Anonymous wrote:So sorry for you poor people that have to go to public school...mcps...what a mess. Gladly moving on to a private next year. You all should consider it too if you can swing it financially. I would be very concerned about my child in this school system right now.

funny thing?

I have quite a few friends with children who attended privates from K-12. Many - if not the majority - couldn't get into UMCP.

This situation is being driven by terrible Algebra 1 scores. Remove the exams and then *POOF* the kids are learning more.
It's time to stop what they are proposing or vote with our feet.

So sorry for you poor people that have to go to public school...mcps...what a mess. Gladly moving on to a private next year. You all should consider it too if you can swing it financially. I would be very concerned about my child in this school system right now.

Anonymous wrote:in other words- dumb it down so we can shrink the gap. Then when all the families with top students flee or eschew MoCo the gap will really become non-existent.

This is really what seems to be happening. I'm waiting to hear more, but instead of all this focus on closing the achievement gap, the US as a whole needs to just focus on improvement FOR ALL STUDENTS. Kids who are doing well, kids who are meeting benchmarks, kids who need extra help. MCPS needs to show that kids are improving as they progress through the school system. All kids.

in other words- dumb it down so we can shrink the gap. Then when all the families with top students flee or eschew MoCo the gap will really become non-existent.

If you eliminate those things which create differentiation (like final exams) the achievement gap theoretically shrinks. We shall see.

Anonymous wrote:Lol - iiitttttttt'sss commmmiiiinnggg... I, P, ES in Middle School. Just wait. It's all about leveling the playing field. If you read the FY16 budget proposal the first paragraph emphasizes the main focus is to minimize the achievement gap. Here is a snip on the Mission of Middle School in MCPS.

MCPS does not use report card grades as a measure of the achievement gap. Therefore changing to standards-based grading in middle school would have no effect on the achievement gap.

Lol - iiitttttttt'sss commmmiiiinnggg... I, P, ES in Middle School. Just wait. It's all about leveling the playing field. If you read the FY16 budget proposal the first paragraph emphasizes the main focus is to minimize the achievement gap. Here is a snip on the Mission of Middle School in MCPS.

It sounded like the first semester will be ok and then there are no more exams for any high school courses. Part of the reasoning? Because the Algebra 1 scores were too low. I can't support removing testing, dumbing down requirements (and a whole lot of other bad insider things I know are in the pipeline). In other words, MCPS just lost another really dedicated, high-quality teacher.

Flame away, but I do have standards. They have been slowly whittled away at, but this is really the final straw at indicating that they wish to have unqualified technicians, not educators. They want to make sure everyone "feels" successful vs. actually making them successful.

Yes it will still have a final exam. I am wondering how they will schedule the math and language finals. Seems like lots of class time will be lost anyways..with kids missing classes to take exams in others.

So just to clarify, my 8th grader will likely still take a final exam for Algebra I since it's considered a high school class?

But they are necessary to demonstrate retention of material.

Two-hour finals at the end of the semester are necessary to demonstrate retention of material? Why?

What about "prep" for the 3-hour end of semester/term exams in college? Maybe MCPS will convince colleges and universities to do away with end of semester/term exams?

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:It sounds like all high school exams will be replaced with centrally created assessments. This is the end of quality instruction, folks. Central office will make high school students who will be unable to perform in college.

http://www.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/9Y733R706C81/$file/Assessment%20Strategy.pdf

The finals were all centralized anyways...

No they weren't. Only core classes had centralized finals.

OK..just SS, math, English, Science, Langauges..that is the majority of kids schedules in HS. You are right..no finals in PE and Pottery.

THREE of the SEVENTEEN science courses taught at our school have centralized exams and all have finals.

All grade-level English classes have county exams (9-12, both semesters). The electives don't, but many teachers assign culminating projects (theatre, for example, where kids perform a scene)

Years ago, we were given course objectives which guided us in creating lessons, and of course, we wrote the exams (three in English -for honors, on level and "skills"). Once the Core Learning Goals were introduced by the state, the guides became centralized. The CLGs were then replaced by the Common Core Standards. Either way - whether you follow the guides or not - you must teach the standards. All tasks can be adapted (or revised entirely) to fit the needs of the students.

But the exams are written to mirror the tasks (writing an argument, for example) and to address the CC standards.

Yes this is why the centralized exams started. People compared the curriculum in different parts of the county and realized that Algebra was not the same course in each school.

Anonymous wrote:I think they need to stop the centralized exams. They are relatively new & a terrible idea.

If they're teaching the same curriculum, why shouldn't they have the same exams?