Anonymous
Post 11/10/2023 16:25     Subject: 50% rule question - do different schools interpret it different?

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My DS was helped by the 50% rule a few times. I will say it did what the intent was. It allowed him to recover grade wise. He was generally a solid student but had some struggles. He went on to college and is a productive adult. I am OK with the 50% rule even if some kids abuse it.


As a teacher, I agree. I’m just irritated by the claims that only certain populations are benefiting from it. I teach in a MS magnet. Parents overwhelming support the 50% rule.


I think I can understand its application and probably don't mind it being abused a little by kids at the middle school level, but I think they're unnecessary and harmful training wheels at the high school level.
Anonymous
Post 11/10/2023 15:59     Subject: 50% rule question - do different schools interpret it different?

Anonymous wrote:My DS was helped by the 50% rule a few times. I will say it did what the intent was. It allowed him to recover grade wise. He was generally a solid student but had some struggles. He went on to college and is a productive adult. I am OK with the 50% rule even if some kids abuse it.


As a teacher, I agree. I’m just irritated by the claims that only certain populations are benefiting from it. I teach in a MS magnet. Parents overwhelming support the 50% rule.
Anonymous
Post 11/10/2023 13:30     Subject: 50% rule question - do different schools interpret it different?

My DS was helped by the 50% rule a few times. I will say it did what the intent was. It allowed him to recover grade wise. He was generally a solid student but had some struggles. He went on to college and is a productive adult. I am OK with the 50% rule even if some kids abuse it.
Anonymous
Post 11/10/2023 13:21     Subject: 50% rule question - do different schools interpret it different?

Anonymous wrote:I have a suggestion. Stop putting percentiles on anything. Just rank order the assignment grade (highest grade to lowest grade). Then your kid (and you) what the kid's ranking on the assessment is. You can know that in fact, your child who you thought was a genius because they have been getting straights A's all this time, is #33 out of 100 on this particular test. The ranking can then be transformed to grades. Back in the good old days, they'd apply a bell curve and could be assigned an A, B, C, etc based on that. But now everyone is very sensitive, so we can normalize where the mean is set to 85 or something.


Sounds like a great idea and even makes sense, and if gets these nutjobs to stop complaining, I'm all for it.
Anonymous
Post 11/10/2023 13:10     Subject: 50% rule question - do different schools interpret it different?

I have a suggestion. Stop putting percentiles on anything. Just rank order the assignment grade (highest grade to lowest grade). Then your kid (and you) what the kid's ranking on the assessment is. You can know that in fact, your child who you thought was a genius because they have been getting straights A's all this time, is #33 out of 100 on this particular test. The ranking can then be transformed to grades. Back in the good old days, they'd apply a bell curve and could be assigned an A, B, C, etc based on that. But now everyone is very sensitive, so we can normalize where the mean is set to 85 or something.
Anonymous
Post 11/10/2023 11:50     Subject: 50% rule question - do different schools interpret it different?

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I don't think any serious person is concerned about the 50% rule. People need to get a life.


On the contrary, most people who are serious about MCPS being a quality school district are very concerned about that. Including the students themselves.

https://thermtide.com/9320/popular/the-mcps-50-percent-rule-inadequately-prepares-students-for-the-future/

https://thermtide.com/8225/news/50-percent-rule-undermines-student-work-ethic/


No, they aren't. The only people concerned about it are far-right extremists who love to insist the sky is falling. This policy has little to no impact on anything worth worrying about.


I would disagree with you. Plenty of progressive teachers I know also are concerned/ don’t support the 50% rule. And little to no impact is not true… The 50% rule is literally inflating their grades. Students who are graduating with Bs or Cs become shocked when they cannot keep up in a higher academic setting. I had one student last quarter attend maybe 10 times? She turned in one or two assignments at the end… combined with all the 50%s she was able to pass with a D.

The 50% rule is setting the bar so low for our students it’s practically on the floor. This is not helping their work/study habits or preparing them at all.


How does a regular use of the 50% rule easily get you a B? 50% is still hard to recover from. My guess is your D student was passed through H but did not go to college.


Kids are abusing the 50% rule some are even getting straight A's but don't deserve it!


There need to be consequences for this! Maybe they can set up a kid jail for these miscreants.


Struck a nerve, Mom?
Anonymous
Post 11/10/2023 10:37     Subject: 50% rule question - do different schools interpret it different?

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I don't think any serious person is concerned about the 50% rule. People need to get a life.


On the contrary, most people who are serious about MCPS being a quality school district are very concerned about that. Including the students themselves.

https://thermtide.com/9320/popular/the-mcps-50-percent-rule-inadequately-prepares-students-for-the-future/

https://thermtide.com/8225/news/50-percent-rule-undermines-student-work-ethic/


No, they aren't. The only people concerned about it are far-right extremists who love to insist the sky is falling. This policy has little to no impact on anything worth worrying about.


I would disagree with you. Plenty of progressive teachers I know also are concerned/ don’t support the 50% rule. And little to no impact is not true… The 50% rule is literally inflating their grades. Students who are graduating with Bs or Cs become shocked when they cannot keep up in a higher academic setting. I had one student last quarter attend maybe 10 times? She turned in one or two assignments at the end… combined with all the 50%s she was able to pass with a D.

The 50% rule is setting the bar so low for our students it’s practically on the floor. This is not helping their work/study habits or preparing them at all.


How does a regular use of the 50% rule easily get you a B? 50% is still hard to recover from. My guess is your D student was passed through H but did not go to college.


Kids are abusing the 50% rule some are even getting straight A's but don't deserve it!


They must be doing something right to average an A with ramped use of the 50% rule.
Anonymous
Post 11/10/2023 10:01     Subject: 50% rule question - do different schools interpret it different?

The 50% rulers are ruining our schools! It's creating a crisis of biblical proportions. What can we do?
Anonymous
Post 11/10/2023 08:47     Subject: 50% rule question - do different schools interpret it different?

I wrote about this last school year. I get notifications for graded assignments at 50%. All of these are tests, quizzes, and homework. I don’t know how the grading system works on the teachers end, but the 50% is still going strong this year.
Anonymous
Post 11/10/2023 07:45     Subject: 50% rule question - do different schools interpret it different?

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I don't think any serious person is concerned about the 50% rule. People need to get a life.


On the contrary, most people who are serious about MCPS being a quality school district are very concerned about that. Including the students themselves.

https://thermtide.com/9320/popular/the-mcps-50-percent-rule-inadequately-prepares-students-for-the-future/

https://thermtide.com/8225/news/50-percent-rule-undermines-student-work-ethic/


No, they aren't. The only people concerned about it are far-right extremists who love to insist the sky is falling. This policy has little to no impact on anything worth worrying about.


I would disagree with you. Plenty of progressive teachers I know also are concerned/ don’t support the 50% rule. And little to no impact is not true… The 50% rule is literally inflating their grades. Students who are graduating with Bs or Cs become shocked when they cannot keep up in a higher academic setting. I had one student last quarter attend maybe 10 times? She turned in one or two assignments at the end… combined with all the 50%s she was able to pass with a D.

The 50% rule is setting the bar so low for our students it’s practically on the floor. This is not helping their work/study habits or preparing them at all.


How does a regular use of the 50% rule easily get you a B? 50% is still hard to recover from. My guess is your D student was passed through H but did not go to college.


Kids are abusing the 50% rule some are even getting straight A's but don't deserve it!


There need to be consequences for this! Maybe they can set up a kid jail for these miscreants.
Anonymous
Post 11/10/2023 07:12     Subject: Re:50% rule question - do different schools interpret it different?

Anonymous wrote:Would this happen at your school? My kid was given 50% on an assignment that was completed and submitted on time. But the kid forgot to set the edit function to "share" so the teacher could comment on it. The teacher could see it was submitted. When informed about it, the kid changed it so it could be graded and commented on. Would this get a 50% at your kid's school? Or a 10% off for being late? Or no penalty at all?


10% off if fixed by the deadline.
50% if fixed after the deadline.

This is an old trick that students use. they can continue to edit their work and the teacher would not be able to see that it had been altered between the due date and when it was properly shared. If the fix hasn’t been made by the deadline, sometimes I will have the student show me their doc’s history. It’s never a surprise that what was submitted but not visible was actually incomplete. When it is finally properly shared with me, it has been heavily edited. I make them revert the file to the date submitted and I grade that.
Anonymous
Post 11/10/2023 06:07     Subject: Re:50% rule question - do different schools interpret it different?

Anonymous wrote:Would this happen at your school? My kid was given 50% on an assignment that was completed and submitted on time. But the kid forgot to set the edit function to "share" so the teacher could comment on it. The teacher could see it was submitted. When informed about it, the kid changed it so it could be graded and commented on. Would this get a 50% at your kid's school? Or a 10% off for being late? Or no penalty at all?


Absolutely depends on the grade of the student.
Anonymous
Post 11/09/2023 20:58     Subject: Re:50% rule question - do different schools interpret it different?

Would this happen at your school? My kid was given 50% on an assignment that was completed and submitted on time. But the kid forgot to set the edit function to "share" so the teacher could comment on it. The teacher could see it was submitted. When informed about it, the kid changed it so it could be graded and commented on. Would this get a 50% at your kid's school? Or a 10% off for being late? Or no penalty at all?