Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well if the exams are similar to the county finals they used to give...they were really basic exams designed for everyone to be able to pass. They were often the easiest assessments. My kids considered them grade boosters (or ignored them if they already had a strong A).

They are not now. In fact, data reporting on scores shows District Assessment being the lowest scores.

Grades then external assessments(MCAP,MAP, Dibels), and then District Assessments.

What reporting?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The formal assessments are harder than typical assessments and are not retakable. For example, the Study Sync formal assessments that my kid took last year were much more challenging than the regular assessments, and the teacher couldn't return them (because they are the same each year) so we couldn't even figure out what our kid had gotten wrong. The regular quizzes were much easier. I'm not sure how it is when there is not a formal external curriculum (as in high school English and higher-level math), but for middle school and some high school math the district assessments are harder than the regular assessments.

Yes, my kid got a 7/14 on the honors pre-calc assessment. Kid works hard at math but needs a lot practice and got some delta math questions one day ahead, which was not enough time to study. Not happy about this and I expect my child will be very discouraged.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The formal assessments are harder than typical assessments and are not retakable. For example, the Study Sync formal assessments that my kid took last year were much more challenging than the regular assessments, and the teacher couldn't return them (because they are the same each year) so we couldn't even figure out what our kid had gotten wrong. The regular quizzes were much easier. I'm not sure how it is when there is not a formal external curriculum (as in high school English and higher-level math), but for middle school and some high school math the district assessments are harder than the regular assessments.

Yes, my kid got a 7/14 on the honors pre-calc assessment. Kid works hard at math but needs a lot practice and got some delta math questions one day ahead, which was not enough time to study. Not happy about this and I expect my child will be very discouraged.

Anonymous wrote:The formal assessments are harder than typical assessments and are not retakable. For example, the Study Sync formal assessments that my kid took last year were much more challenging than the regular assessments, and the teacher couldn't return them (because they are the same each year) so we couldn't even figure out what our kid had gotten wrong. The regular quizzes were much easier. I'm not sure how it is when there is not a formal external curriculum (as in high school English and higher-level math), but for middle school and some high school math the district assessments are harder than the regular assessments.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The grading and reporting regulation has something on this: "In secondary courses for which there are districtwide assessments, selected assessments may be calculated as 10 percent of the marking period grade,
as directed by OCIP or the MSDE." http://ww2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/policy/pdf/ika-ra%20master.pdf

This came from OCIP, which is generally terrible at communicating.

Link doesn't work

http://ww2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/policy/pdf/ika-ra%20master.pdf

This just confirms the poor communication on this topic. The fact that district wide assessments may be counted as 10 percent is neither mandatory, nor does it require its own special grading category for the County test as it appears it is being implemented in high schools. (Language on Page 13 of the IKA RA linked above) I am not sure how MCPS expected parents to understand this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Would it kill them to just call them finals??

They aren’t finals. It’s a progress check on a subset of skills from one unit. Less than a typical quiz.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The grading and reporting regulation has something on this: "In secondary courses for which there are districtwide assessments, selected assessments may be calculated as 10 percent of the marking period grade,
as directed by OCIP or the MSDE." http://ww2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/policy/pdf/ika-ra%20master.pdf

This came from OCIP, which is generally terrible at communicating.

Link doesn't work

http://ww2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/policy/pdf/ika-ra%20master.pdf

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The grading and reporting regulation has something on this: "In secondary courses for which there are districtwide assessments, selected assessments may be calculated as 10 percent of the marking period grade,
as directed by OCIP or the MSDE." http://ww2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/policy/pdf/ika-ra%20master.pdf

This came from OCIP, which is generally terrible at communicating.

Link doesn't work

Anonymous wrote:
The grading and reporting regulation has something on this: "In secondary courses for which there are districtwide assessments, selected assessments may be calculated as 10 percent of the marking period grade,
as directed by OCIP or the MSDE." https://ww2.montgomerysch...master.pdf

This came from OCIP, which is generally terrible at communicating.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well if the exams are similar to the county finals they used to give...they were really basic exams designed for everyone to be able to pass. They were often the easiest assessments. My kids considered them grade boosters (or ignored them if they already had a strong A).

They are not now. In fact, data reporting on scores shows District Assessment being the lowest scores.

Grades then external assessments(MCAP,MAP, Dibels), and then District Assessments.

Anonymous wrote:Would it kill them to just call them finals??