Dropping Test Grades?

[AC7179]

My daughter is a junior in high school. In our state, if you graduate in the top 10% of students in your class, you get automatic admission to a state school. My daughter would like to get into a state school that is very hard to get into and is currently ranked around 70 out of 500 students---not quite making the mark. But, she's working hard to improve and is hopeful she can move up a bit. With that many students, every tenth of a point counts.

She is in a math class this year that has a coach as a teacher. She has said that the coach has said bad words in class, told off color jokes, etc. While I don't like any of that, she is a junior in high school, she's heard worse, and I didn't say anything.

Grading requirements for the class have daily grades worth 30% and test grades 70%. My daughter has over 100 average for daily but made a 70 on each test. They had two tests, but he counted each one fo them twice?? That gave her an 80 for the grading period, but that is her grade that she earned and that is fine. Her current GPA was a 96, so that 80 will give it a bit of a hit, but such is life.

However, here's the issue, if it even is one. Coah decided at the end of the six weeks to drop a test grade for students. My daughter, obviously, is not helped by that action. Another kid, hypothetically, that made a 90 on test 1 and a 50 on test two, would be helped tremedously. If that child had the same daily average as my daughter, and the 70 test average taken from two grades of 70 and 90, the dropped test grade would make that child's test average a 90, coupled with the 100 daily average, would give the other student a 94 term grade, in comparison to my daughter's 80 term grade. That 14 point difference gained from the teacher's decision would impact rank and gpa.

Would you say anything? I'm generally all for dropping a low grade, but with tests being 70% of the average, and there only being two tests, it makes a HUGE difference. I'm happy with my daughter's grade as it is an accurate reflection of her work---but a little uneasy at the fact that others could pass her because of an arbitrary decision.

What do you think? I don't usually say anything at all to her teachers. She's a junior and a grown up and I mind my own business, barring something important.

 

[Tink888]

My daughter is a junior in high school. In our state, if you graduate in the top 10% of students in your class, you get automatic admission to a state school. My daughter would like to get into a state school that is very hard to get into and is currently ranked around 70 out of 500 students---not quite making the mark. But, she's working hard to improve and is hopeful she can move up a bit. With that many students, every tenth of a point counts.

She is in a math class this year that has a coach as a teacher. She has said that the coach has said bad words in class, told off color jokes, etc. While I don't like any of that, she is a junior in high school, she's heard worse, and I didn't say anything.

Grading requirements for the class have daily grades worth 30% and test grades 70%. My daughter has over 100 average for daily but made a 70 on each test. They had two tests, but he counted each one fo them twice?? That gave her an 80 for the grading period, but that is her grade that she earned and that is fine. Her current GPA was a 96, so that 80 will give it a bit of a hit, but such is life.

However, here's the issue, if it even is one. Coah decided at the end of the six weeks to drop a test grade for students. My daughter, obviously, is not helped by that action. Another kid, hypothetically, that made a 90 on test 1 and a 50 on test two, would be helped tremedously. If that child had the same daily average as my daughter, and the 70 test average taken from two grades of 70 and 90, the dropped test grade would make that child's test average a 90, coupled with the 100 daily average, would give the other student a 94 term grade, in comparison to my daughter's 80 term grade. That 14 point difference gained from the teacher's decision would impact rank and gpa.

Would you say anything? I'm generally all for dropping a low grade, but with tests being 70% of the average, and there only being two tests, it makes a HUGE difference. I'm happy with my daughter's grade as it is an accurate reflection of her work---but a little uneasy at the fact that others could pass her because of an arbitrary decision.

What do you think? I don't usually say anything at all to her teachers. She's a junior and a grown up and I mind my own business, barring something important.

I agree that with only two tests, that really adds a lot of weight but IMHO I would probably let it go.

If I was generally okay with a dropping a test grade I would ask myself whether or not the dropped grade is the real issue for me, or it is only an issue because of the scores my child received on the tests. If it's the latter, definitely let it go.

If it's the dropped grade itself, I'd have to ask myself what result I thought would come of speaking up, for example will it cause the teacher to change his policy or give more tests, and make my decision based on that.

 

[AshleyW]

Almost all the college classes I've taken (including the three that I'm taking right now) have a policy where they drop your lowest test grade. I would just let it go - it sounds like the only reason you have a problem with it is because it could potentially affect your daughter negatively. If you remove your daughter from the equation (which, understandably, can be hard to do) - you probably wouldn't have a problem with it.

 

[AC7179]

Right, to clarify, it's not the test dropping policy that is really the issue....well other that he does it some six weeks and not others....but that a kid with the exact same average as my daughter at the end of the six weeks could get a 14 point bump on their grade for arguably the same performance.

I know he was probably just trying to help the kids, but I'm sure that that decision will bump several kids above her in rank. So, I guess its the rank issue and not the test dropping? I don't know....just feels kinda like she is getting a bum deal, but could be just cause it's my kid.

 

[disfan07]

I think your judgement is definetiely clouded my teh fact that it is your kid who is getting the bad end of the deal.

Ask yourself...if dropping the lowest test grade bumped up her score, would you be asking if it was fair? Probably not which means that it is fair and you are upset that it negatively affects your daughters grade.

This is something that a lot of college professors do and they dont always tell you about it. Unfortunately, it is not always fair but I dont think it is somthing that you should get involved in.

 

[MonkeyDishwasher]

II just don't understand what this:

She is in a math class this year that has a coach as a teacher. She has said that the coach has said bad words in class, told off color jokes, etc. While I don't like any of that, she is a junior in high school, she's heard worse, and I didn't say anything.

has to do with any of the grading situation. I'm sorry if it bumps your daughter out of the scale portion she'd like to be on, but sometimes teachers do drop grades to give everyone a bit of a boost. It's almost like grading on a curve, but a bit different.

 

[AC7179]

Thanks for the responses.

I will go with my first inclination, and with your advice, and not say anything about the grading. Thank you all for your opinions.

Monkey--I mentioned that part to show that I'm not 100% convinced of the teacher's judgment or professionalism. I think he's probably a nice guy who takes coaching more seriously than teaching and he hasn't always made what I would consider the best judgments in the past. For example, I suspect there is probably a minimum number of tests that the department has said should count as that 70% as the grade. He only had two tests last semester, so he counted each one twice so they appear as four---if that makes any sense.

I do truly think he was trying to help the kids with the test grade business---I think his intentions were good. I will drop it and just be silently annoyed.

 

[golfgal]

Sure I would say something....to my daughter--study more for your tests and if you don't understand it to the point you are getting C's and D's on your tests, ask for help. Our math teachers don't actually 'grade" homework any longer (high school). If you have the assignment done you get 100% for doing the homework--thus the low percentage weight on homework-which is probably what your DD's teacher is doing. Since she is getting such low grades on her tests she obviously needs help. I don't know what being a coach has to do with any of this?

Weighted grades can do that to some kids. First trimester our DS14 had more actual points in their Spanish class then DD14 (same class, same hour, same teacher) but because of how the grades were weighted DD ended up with a higher percentage then DS.

 

[AC7179]

Just a couple of things to clarify---

1. Her grade was entirely appropriate. If you look at my original post, you will see that I mention that that grade is an accurate representation of her work. Yes, we did have the improve your grade visit and she usually does better on tests. She bombed two this marking period. It happens, and the 80 was her grade and so be it---I would never complain about that.

2. The situation felt different to me than a curve, bc it didn't help all kids the same. I'm still not convinced that a kid with a 90 and 50 on the two tests deserves a 14 point higher grade than my daughter who made two 70s---but such s life and the poster who said I wouldn't have thought twice about i'd it hadn't impacted my daughters personal standing was right, which made me realize I shouldn't say anything.

3. The fact that the teacher is a coach really is irrelevant. I mentioned that he cussed and tells off color jokes to point out I wasn't sure I trusted his innate judgment. I do think from what my daghter said that he is a coach first and teacher second, but that happens sometimes.

 

[golfgal]

Just a couple of things to clarify---

1. Her grade was entirely appropriate. If you look at my original post, you will see that I mention that that grade is an accurate representation of her work. Yes, we did have the improve your grade visit and she usually does better on tests. She bombed two this marking period. It happens, and the 80 was her grade and so be it---I would never complain about that.

2. The situation felt different to me than a curve, bc it didn't help all kids the same. I'm still not convinced that a kid with a 90 and 50 on the two tests deserves a 14 point higher grade than my daughter who made two 70s---but such s life and the poster who said I wouldn't have thought twice about i'd it hadn't impacted my daughters personal standing was right, which made me realize I shouldn't say anything.

3. The fact that the teacher is a coach really is irrelevant. I mentioned that he cussed and tells off color jokes to point out I wasn't sure I trusted his innate judgment. I do think from what my daghter said that he is a coach first and teacher second, but that happens sometimes.

The simple math of the issue is that if the teacher double counted the tests the other kid got 90, 90, 50, 50 and your DD got 4-70's. If you drop the lowest score, the other kid had 230 points and your DD had 210 points.

 

[agnes!]

Sure I would say something....to my daughter--study more for your tests and if you don't understand it to the point you are getting C's and D's on your tests, ask for help. Our math teachers don't actually 'grade" homework any longer (high school). If you have the assignment done you get 100% for doing the homework--thus the low percentage weight on homework-which is probably what your DD's teacher is doing. Since she is getting such low grades on her tests she obviously needs help. I don't know what being a coach has to do with any of this?

Weighted grades can do that to some kids. First trimester our DS14 had more actual points in their Spanish class then DD14 (same class, same hour, same teacher) but because of how the grades were weighted DD ended up with a higher percentage then DS.

One of my DD's teachers(HS) grades homework. As you can guess, that makes me ohsoHAPPY. Not.

agnes!

 

[LuvOrlando]

A good student with access to extra credit would probably be less effected by the aggregate changes, assuming the less disciplined students would drop the ball on the extra credit. As a Mom I would call this teacher and inquire about extra credit without any mention at all of your complaint because no good will come of it other than you being able to vent.

It is my opinion that unless you have built up good-will credit with a teacher through genuine compliments and good dialogue, you can only hurt things with a complaint and that teacher will take it out on the kid. Maybe not in a big way but grades are very subjective, it's not hard for a teacher to bump up one kid over another little by little until it's an entire letter grade.

 

[crashbb]

A good student with access to extra credit would probably be less effected by the aggregate changes, assuming the less disciplined students would drop the ball on the extra credit. As a Mom I would call this teacher and inquire about extra credit without any mention at all of your complaint because no good will come of it other than you being able to vent.

It is my opinion that unless you have built up good-will credit with a teacher through genuine compliments and good dialogue, you can only hurt things with a complaint and that teacher will take it out on the kid. Maybe not in a big way but grades are very subjective, it's not hard for a teacher to bump up one kid over another little by little until it's an entire letter grade.

Bolding mine.

I would suggest that the student approach the teacher for extra credit, if the student would like to do extra credit.

ETA - The dropping one test/assignment thing is often done here (graduate level courses). It is designed to help when a student has an off day. A student who is consistently not doing well, is not going to be bumped above someone consistently doing well. A student who generally does very well, but has one bad day will be helped (as will the student who consistently does about average, but has one bad day).