For us, the problem has been a new philosophy in middle school instruction between 2022 and 2025. There is a new huge leap from 6th to 7th now, especially in terms of writing. Because of the big focus on math and Reid's goal to have everyone in Algebra in 8th, the writing curriculum stinks. But the high school teachers in our pyramid have been complaining to the middle school teachers that kids are showing up in honors classes not knowing how to write essays. So now the middle school teachers are including 7th grade tests with 12 point essay questions but not doing any writing practice or instruction to get the kids there. And my child had pretty much zero instruction on writing a test essay in elementary school.

So tutoring it is. I agree that writing needs to improve, but the teachers have to actually teach it.

This is brand new this year - my older child did not experience this - and it's been really frustrating and made for a hard transition to middle school. Lots of Cs and failed tests. Perfect scores on the multiple choice sections and zeros for essay answers that count for half of a test grade. Frustrating, but at least middle school grades don't go on a transcript.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There seems.to a lot of blame on teachers not teaching. What about students not learning? I am a good teacher and go over content in many different ways. I discuss it with notes, have students discuss every few slides with prompted questions so I can check if there are trouble spots and I do an activity that supports the concepts for the day. I teach an AP class and I would say only 20% take notes. Of those that do, it is rarely beyond the printed words on the slides. So, not helpful if they don't have the explanation to go with it when/if they study.

I would love for parents to be a fly on the wall for one day and see how your kid's actually act in school. I don't allow laptops but phone sneaking, sleeping, doing work for other classes is the norm rather than the exception. I call them out on off task behavior but at some point you just need to focus on the kids that actually want to learn. School isn't magic- kids have to put the work in and review every day.

How about you create the notes and post in the Schoology or have book chapters for students to use? Unless the focus of your class is learning how to take notes, you shouldn’t be making mastery of that skill a prerequisite to study the material. I am sure there are exceptions, but in all the years I’ve thought STEM postgraduate courses, I have never met a professor who did not provide the studying material and let students just focus on the lesson and participation. Or better yet, do what is done in college - provide the material ahead of the lesson. That way they can come even better prepared to participate and ask questions. But that would require too much work from you, right? I know teacher salaries are not great, but neither are salaries for most college professors. You ca blame the students, or you can try to see what is your own role here.

I am the teacher you are responding to. I actually do teach them how to take notes at the start of the year. I post all my notes on the first day of every unit and provide a scaffolding reading guide for them to supplement out notes at home. The first unit literally told what page to find each answer on. I weaned them off of that so they could learn to take notes themselves from textbook.

I am quite confident that I am going above and beyond providing resources for students. Your assumption that it is too much work is flat out wrong.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There seems.to a lot of blame on teachers not teaching. What about students not learning? I am a good teacher and go over content in many different ways. I discuss it with notes, have students discuss every few slides with prompted questions so I can check if there are trouble spots and I do an activity that supports the concepts for the day. I teach an AP class and I would say only 20% take notes. Of those that do, it is rarely beyond the printed words on the slides. So, not helpful if they don't have the explanation to go with it when/if they study.

I would love for parents to be a fly on the wall for one day and see how your kid's actually act in school. I don't allow laptops but phone sneaking, sleeping, doing work for other classes is the norm rather than the exception. I call them out on off task behavior but at some point you just need to focus on the kids that actually want to learn. School isn't magic- kids have to put the work in and review every day.

How about you create the notes and post in the Schoology or have book chapters for students to use? Unless the focus of your class is learning how to take notes, you shouldn’t be making mastery of that skill a prerequisite to study the material. I am sure there are exceptions, but in all the years I’ve thought STEM postgraduate courses, I have never met a professor who did not provide the studying material and let students just focus on the lesson and participation. Or better yet, do what is done in college - provide the material ahead of the lesson. That way they can come even better prepared to participate and ask questions. But that would require too much work from you, right? I know teacher salaries are not great, but neither are salaries for most college professors. You ca blame the students, or you can try to see what is your own role here.

DP.

You work with postgraduates who have already demonstrated interest and competence in your field. They got there by learning skills in k-12, with teachers who understood that giving students everything isn’t effective or practical. You give notes to a 10th grader and they’ll be playing Roblox on their phone before you say “Good morning, class.” At the lower levels, teachers have to help students find purpose, motivation, and the skills necessary to perform in a classroom or lab. They do the hard work so students can make it to you.

So before you insult teachers (“require too much work for you, right?”) and assume they are to blame (“see what is your own role here”), perhaps recall that your teaching experiences don’t remotely compare. There are a lot of hard-working teachers behind those STEM postgraduates who understood that study skills are intertwined with content mastery, and so they taught both.

I am PP you responded to.

Actually, you are wrong. I have taught and studied in several countries, and have many friends around the world. The concept that I described is very much used in all countries that have higher achievement scores than the United States. Not only that students have books and are required to read before they come to school, but they are also taught early on how to take notes. It begins with very simple and straightforward writing tasks day in and day out. It is integrated into teaching penmanship and focus. By the time they reach high school, note-taking is not a foreign concept.

I know you might not like my opinion (and that’s ok), but I do think that teachers who don’t post or hand out any material for students to study from are plain lazy. Luckily, not all teachers are the same.

I tire of people comparing US education to that in other countries. Looking at Norway (or any other country) to solve our problems is rather pointless.

And as a teacher who DOES post notes after class, I also TEACH my students to take notes. Why? Because I know that my 160 students come from many different middle schools and many different home situations. Some have undocumented learning differences, and many have documented ones. While you think it’s lazy if I don’t post, I think it’s lazy if I do. Because I know what high school education looks like right now, and I know students need buy-in, structure, and purpose. What do you think will happen if I tell 35 10th graders that all they need to do is check online for the notes?

So yes, you can disagree with me. But the truth is: one of us has direct, successful experience with this age group and the other does not.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There seems.to a lot of blame on teachers not teaching. What about students not learning? I am a good teacher and go over content in many different ways. I discuss it with notes, have students discuss every few slides with prompted questions so I can check if there are trouble spots and I do an activity that supports the concepts for the day. I teach an AP class and I would say only 20% take notes. Of those that do, it is rarely beyond the printed words on the slides. So, not helpful if they don't have the explanation to go with it when/if they study.

I would love for parents to be a fly on the wall for one day and see how your kid's actually act in school. I don't allow laptops but phone sneaking, sleeping, doing work for other classes is the norm rather than the exception. I call them out on off task behavior but at some point you just need to focus on the kids that actually want to learn. School isn't magic- kids have to put the work in and review every day.

How about you create the notes and post in the Schoology or have book chapters for students to use? Unless the focus of your class is learning how to take notes, you shouldn’t be making mastery of that skill a prerequisite to study the material. I am sure there are exceptions, but in all the years I’ve thought STEM postgraduate courses, I have never met a professor who did not provide the studying material and let students just focus on the lesson and participation. Or better yet, do what is done in college - provide the material ahead of the lesson. That way they can come even better prepared to participate and ask questions. But that would require too much work from you, right? I know teacher salaries are not great, but neither are salaries for most college professors. You ca blame the students, or you can try to see what is your own role here.

DP.

You work with postgraduates who have already demonstrated interest and competence in your field. They got there by learning skills in k-12, with teachers who understood that giving students everything isn’t effective or practical. You give notes to a 10th grader and they’ll be playing Roblox on their phone before you say “Good morning, class.” At the lower levels, teachers have to help students find purpose, motivation, and the skills necessary to perform in a classroom or lab. They do the hard work so students can make it to you.

So before you insult teachers (“require too much work for you, right?”) and assume they are to blame (“see what is your own role here”), perhaps recall that your teaching experiences don’t remotely compare. There are a lot of hard-working teachers behind those STEM postgraduates who understood that study skills are intertwined with content mastery, and so they taught both.

I am PP you responded to.

Actually, you are wrong. I have taught and studied in several countries, and have many friends around the world. The concept that I described is very much used in all countries that have higher achievement scores than the United States. Not only that students have books and are required to read before they come to school, but they are also taught early on how to take notes. It begins with very simple and straightforward writing tasks day in and day out. It is integrated into teaching penmanship and focus. By the time they reach high school, note-taking is not a foreign concept.

I know you might not like my opinion (and that’s ok), but I do think that teachers who don’t post or hand out any material for students to study from are plain lazy. Luckily, not all teachers are the same.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There seems.to a lot of blame on teachers not teaching. What about students not learning? I am a good teacher and go over content in many different ways. I discuss it with notes, have students discuss every few slides with prompted questions so I can check if there are trouble spots and I do an activity that supports the concepts for the day. I teach an AP class and I would say only 20% take notes. Of those that do, it is rarely beyond the printed words on the slides. So, not helpful if they don't have the explanation to go with it when/if they study.

I would love for parents to be a fly on the wall for one day and see how your kid's actually act in school. I don't allow laptops but phone sneaking, sleeping, doing work for other classes is the norm rather than the exception. I call them out on off task behavior but at some point you just need to focus on the kids that actually want to learn. School isn't magic- kids have to put the work in and review every day.

How about you create the notes and post in the Schoology or have book chapters for students to use? Unless the focus of your class is learning how to take notes, you shouldn’t be making mastery of that skill a prerequisite to study the material. I am sure there are exceptions, but in all the years I’ve thought STEM postgraduate courses, I have never met a professor who did not provide the studying material and let students just focus on the lesson and participation. Or better yet, do what is done in college - provide the material ahead of the lesson. That way they can come even better prepared to participate and ask questions. But that would require too much work from you, right? I know teacher salaries are not great, but neither are salaries for most college professors. You ca blame the students, or you can try to see what is your own role here.

DP.

You work with postgraduates who have already demonstrated interest and competence in your field. They got there by learning skills in k-12, with teachers who understood that giving students everything isn’t effective or practical. You give notes to a 10th grader and they’ll be playing Roblox on their phone before you say “Good morning, class.” At the lower levels, teachers have to help students find purpose, motivation, and the skills necessary to perform in a classroom or lab. They do the hard work so students can make it to you.

So before you insult teachers (“require too much work for you, right?”) and assume they are to blame (“see what is your own role here”), perhaps recall that your teaching experiences don’t remotely compare. There are a lot of hard-working teachers behind those STEM postgraduates who understood that study skills are intertwined with content mastery, and so they taught both.

Anonymous wrote:There seems.to a lot of blame on teachers not teaching. What about students not learning? I am a good teacher and go over content in many different ways. I discuss it with notes, have students discuss every few slides with prompted questions so I can check if there are trouble spots and I do an activity that supports the concepts for the day. I teach an AP class and I would say only 20% take notes. Of those that do, it is rarely beyond the printed words on the slides. So, not helpful if they don't have the explanation to go with it when/if they study.

I would love for parents to be a fly on the wall for one day and see how your kid's actually act in school. I don't allow laptops but phone sneaking, sleeping, doing work for other classes is the norm rather than the exception. I call them out on off task behavior but at some point you just need to focus on the kids that actually want to learn. School isn't magic- kids have to put the work in and review every day.

How about you create the notes and post in the Schoology or have book chapters for students to use? Unless the focus of your class is learning how to take notes, you shouldn’t be making mastery of that skill a prerequisite to study the material. I am sure there are exceptions, but in all the years I’ve thought STEM postgraduate courses, I have never met a professor who did not provide the studying material and let students just focus on the lesson and participation. Or better yet, do what is done in college - provide the material ahead of the lesson. That way they can come even better prepared to participate and ask questions. But that would require too much work from you, right? I know teacher salaries are not great, but neither are salaries for most college professors. You ca blame the students, or you can try to see what is your own role here.

Seriously? We were never taught how to take notes and we all mayo get advanced degrees. I never knew about Cornell notes, etc until my son was required to use certain methods in HS. I think he had once class where they went over the particular method and then he went on YouTube to get extra practice. His teachers would spot check their written notes for a grade.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There seems.to a lot of blame on teachers not teaching. What about students not learning? I am a good teacher and go over content in many different ways. I discuss it with notes, have students discuss every few slides with prompted questions so I can check if there are trouble spots and I do an activity that supports the concepts for the day. I teach an AP class and I would say only 20% take notes. Of those that do, it is rarely beyond the printed words on the slides. So, not helpful if they don't have the explanation to go with it when/if they study.

I would love for parents to be a fly on the wall for one day and see how your kid's actually act in school. I don't allow laptops but phone sneaking, sleeping, doing work for other classes is the norm rather than the exception. I call them out on off task behavior but at some point you just need to focus on the kids that actually want to learn. School isn't magic- kids have to put the work in and review every day.

Part of the problem is that no one has taught them how to take notes. They have been given guided notes all through elementary and middle school. They literally filled in the blanks for 8 years and then in high school they do not know how to take notes straight from a lecture. This has to be taught! Teach them how to take notes. Incentivize them to take notes. If the right incentives are there, they will do it. Also, the teacher needs to write out notes for weeks, teaching them the process.

I’m an English teacher. I slowly and methodically teach students how to take notes. I collect notes and provide feedback on notes. We practice, we review, and then I assess. I PROMISE YOU there is nothing more I can do to teach and reinforce these skills. And planning all of these opportunities for students to succeed is done on my own time. I sacrifice time with my own family every night.

And I am going to agree with the teacher above. I can reinforce, differentiate, encourage, reteach, support, incentivize (using things I paid for myself), etc… and it still doesn’t work for some students.

Some students fight me at every turn. And the rudeness! I, too, would like parents to see what their students are like during the school day. I can call home, email home… and so little changes.

I’m doing my part.

Anonymous wrote:There seems.to a lot of blame on teachers not teaching. What about students not learning? I am a good teacher and go over content in many different ways. I discuss it with notes, have students discuss every few slides with prompted questions so I can check if there are trouble spots and I do an activity that supports the concepts for the day. I teach an AP class and I would say only 20% take notes. Of those that do, it is rarely beyond the printed words on the slides. So, not helpful if they don't have the explanation to go with it when/if they study.

I would love for parents to be a fly on the wall for one day and see how your kid's actually act in school. I don't allow laptops but phone sneaking, sleeping, doing work for other classes is the norm rather than the exception. I call them out on off task behavior but at some point you just need to focus on the kids that actually want to learn. School isn't magic- kids have to put the work in and review every day.

Part of the problem is that no one has taught them how to take notes. They have been given guided notes all through elementary and middle school. They literally filled in the blanks for 8 years and then in high school they do not know how to take notes straight from a lecture. This has to be taught! Teach them how to take notes. Incentivize them to take notes. If the right incentives are there, they will do it. Also, the teacher needs to write out notes for weeks, teaching them the process.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With the emphasis on assessments and retakes only to 90, do you think grades are as high as they have been in the past? Wondering especially for those in honors and AP classes. I know we hear about grade inflation a lot, but this seems like a high bar to meet. Would love to hear from any teachers as well, who see a broader cross section of grades.

The retake policy seems to be something that came out of COVID or was seriously adjusted in COVID. I remember people discussing retakes only to an 80% on an exam. Enough incentive for kids who failed or had lower grades and wanted to improve them but not so high as to disincentivize studying for kids aiming for better grades.

There is no reason to give kids retakes to try and get an A from an A-. Students who are serious about school need to learn to prioritize their time and study for the test on the test date. If they get a B, they get a B.

Personally, I would adjust the policy further and only allow retakes up to a 75%. That gives kids who are struggling or skipping or whatever some grace to recoop their grade without rewarding kids for blowing off studying.

+1

70% or 75% should be the max allowed on a retake.

No, this would be a dis incentive for students to master the material. We want the kids to be encouraged to study, to learn from their mistakes, and to further their understanding. Students with any initial grade should be allowed to complete the remediation activities and retake the test.

They would be encouraged to master the material BEFORE the assessment rather than relying on a retake.

That approach to assessment worked for many, many generations. The only thing that is different now is that we coddle kids, protect them from any discomfort or disappointment, and use any method necessary to make it seem like no one ever fails. Instead of helping kids learn, we are failing an entire generation.

There seems.to a lot of blame on teachers not teaching. What about students not learning? I am a good teacher and go over content in many different ways. I discuss it with notes, have students discuss every few slides with prompted questions so I can check if there are trouble spots and I do an activity that supports the concepts for the day. I teach an AP class and I would say only 20% take notes. Of those that do, it is rarely beyond the printed words on the slides. So, not helpful if they don't have the explanation to go with it when/if they study.

I would love for parents to be a fly on the wall for one day and see how your kid's actually act in school. I don't allow laptops but phone sneaking, sleeping, doing work for other classes is the norm rather than the exception. I call them out on off task behavior but at some point you just need to focus on the kids that actually want to learn. School isn't magic- kids have to put the work in and review every day.

Yes absolutely. The summarize/formative weight are unfair. Each teacher also created their own curriculum, teaching materials, tests, online platform. No textbooks or standardization, consistency of online platforms.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Grades are ridiculously inflated. It is so out of control, and has been for a number of years, that people now think it is normal for a kid who can't pass an SOL to have a 4.25 or for an entire class to have A's.

There needs to be a huge overhaul in grading. Do not allow retakes at all. Do not allow late submissions other than when a kid has an excused absence.

The grade inflation is out of hand.

Once FCPS teacher actually start teaching again and caring we can talk about grades. Grade inflation is not happening at every school and honestly the bigger problem is how many high school teachers put everything on slides and shrug their shoulders when kids are NOT getting the material. Every parent I know has tutors because students are not being taught in classes. There are some good teachers but they are far and few between. It's hurting the kids.

+1. They don’t teach. They just put packets together and tell the kids to fill it out. Then they tell them what date the test will be. The learning is largely happening outside of school. Then the student returns for the test. No teacher ever goes over homework problems out loud. No one goes over old exams and talks about what people missed. There is no learning from all of these assessments. Many times the teachers hoard the tests and test questions and the students only see their score. This is why learning is awful at FCPS. It is predominantly—self-learning which parents see as a need for a tutor.

+ a million. We are thinking of homeschooling the rest of high school. Why should our kids have to be at school 7.5 hours and then go to tutors all afternoon because the tutors are the ones who will actually teach the material FCPS is truly broken. What a waste of time. No one cares about students anymore. FCPS is failing kids quite literally

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Grades are ridiculously inflated. It is so out of control, and has been for a number of years, that people now think it is normal for a kid who can't pass an SOL to have a 4.25 or for an entire class to have A's.

There needs to be a huge overhaul in grading. Do not allow retakes at all. Do not allow late submissions other than when a kid has an excused absence.

The grade inflation is out of hand.

Once FCPS teacher actually start teaching again and caring we can talk about grades. Grade inflation is not happening at every school and honestly the bigger problem is how many high school teachers put everything on slides and shrug their shoulders when kids are NOT getting the material. Every parent I know has tutors because students are not being taught in classes. There are some good teachers but they are far and few between. It's hurting the kids.

+1. They don’t teach. They just put packets together and tell the kids to fill it out. Then they tell them what date the test will be. The learning is largely happening outside of school. Then the student returns for the test. No teacher ever goes over homework problems out loud. No one goes over old exams and talks about what people missed. There is no learning from all of these assessments. Many times the teachers hoard the tests and test questions and the students only see their score. This is why learning is awful at FCPS. It is predominantly—self-learning which parents see as a need for a tutor.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With the emphasis on assessments and retakes only to 90, do you think grades are as high as they have been in the past? Wondering especially for those in honors and AP classes. I know we hear about grade inflation a lot, but this seems like a high bar to meet. Would love to hear from any teachers as well, who see a broader cross section of grades.

The retake policy seems to be something that came out of COVID or was seriously adjusted in COVID. I remember people discussing retakes only to an 80% on an exam. Enough incentive for kids who failed or had lower grades and wanted to improve them but not so high as to disincentivize studying for kids aiming for better grades.

There is no reason to give kids retakes to try and get an A from an A-. Students who are serious about school need to learn to prioritize their time and study for the test on the test date. If they get a B, they get a B.

Personally, I would adjust the policy further and only allow retakes up to a 75%. That gives kids who are struggling or skipping or whatever some grace to recoop their grade without rewarding kids for blowing off studying.

+1

70% or 75% should be the max allowed on a retake.

No, this would be a dis incentive for students to master the material. We want the kids to be encouraged to study, to learn from their mistakes, and to further their understanding. Students with any initial grade should be allowed to complete the remediation activities and retake the test.