Anonymous
Post 02/04/2017 00:14     Subject: disappointment with grades
Previous poster is wrong.

11th graders in in alg ii are in the third track, not the regular track.

Seniors who are advanced are in calc their junior year.

Seniors in the regular track reach calc their senior year and can opt for stats,

Those in the slower track are in algebra ii as juniors.
Anonymous
Post 02/03/2017 21:42     Subject: disappointment with grades
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Algebra 2 C+
English 11 A-
Psychology A-
Infosytems A
Physics B
Spanish A-
US History A


I'd be on the phone with a good tutor, twice a week to tackle science and math. Likely some SERIOUS gaps in the education, perhaps from previous years, i.e. algebra 1.


No.

You are wrong.

This kid is taking English 11. I assume this means the kid is in 11th grade?

Other than physics, there are no advanced classes on this list. No APs. No honors classes.

And the kid is taking Algebra 2 as an 11th grader.

Algebra 2 is taken in 8th around here if you are exceptionally gifted in math, 9th if you are advanced in math, and 10th if you are average in math.

OPs daughter is taking it in 11th, which puts her behind in math to start with. On top of that, she is making a C.

She might just be a hard working kid who struggles in school. Or she might have a learning disability.

Hours with a tutor might not be what she needs. She might not cut out for math and might have to steer her college goals into other areas where her strengths are.


Kids are in Algebra 2 in 11th grade UNLESS they took Algebra early - 8th grade as opposed to 9th grade. Being in Precal in 12th grade is what used to be normal.

Anonymous
Post 02/03/2017 21:36     Subject: Re:disappointment with grades
I always made straight A's growing up, and never had to study. I know my kids, and what each of them are capable of, so I expect more from one than I do from another. One makes better grades, the other does not. One plans to go to college, the other does not. That's totally up to her. Everyone is different, and we all have our own strengths and weaknesses. I was considered to be the smartest person in school from 1st-12th, and I really did not care. All I ever wanted to do from age six until forever was to play the piano. It's my first love, and I have no regrets. I have spent my life with my music, and am completely fulfilled. Let your kids be themselves. If they make a B or a C here and there, it's not the end of everything. Chill a little.
Anonymous
Post 02/01/2017 21:24     Subject: disappointment with grades
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Would you be very disappointment with the following grades? 3A-,2A, 1B, 1C+? NO HONORS OR AP CLASSES!!!


No, I would be proud of DC for the 5 As/A minuses. I would not get so upset about the courses not being honors or AP classes, especially if it is during the early high school years. I would try to figure out why the C+ grade is there, especially if it is in a core subject. Maybe DC needs some extra support?


Why isn't he taking any honors classes? I suppose that is the right decision or you would have made a different one, right? Work on the C. Grades are fine (except for a problem to solve, but not to get angry about).
Anonymous
Post 02/01/2017 17:56     Subject: disappointment with grades
I also wouldn't discount the teacher. I have one straight a student who worked her tail off and doesn't take "good enough" for an answer on anything. But she also took an A in algebra honors, C+ in algebra 2, A in precalculus trig, and A in AP calculus. Guess where the crappy teacher was? And given that this teacher lasted only one year in the school, I know I'm not alone in that opinion.

Anonymous
Post 02/01/2017 16:11     Subject: disappointment with grades
I wouldn't wait to find out what the final grades are (making an assumption that you did). I would be informed about how grades are going all along and I would be having conversations with child about what the challenges are in achieving high grades. You should also by now have a sense of what your child is reasonably capable of.
Anonymous
Post 01/31/2017 23:52     Subject: disappointment with grades
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:OP. Another vote for author. Precancerous is much harder and you want your kid to have a fighting chance. The grade is a signal she needs to spend more time and get some support.


I hate autocorrect. Precalculus.


Why does she need to take precalculous? Why not turn the focus away from stem and towards language or humanities?

Forcing a kid who stinks at math and science into a stem path is just like hammering a square peg into a round hole.
Anonymous
Post 01/31/2017 23:48     Subject: disappointment with grades
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Algebra 2 C+
English 11 A-
Psychology A-
Infosytems A
Physics B
Spanish A-
US History A


I'd be on the phone with a good tutor, twice a week to tackle science and math. Likely some SERIOUS gaps in the education, perhaps from previous years, i.e. algebra 1.


No.

You are wrong.

This kid is taking English 11. I assume this means the kid is in 11th grade?

Other than physics, there are no advanced classes on this list. No APs. No honors classes.

And the kid is taking Algebra 2 as an 11th grader.

Algebra 2 is taken in 8th around here if you are exceptionally gifted in math, 9th if you are advanced in math, and 10th if you are average in math.

OPs daughter is taking it in 11th, which puts her behind in math to start with. On top of that, she is making a C.

She might just be a hard working kid who struggles in school. Or she might have a learning disability.

Hours with a tutor might not be what she needs. She might not cut out for math and might have to steer her college goals into other areas where her strengths are.
Anonymous
Post 01/31/2017 23:35     Subject: disappointment with grades
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:To a previous poster --- my choice of the term bell curve was meant to equate to "grade distribution", nothing more.


High school classes aren't curved and bell curve is IQ. What do easy high school courses have to do with IQ?


Oh goodness; go read a book! The bell curve is *also* a common way of referring to a normal distribution.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_distribution
Anonymous
Post 01/31/2017 23:21     Subject: disappointment with grades
High school classes sure are curved. Assignments are created to lower or raise grades. Grades are controlled.
Anonymous
Post 01/31/2017 22:51     Subject: disappointment with grades
We're having a great experience with Oliver Lee from Principia who has worked with DS from algebra II to precalculus. Highly recommend! https://www.principiatutors.com/about-us/
Anonymous
Post 01/28/2017 14:23     Subject: disappointment with grades
Anonymous wrote:To a previous poster --- my choice of the term bell curve was meant to equate to "grade distribution", nothing more.


High school classes aren't curved and bell curve is IQ. What do easy high school courses have to do with IQ?
Anonymous
Post 01/28/2017 13:55     Subject: disappointment with grades
To a previous poster --- my choice of the term bell curve was meant to equate to "grade distribution", nothing more.
Anonymous
Post 01/28/2017 11:50     Subject: disappointment with grades
There's not grade inflation at mcps schools as far as I can see. I often wonder if it's harder to get A's in public as opposed to private.
Anonymous
Post 01/28/2017 10:46     Subject: disappointment with grades
Anonymous wrote:Algebra 2 C+
English 11 A-
Psychology A-
Infosytems A
Physics B
Spanish A-
US History A


The only thing that would concern me is the Algebra 2 grade and would be reviewing with DC what led to that -- are test grades fine but it resulted from not turning in assignments? That happened to my DS in MS and he lost screen time for a while, and we started to very closely supervise homework, etc. That, IMO, was a stupid way to get a C+. If it's that he isn't getting the material (doing the work but getting poor grades on tests) then I wouldn't be mad but would get a tutor and also have the tutor review understanding of physics since the math weakness could be responsible for the lower grade there.