Anonymous
Post 10/24/2023 20:07     Subject: Re:Do you edit your kid’s work?
I was surprised at how lackluster the English language instruction was at my son's middle school was, but I just knew it'd kick into high gear in high school, particularly since he was taking AP classes.

But nope, he got A's, even though when I downloaded his assignments from Canvas, I was less than impressed by the "A" papers. They also had no feedback on them. Reality really hit though when he took the AP exam and completely bombed it despite getting A's and B's in the class.

MCPS's grade inflation does not do the kids any favors. I hate it.
Anonymous
Post 10/24/2023 19:49     Subject: Re:Do you edit your kid’s work?
MCPS is horrendous when it comes to teaching writing skills. OP, my son also had perfect scores in middle school for writing assignments. We had a very rude awakening when we enrolled him in private school in 9th grade. He ended up not taking honors English in his new school based on the write up about the course which emphasized the rigor of the course. The regular English sufficed for his needs, which was basically to start from square one and develop his skills. MCPS never did this for him despite his perfect grades.

Anonymous
Post 10/24/2023 06:37     Subject: Do you edit your kid’s work?
Anonymous wrote:I don't. They have graphic organizers, still, in 11th grade honors English. They have spell check and grammar check in their google docs. And then, they can run it through an "originality" scan to make sure they aren't plagiarizing anything. How much easier can it get?


Unfortunately they also have AI.
Anonymous
Post 10/24/2023 06:36     Subject: Do you edit your kid’s work?
I have a junior in AP history and english and still waiting for the rigorous writing. What is also sad is since that they dont teach grammar in elementary school or sentence structure (remember diagramming a sentence)?

Well- grammar is all over the SAT samples I see so for a county that loves standardized testing you’d think they would be all over it.

Learning sentence structure in English is really helpful when kids are learning a new language. I can’t imagine trying to teach a verb tense in Spanish to kids who don’t know what that is in English.
Anonymous
Post 10/24/2023 06:14     Subject: Do you edit your kid’s work?
I don't. They have graphic organizers, still, in 11th grade honors English. They have spell check and grammar check in their google docs. And then, they can run it through an "originality" scan to make sure they aren't plagiarizing anything. How much easier can it get?
Anonymous
Post 10/23/2023 22:24     Subject: Do you edit your kid’s work?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I began doing light editing because my child has consistently gotten ZERO feedback on writing assignments, just generic rubric marks. Someone has to teach him how to write! It's maddening, but MCPS isn't willing to reduce class size etc. so that teachers can engage more.


This is the problem right here. Teachers don’t have time for meaningful feedback, not with class sizes and all the never-ending demands placed on them.


Agree. I now go over assignments with my kid after they are turned in/graded. Really hoping she will learn how to organize her thoughts and write more clearly - but don't think that's going to happen without parental oversight/involvement.
Anonymous
Post 10/23/2023 16:27     Subject: Do you edit your kid’s work?
Anonymous wrote:I’ve always been a “sink or swim” parent and haven’t really edited my children’s school work. My 6th grader who has always received straight A’s and has 100% is nearly all classes just asked me to review their writing assignment and I was appalled. After helping them make corrections, I asked to see past assignments that were equally appalling and was stunned to see perfect scores.

Why am I posting this?

Because I am beyond frustrated with how subpar mcps is when it comes to expectations and instruction.

Shame on me for assuming my straight A student in accelerated/honors classes was actually thriving. Now I’ll focus on getting them on track to meet my expectations rather than the dumbed down expectations of mcps.

Anyone else surprised by the writing skills of their straight A student? Just me?


You can do what college writing teachers often do, which is make detailed editorial comment on one page only. (The rest of the comments are developmental.) It gives the student a sense of how far off the mark they are and what kinds of mistakes they are making while leaving the ball in their court for the improvements.
Anonymous
Post 10/23/2023 14:18     Subject: Do you edit your kid’s work?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Never, but DD got her IB diploma and 770 in SAT, so I guess she turns out fine.


LOL Wait. How does that even happen? Did she purposely bomb the SAT?


DP. I'm guessing "IB diploma and 770 in SAT" refers to the English score, not the total score.


Yes 770 for the English part. 800 for math
Anonymous
Post 10/23/2023 13:58     Subject: Do you edit your kid’s work?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Never, but DD got her IB diploma and 770 in SAT, so I guess she turns out fine.


LOL Wait. How does that even happen? Did she purposely bomb the SAT?


DP. I'm guessing "IB diploma and 770 in SAT" refers to the English score, not the total score.


I hope so!
Anonymous
Post 10/23/2023 13:56     Subject: Do you edit your kid’s work?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Never, but DD got her IB diploma and 770 in SAT, so I guess she turns out fine.


LOL Wait. How does that even happen? Did she purposely bomb the SAT?


DP. I'm guessing "IB diploma and 770 in SAT" refers to the English score, not the total score.
Anonymous
Post 10/23/2023 13:34     Subject: Do you edit your kid’s work?
Anonymous wrote:I’ve always been a “sink or swim” parent and haven’t really edited my children’s school work. My 6th grader who has always received straight A’s and has 100% is nearly all classes just asked me to review their writing assignment and I was appalled. After helping them make corrections, I asked to see past assignments that were equally appalling and was stunned to see perfect scores.

Why am I posting this?

Because I am beyond frustrated with how subpar mcps is when it comes to expectations and instruction.

Shame on me for assuming my straight A student in accelerated/honors classes was actually thriving. Now I’ll focus on getting them on track to meet my expectations rather than the dumbed down expectations of mcps.

Anyone else surprised by the writing skills of their straight A student? Just me?


Oh trust me, this is not just happening in writing. Check all her other subjects and you will be alarmed. Unless your child is in magnet program or AP courses, the materials are totally watered down. Children are going off to college with elementary level writing skills. It is infuriating!
Anonymous
Post 10/23/2023 13:33     Subject: Do you edit your kid’s work?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Some of the teachers are poor writers as well. Their material is often fraught with spelling errors and incorrect word usage. They mix up homophones and do not place possessive quotations correctly. It’s scary.


Yeah, I've noticed this as well. When teachers' emails are riddled with typos and grammatical mistakes, I can't help but cringe and question their credibility. Obviously, this matters less for STEM classes but if you're an English teacher and your writing is a mess...yikes.


We've often found the best writing help in classes other than English.
Anonymous
Post 10/23/2023 12:02     Subject: Do you edit your kid’s work?
Anonymous wrote:I want to edit so so SO badly but no, I never have. If I even suggest they double check for errors they scowl and slink away, covering their work.


Same. I'm a writer but my kid hates for me to edit anything, which I get because I'm more critical than their teacher, but still, they're missing out on great education.
Anonymous
Post 10/23/2023 11:56     Subject: Do you edit your kid’s work?
I want to edit so so SO badly but no, I never have. If I even suggest they double check for errors they scowl and slink away, covering their work.
Anonymous
Post 10/23/2023 11:53     Subject: Do you edit your kid’s work?
Anonymous wrote:Never, but DD got her IB diploma and 770 in SAT, so I guess she turns out fine.


LOL Wait. How does that even happen? Did she purposely bomb the SAT?