Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The work habits were only 10 percent of the grade before if that. I don’t know what class people were getting great grades for work habits beyond just learning material through practice but actually work habits are very important in most jobs anyway. What age child do you have? The units aren’t set up for skills. They are set up for subject material. Did you have a child before this change in the high school program? Was there a problem before that this skills based testing solves? You make assumptions that I didn’t seeing before with the old program. The new grading creates more work for the teacher and less incentive and less organization for the student. I don’t see a benefit to it and am concerned by the extra work to implement and follow.

You can watch the video. They explain what it is based on and there are QR codes for those who want more background information and the latest understandings of educational policy/research.

I don't really care if they stayed with the old, or move to the new policy. My kid is fine either way. And as a parent, I'm fine either way. I just think this whole thread is D.R.A.M.A --- but that's what you should expect in a school that has a whole lot of smart parents who are generally attached to tradition, and have opinions about everything that they are bold enough to share. Different parts of the county have different levels of this. Vienna does not have shrinking violets, that's for sure.

It's just grading policy. It's NOT life or death. And colleges will still take Madison graduates!

Yes, colleges will still take Madison kids but they will be at a disadvantage coming from a school where grades are being normalized downward vs the grade inflation elsewhere in FCPS.

Competition for college spots is tougher every year. So no not life or death but it may impact the future of some kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Grading isn’t equitable. The closer we can get to no grades the better.

Life isn’t equitable. Grades provide a basis for setting people on a proper path. They do it so much better in the UK.

Anonymous wrote:Grading isn’t equitable. The closer we can get to no grades the better.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is interesting is that IB schools can’t do this. They have to follow IB assessment policies.

This is why I’m so glad DD will be taking AP courses in most core subjects next year. Our experience this year was that, since the College Board determines the curriculum, DDs AP class was the one least impacted by the SBG mess.

Anonymous wrote:I watched the video (I'm a Madison parent) and I thought it was a good description, and a good policy. I really think it's the competitive parents/students who are posting so strenuously against this. They don't like it one bit that some other kid MIGHT just get a bit of a boost for showing progress through the year. They get their A's ALL through the year without exception, and they feel this "softer" grading policy is going to make their perfection less notable.

The point of the SBG is to focus on whether you ultimately master the material, and to stop grading for "work habits."

I'm fine with both of those policies. As long as my kid learns the material (whether that is immediately, or over a few months), I don't care. I want them to learn it. And as for work habits, of course those are important in life.... but doesn't need to be part of the grade. Work habits can be assessed in other ways for those who excel in their work habits. (They will still be able to show that on their applications b/c they are the ones who start a club or go the extra mile in volunteering or whatever.)

I think this policy is just fine. My kid thinks it's fine. And, based on what is happening -- sounds like those who are all spun up about it are not going to change it. Sounds to me like it's here to stay. Might as well get used to it.

Anonymous wrote:I watched the video (I'm a Madison parent) and I thought it was a good description, and a good policy. I really think it's the competitive parents/students who are posting so strenuously against this. They don't like it one bit that some other kid MIGHT just get a bit of a boost for showing progress through the year. They get their A's ALL through the year without exception, and they feel this "softer" grading policy is going to make their perfection less notable.

The point of the SBG is to focus on whether you ultimately master the material, and to stop grading for "work habits."

I'm fine with both of those policies. As long as my kid learns the material (whether that is immediately, or over a few months), I don't care. I want them to learn it. And as for work habits, of course those are important in life.... but doesn't need to be part of the grade. [b]
I think this policy is just fine. My kid thinks it's fine. And, based on what is happening -- sounds like those who are all spun up about it are not going to change it. Sounds to me like it's here to stay. Might as well get used to it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The work habits were only 10 percent of the grade before if that. I don’t know what class people were getting great grades for work habits beyond just learning material through practice but actually work habits are very important in most jobs anyway. What age child do you have? The units aren’t set up for skills. They are set up for subject material. Did you have a child before this change in the high school program? Was there a problem before that this skills based testing solves? You make assumptions that I didn’t seeing before with the old program. The new grading creates more work for the teacher and less incentive and less organization for the student. I don’t see a benefit to it and am concerned by the extra work to implement and follow.

You can watch the video. They explain what it is based on and there are QR codes for those who want more background information and the latest understandings of educational policy/research.

I don't really care if they stayed with the old, or move to the new policy. My kid is fine either way. And as a parent, I'm fine either way. I just think this whole thread is D.R.A.M.A --- but that's what you should expect in a school that has a whole lot of smart parents who are generally attached to tradition, and have opinions about everything that they are bold enough to share. Different parts of the county have different levels of this. Vienna does not have shrinking violets, that's for sure.

It's just grading policy. It's NOT life or death. And colleges will still take Madison graduates!

Anonymous wrote:Every time fcps tries a new curriculum 10 years later we are having to revisit it. I feel like the kids are always just Guinea pigs for some new educational trend. Where else is this being done effectively?

Anonymous wrote:The work habits were only 10 percent of the grade before if that. I don’t know what class people were getting great grades for work habits beyond just learning material through practice but actually work habits are very important in most jobs anyway. What age child do you have? The units aren’t set up for skills. They are set up for subject material. Did you have a child before this change in the high school program? Was there a problem before that this skills based testing solves? You make assumptions that I didn’t seeing before with the old program. The new grading creates more work for the teacher and less incentive and less organization for the student. I don’t see a benefit to it and am concerned by the extra work to implement and follow.