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The Black & White|October 9, 2017
News
One year later: grading policy gets mixed reactions from students, teachers by ZOE KAUFMANN Among the myriad of changes and challenges that face Whitman students, the one constant stressor seems to be grades. But this may be changing as a result of the new RQAbased grading system. Under the old system, a final exam grade was factored into students’ semester grades along with their quarter grades, with each comprising one-third of the average total grade. The current system, which was introduced in 2016, eliminated final exams and now focuses exclusively on quarter grades. Having only two grades means that, for the most part, the higher of a student’s two quarter grades becomes their semester grades.
Kismet Talaat, Physics Teacher “Grade inflation is hurting you. When everyone comes out with an A, the competition increases for college admissions. It hurts students without extracurriculars, because there’s no way to show how the A was earned. If a student has a 79.5 grade first quarter and an 89.5 grade second quarter, it comes out to a semester A.”
Mariana Fajnzylber Junior
Grace Franceschelli
Admissions officer, University of Cincinnati “We would look at [the grading system] and take that into consideration, but it probably wouldn’t sway a decision either way.”
Photo by ANNABELLE GORDON
“I think it’s nice because if a student is taking more challenging classes and their stress is really difficult, getting a B one quarter in one class isn’t the end of the world. However, Whitman does have a reputation of being a really challenging school, and if more people start doing really well, it might not look like our school is as challenging.”
Photo courtesy GRACE FRANCESCHELLI
Gregory Herbert, History Teacher “It’s easier to get a higher grade. By not having a third grade to determine that trend, getting that A in the first quarter makes their second quarter so much easier.” Photo by OLIVIA MATTHEWS
Integrated Calendar
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Gradebook
Discussion Threads Graphic by MEIMEI GREENSTEIN
MyMCPS program gets mixed reviews Continued from Page 1 Students dislike having to switch between applications for classes. “I would prefer myMCPS to Google Classroom and Edline if all of my teachers were on myMCPS,” senior Sarah Hirsh said. “That would make it really easy to check homework because there’s a combined calendar.” Teachers who’ve chosen to use myMCPS this semester said they’ve also faced some small, specific problems with the program. For example, the equation editor, a tool teachers use to upload math problems, incorrectly changes the format of equations, Kuhn said. And myMCPS doesn’t allow teachers to copy and paste images, which makes inserting graphs into problems “cumbersome,” he said. There were also issues with the gradebook loading for students, a problem specific to Whitman, DeMember said. The county is focusing on getting the program up and running in schools before dealing with technology issues. “Our biggest area of focus has been
on helping teachers and school leaders learn how to use myMCPS Classroom to support teaching, learning and communication with parents and students,” Kara Trenkamp,who is in charge of instructional technology for the county, said in a Sept. 10 email. Though some teachers want to go back to Edline, others recognize thatmyMCPS will fix problems Google Classroom and Edline posed as separate systems. The new portal gradebook is now synced with the assignments students see in their myMCPS Classroom stream, math teacher Anne Chiasson pointed out. Despite problems, Kuhn is optimistic. “I think it’s great. It’s going to be the way of the future,” Kuhn said. “I think everybody’s going to have to embrace it, but it’s just a matter of getting all the little things worked out.” To learn more about navigating myMCPS Classroom, visit http://www. montgomeryschoolsmd.org/mymcpsclassroom/
AP Lang, Honors English 12 undergo curriculum changes by REBECCA HIRSH The English department adapted the traditional AP Language and Composition and Honors English 12 curricula this year to fit new MCPS and Whitman standards. AP Lang teachers returned to the basics of the curriculum, focusing strictly on argumentation and rhetoric. Changes include forgoing novels and replacing them with individual excerpts, Malcolm Gladwell’s book “Outliers” and famous 20th century speeches. Classes will still read the anthology “A World of Ideas.” “It was the hardest thing to do, but we ended up dropping most of the fiction work we do,” teacher Matthew Bruneel said. “This sense of using speeches, using essays, using political cartoons, using images all as rhetorical exercises, those are the real ideas of the course. AP Lang is just about rhetoric, about making good arguments, understanding what a good argument is and being able to have a voice in the world.” Honors English 12 also underwent two major changes this summer. First, the curriculum no longer includes studying a core text. Instead, students will read books of their choice in literature groups relating to themes the class is studying, such as truth and perception, navigating colliding cultures and gender roles. “I’m excited about the new curriculum,” teacher Melissa Carr said. “It’s definitely more geared toward the diverse culture that America is becoming. English 12 is really supposed to be world literature, and I think this is going to help students who are always reading a white, male author’s point of view to identify more with some of these other books.” The second change for English 12 is that Whitman no longer offers an on-level version of the course; all English 12 classes are now honors courses. The county will eliminate the on-level course next year, but Whitman piloted it this year to coincide with the new curriculum and with changes in Montgomery County Com-
munity College’s admissions policy. “Putting all the kids together means that we’re a larger group collaborating,” resource teacher Linda Leslie said. “It means that we’re all working together, so that enriches the product and the teaching experience.”
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This sense of using speeches, using essays, using political cartoons, using images all as rhetorical exercises, those are the real ideas of the course.
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New Features of myMCPS
- English teacher Matthew Bruneel
Some teachers, however, worry that some students will either be bored or overly challenged in class, but Leslie said that the data does not support this idea. “Generally the data says that kids rise,” Leslie said. “When you are in a pool swimming with someone who’s a little faster than you, you get faster. There’s no evidence that you’re pulling down the top. Students will enter the conversation where they can and where it’s appropriate for them.”