Anonymous wrote:While increasing graduation rates is generally a positive trend, I can’t help but wonder how much of this rise is tied to the online credit recovery program many MCPS students use to make up failed courses.

For those unfamiliar, Edmentum allows students to recover credits in a relatively short amount of time. In my experience, many students do the bare minimum to pass, and answer keys are widely available on third-party websites. Actually pretty surprised there hasn't been a ton of reporting on the program, it's such a hack. This raises the question: Are we truly ensuring students have mastered the material, or are we just pushing them through to graduation...?

Does anyone know if MCPS has data on how Edmentum has impacted graduation rates? From my perspective (MCPS high school teacher), it seems like a major factor in the increase, but I’d be curious to see if the district has examined this more closely (though I'm sure we all can guess, the fix is in).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Watkins Mill has a principal who is new and energetic. She connects with the kids and she implemented the MCPS model for graduation interventions very well.

I’d say so too. I have hopes for all the 3 Hispanic majority schools as of now (WM, Gaithersburg, Kennedy), though Watkins Mill is the one that’s been improving a lot. How long has the principal at WM been there so far?

Anonymous wrote:Watkins Mill has a principal who is new and energetic. She connects with the kids and she implemented the MCPS model for graduation interventions very well.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teacher here and very skeptical of the 91% number. Admin can graduate pretty much anyone, it doesn't mean the students are actually learning more or are better prepared to join the real world. Ask college professors that teach freshmen and they'll probably tell you that the kids are not alright.

Not everyone goes to college. This is an incredibly classist comment.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If anyone wants to know the list of graduation rates for the C/O 2024, then here it is for each school.

Albert Einstein - 89.51%
Bethesda-Chevy Chase - >95%
Clarksburg - 94.15%
Col. Zadok Magruder - 90.3%
Damascus - 93.53%
Gaithersburg - 83.36%
James Hubert Blake - 90.8%
John F. Kennedy - 79.02%
Montgomery Blair - 93.75%
Northwest - >95%
Northwood - 91.07%
Paint Branch - 90.35%
Poolesville - >95%
Quince Orchard - 92.06%
Richard Montgomery - >95%
Rockville - 87.43%
Seneca Valley - 88.33%
Sherwood - >95%
Springbrook - 88.6%
Thomas S. Wootton - >95%
Walt Whitman - >95%
Walter Johnson - 94%
Watkins Mill - 92.15%
Wheaton - 86.64%
Winston Churchill - >95%

Im surprised Rockville is in the bottom 5. The school somehow performs better than SV and Wheaton and yet the rate decreased.

Anonymous wrote:HS diplomas are pretty much worthless at this point. Every employer knows that they are handed out like candy

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Online make-up courses are easy to click through, Google answers, or use AI to breeze through. Graduation rates are a joke but no one wants to do anything about improving learning requirements or accountability for attendance.

Shocking to see my students fail classes over and over and still walk graduation in time.

HS teacher here and I agree. Are some kids doing better? Sure. Are school staff working really hard to graduate as many kids as possible- yes. But there’s also pressure from Admin to bring up Ds and Es. Principals face immense pressure to improve their MSDE stat rating, and that pressure trickles down to everyone.

The online classes are a joke. I’ve seen some students in danger of not graduating have someone else complete the work for them so they can pass.

There absolutely should be pressure on teachers to help kids get their grades to a passing level so they can graduate. Without a HS diploma, it is virtually impossible to find a job that pays a living wage and provides health insurance and paid sick leave. Kids who do well benefit far less from your efforts than kids on the border of pass and fail. And it is the job of our schools to prepare kids to be successful after HS and that responsibility belongs primarily to teachers. To complain about pressure to do your job is one of the most disappointing things I’ve heard from a teacher.

And as for the huge awakening in college, kids who barely make it out of HS are not going to college in droves. Lack of preparation for college is a problem for a completely different group of kids - not those tho D’d out of HS.

Anonymous wrote:Watkins Mill being at 92 percent really confuses me so much. They are doing it too easy for the students there.

Anonymous wrote:If anyone wants to know the list of graduation rates for the C/O 2024, then here it is for each school.

Albert Einstein - 89.51%
Bethesda-Chevy Chase - >95%
Clarksburg - 94.15%
Col. Zadok Magruder - 90.3%
Damascus - 93.53%
Gaithersburg - 83.36%
James Hubert Blake - 90.8%
John F. Kennedy - 79.02%
Montgomery Blair - 93.75%
Northwest - >95%
Northwood - 91.07%
Paint Branch - 90.35%
Poolesville - >95%
Quince Orchard - 92.06%
Richard Montgomery - >95%
Rockville - 87.43%
Seneca Valley - 88.33%
Sherwood - >95%
Springbrook - 88.6%
Thomas S. Wootton - >95%
Walt Whitman - >95%
Walter Johnson - 94%
Watkins Mill - 92.15%
Wheaton - 86.64%
Winston Churchill - >95%

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Online make-up courses are easy to click through, Google answers, or use AI to breeze through. Graduation rates are a joke but no one wants to do anything about improving learning requirements or accountability for attendance.

Shocking to see my students fail classes over and over and still walk graduation in time.

HS teacher here and I agree. Are some kids doing better? Sure. Are school staff working really hard to graduate as many kids as possible- yes. But there’s also pressure from Admin to bring up Ds and Es. Principals face immense pressure to improve their MSDE stat rating, and that pressure trickles down to everyone.

The online classes are a joke. I’ve seen some students in danger of not graduating have someone else complete the work for them so they can pass.

There absolutely should be pressure on teachers to help kids get their grades to a passing level so they can graduate. Without a HS diploma, it is virtually impossible to find a job that pays a living wage and provides health insurance and paid sick leave. Kids who do well benefit far less from your efforts than kids on the border of pass and fail. And it is the job of our schools to prepare kids to be successful after HS and that responsibility belongs primarily to teachers. To complain about pressure to do your job is one of the most disappointing things I’ve heard from a teacher.

And as for the huge awakening in college, kids who barely make it out of HS are not going to college in droves. Lack of preparation for college is a problem for a completely different group of kids - not those tho D’d out of HS.

Thanks for the lecture. How do you suggest teachers help kids pass when they don’t come to school??? Or what should they do about the kids who are in school, but choose to walk the halls and hang out in bathrooms. Or maybe they do come to class but they watch tik tok the entire time with AirPods in and turn in nothing.

You clearly haven’t been in a HS in quite a long time.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Online make-up courses are easy to click through, Google answers, or use AI to breeze through. Graduation rates are a joke but no one wants to do anything about improving learning requirements or accountability for attendance.

Shocking to see my students fail classes over and over and still walk graduation in time.

HS teacher here and I agree. Are some kids doing better? Sure. Are school staff working really hard to graduate as many kids as possible- yes. But there’s also pressure from Admin to bring up Ds and Es. Principals face immense pressure to improve their MSDE stat rating, and that pressure trickles down to everyone.

The online classes are a joke. I’ve seen some students in danger of not graduating have someone else complete the work for them so they can pass.

There absolutely should be pressure on teachers to help kids get their grades to a passing level so they can graduate. Without a HS diploma, it is virtually impossible to find a job that pays a living wage and provides health insurance and paid sick leave. Kids who do well benefit far less from your efforts than kids on the border of pass and fail. And it is the job of our schools to prepare kids to be successful after HS and that responsibility belongs primarily to teachers. To complain about pressure to do your job is one of the most disappointing things I’ve heard from a teacher.

And as for the huge awakening in college, kids who barely make it out of HS are not going to college in droves. Lack of preparation for college is a problem for a completely different group of kids - not those tho D’d out of HS.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teacher here and very skeptical of the 91% number. Admin can graduate pretty much anyone, it doesn't mean the students are actually learning more or are better prepared to join the real world. Ask college professors that teach freshmen and they'll probably tell you that the kids are not alright.

This is exactly what happened at Northwood. The numbers are meaningless. Lots of pressure put on teachers by administrators to pass students.

This is happening at many schools. EML kids are being passed regardless of whether they are learning the material. Kids are being passed even if they miss more than 90 days of school. Attendance counts for nothing these days