothing was done in the name of equity. They foujnd that too many kids of certain groups were not doing any work. By giving 50% for doing nothing, then if they at least did one or two assignments, it would be enough for a D and they'd pass.

Otherwise, MCPS would fail its equity goals because certain groups would have too high of a failure rate.

As a POC, it's a sick, twisted fix and I don't agree with it in the name of equity.

I do understand mathematically that too many zeros can make it mathematically impossible for a kid to recover from mistakes, but that's why I think due dates and deadlines are already a good grace that allows for revision and correction. Also, I think a policy that drops the three lowest grades, which used to be in effect when I was in MCPS in the '90s for some classes, also works too.

But the 50% automatic rule lowers the bar too much.

+1000 agree. When I went to HS eons ago in a rough area with not a lot of high achievers, high FARMS rate, they also let us drop the few lowest test scores. That is a much better way to deal with recovery because it still encourages them to try.

This 50% rule BS is not doing those kids any favors.

To be Devil’s advocate on just this one point, what is so wrong with a kid coasting through and barely passing with straight D’s? The alternative is not that they will somehow get their sh*t together and become model students. The alternative is that dropout rates will go through the roof. These kids aren’t going to college. Straight D’s aren’t much of a prize. They just mean maybe you can qualify for a menial job.

Frankly, a D should not be "passing" for a high school diploma, IMO. The long-term consequence in letting D being the standard for graduation, means that the high school diploma is worth less, which forces employers to rely on a bachelor's degree instead, just to get someone who can speak, write and read at a professional level, which then pushes more kids to college when they might just want to work.

So lowering the bar has all kinds of downstream effects that we pay for as a society. One of the reasons why previous generations could build wealth and own homes is that they actually could get a decent paying job with just a high school diploma. You could argue that society becoming more complex has also necessitated the push toward bachelor's degree as being the new standard, and that's part of it, but I also think lowering the standards for a high school diploma contributes to the problem too.

I would argue a HS diploma meant more 50 years ago than today. The standards are too low today for just HS grads to get a job as an electrician, for example. Some of these kids can barely read or do Algebra, do fractions.. yet, MCPS thinks these kids will be fine? They just unleash these graduates on society, and let society bear the burden of dealing with them.

It's a school to societal burden pipeline.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 50% grade thing for doing nothing was done in the name of equity. They foujnd that too many kids of certain groups were not doing any work. By giving 50% for doing nothing, then if they at least did one or two assignments, it would be enough for a D and they'd pass.

Otherwise, MCPS would fail its equity goals because certain groups would have too high of a failure rate.

As a POC, it's a sick, twisted fix and I don't agree with it in the name of equity.

I do understand mathematically that too many zeros can make it mathematically impossible for a kid to recover from mistakes, but that's why I think due dates and deadlines are already a good grace that allows for revision and correction. Also, I think a policy that drops the three lowest grades, which used to be in effect when I was in MCPS in the '90s for some classes, also works too.

But the 50% automatic rule lowers the bar too much.

+1000 agree. When I went to HS eons ago in a rough area with not a lot of high achievers, high FARMS rate, they also let us drop the few lowest test scores. That is a much better way to deal with recovery because it still encourages them to try.

This 50% rule BS is not doing those kids any favors.

To be Devil’s advocate on just this one point, what is so wrong with a kid coasting through and barely passing with straight D’s? The alternative is not that they will somehow get their sh*t together and become model students. The alternative is that dropout rates will go through the roof. These kids aren’t going to college. Straight D’s aren’t much of a prize. They just mean maybe you can qualify for a menial job.

Frankly, a D should not be "passing" for a high school diploma, IMO. The long-term consequence in letting D being the standard for graduation, means that the high school diploma is worth less, which forces employers to rely on a bachelor's degree instead, just to get someone who can speak, write and read at a professional level, which then pushes more kids to college when they might just want to work.

So lowering the bar has all kinds of downstream effects that we pay for as a society. One of the reasons why previous generations could build wealth and own homes is that they actually could get a decent paying job with just a high school diploma. You could argue that society becoming more complex has also necessitated the push toward bachelor's degree as being the new standard, and that's part of it, but I also think lowering the standards for a high school diploma contributes to the problem too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 50% grade thing for doing nothing was done in the name of equity. They foujnd that too many kids of certain groups were not doing any work. By giving 50% for doing nothing, then if they at least did one or two assignments, it would be enough for a D and they'd pass.

Otherwise, MCPS would fail its equity goals because certain groups would have too high of a failure rate.

As a POC, it's a sick, twisted fix and I don't agree with it in the name of equity.

I do understand mathematically that too many zeros can make it mathematically impossible for a kid to recover from mistakes, but that's why I think due dates and deadlines are already a good grace that allows for revision and correction. Also, I think a policy that drops the three lowest grades, which used to be in effect when I was in MCPS in the '90s for some classes, also works too.

But the 50% automatic rule lowers the bar too much.

+1000 agree. When I went to HS eons ago in a rough area with not a lot of high achievers, high FARMS rate, they also let us drop the few lowest test scores. That is a much better way to deal with recovery because it still encourages them to try.

This 50% rule BS is not doing those kids any favors.

But a lot more kids, especially of certain groups, now pass due to the 50% rule. Therefore, MCPS's policy is working.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 50% grade thing for doing nothing was done in the name of equity. They foujnd that too many kids of certain groups were not doing any work. By giving 50% for doing nothing, then if they at least did one or two assignments, it would be enough for a D and they'd pass.

Otherwise, MCPS would fail its equity goals because certain groups would have too high of a failure rate.

As a POC, it's a sick, twisted fix and I don't agree with it in the name of equity.

I do understand mathematically that too many zeros can make it mathematically impossible for a kid to recover from mistakes, but that's why I think due dates and deadlines are already a good grace that allows for revision and correction. Also, I think a policy that drops the three lowest grades, which used to be in effect when I was in MCPS in the '90s for some classes, also works too.

But the 50% automatic rule lowers the bar too much.

+1000 agree. When I went to HS eons ago in a rough area with not a lot of high achievers, high FARMS rate, they also let us drop the few lowest test scores. That is a much better way to deal with recovery because it still encourages them to try.

This 50% rule BS is not doing those kids any favors.

To be Devil’s advocate on just this one point, what is so wrong with a kid coasting through and barely passing with straight D’s? The alternative is not that they will somehow get their sh*t together and become model students. The alternative is that dropout rates will go through the roof. These kids aren’t going to college. Straight D’s aren’t much of a prize. They just mean maybe you can qualify for a menial job.