Why should an A earned in middle school factor into the HS grade point average many years later (Grade 9 through 12)? A concussion in middle school may very well spuriously inflate the true high school grade point average if that student suffered severe cognitive deficits from the middle school brain injury during a soccer match?

And a kid with a D in 6th grade that turns the proverbial corner by 8th grade should not have the D grade officially factored into the official HS grade point average (9th through 12th) becaus of the D earned in 6th grade?

Anonymous wrote:ONE - give the colleges a little credit. You think they will refuse to admit a kid who got a B while taking a high school level course in seventh or eighth grade? They can read.
TWO - give the kids a little credit. The point of school is not to achieve the highest possible GPA. Better to struggle a bit, get a lower grade, and actually learn something than to coast through taking easier courses and keeping that GPA high.

You don't have to give MCPS any credit - they haven't really earned it on this one, since they don't get points one or two.

I agree with your points to a certain extent. But
-- What if a kid gets a C or worse in middle school?
-- Also, I want my kid to challenge himself. But why does that challenge come with a potential cost in middle school already, when many kids still don't have it together yet?

ONE - give the colleges a little credit. You think they will refuse to admit a kid who got a B while taking a high school level course in seventh or eighth grade? They can read.
TWO - give the kids a little credit. The point of school is not to achieve the highest possible GPA. Better to struggle a bit, get a lower grade, and actually learn something than to coast through taking easier courses and keeping that GPA high.

You don't have to give MCPS any credit - they haven't really earned it on this one, since they don't get points one or two.

When MCPS instituted that policy do you actually think thay had the well being of the education of middle school children in mind?

What educator with any brains would wait and institute the mandatory learning of languages in high school? They need to go back to school.

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.

You are right. But that would mean the child would forego foreign language class in middle school which, IMO, is a very bad thing. It is a great time to learn a foreign language.

Moreover, middle school should be a "practice run" for trying and failing and getting up and trying again. It should allow students to explore subjects (e.g. foreign languages) they think they may be interested in, without fear of it having a permanent effect on their long-term future.

This practice is at odds with where middle schoolers are, developmentally speaking. It makes the stakes too high, for children too young to handle them.

First of all, I agree that there is a big difference between what courses you need to graduate and what grades you earned in high school. When I went to college I could use AP credits, or even a placement exam, to waive out certain course distribution requirements, but of course that did not mean that my grade from that class in high school was averaged into my college GPA.

The folk down at MCPS could learn a thing or two from the educators at the next level.

We are saying the same thing. Middle schoolers should be allowed to challenge themselves with advanced courses as appropriate. If they get a bad grade it goes on their transcript like all other courses. The grade (bad or good for that matter) does not belong on the calculated grade point average for HS since the advance courses were not taken in the high school years. Courses taken in high school belong on the official HS grade point average. If MCPS choose to give kids credit towards their high school diploma for advanced courses taken in elementary and middle school this is fine though I object to those grades forming part of the official calculated high school grade point average since they were not taken in HS.

A lot can happen to a child (intellectually and academically) in both directions 5, 6, 8 years out of the 4 year high school period to invalidate a high school grade point average. This is pricely why our leading Colleges and Universities could care less about the A (or F) you got in High School Honors Geometry in the 5th grade.

First of all, I agree that there is a big difference between what courses you need to graduate and what grades you earned in high school. When I went to college I could use AP credits, or even a placement exam, to waive out certain course distribution requirements, but of course that did not mean that my grade from that class in high school was averaged into my college GPA.

Second, it's not even clear to me that these classes are even required to graduate high school. A kid who takes calculus in high school has no need to take any other math classes to graduate, right? So if she takes algebra in 7th grade and calculus in 11th grade why would algebra be part of her high school transcript? Same thing with foreign languages-- if you don't even need them to graduate then why make them high school classes at all?