Fired PGCPS guidance counselor believes he was made a scapegoat for grade-fixing scandal

...today in MCPS, it is almost impossible not to graduate.

Weak standards inflate graduation rate success

Silver Chips: New attendance policy: recycled and unimproved

The 'new' MCPS attendance policy veils a feeble attempt to reinstate the despised Loss of Credit system

Edline grade reporting system down countywide

What parents are being told about the failure of the MCPS online grading and reporting database:

...MCPS implemented a new attendance and grading system at the beginning of this school year and there have been a few glitches... 

and 

...While students' classes, assignments and other links are posted on Edline, grades and reports have not been available to date. This is a county-wide issue with the link between Edline and MCPS's grading program...

Spike in Skipping Class

black&white: Principals in favor of stricter attendance policy in the fall

Due to a dramatic spike in unexcused absences this past spring, principal Alan Goodwin and other principals from around the county are attempting to implement a stricter attendance policy.
As of now, the only penalty for skipping class is a zero for work due on days of unexcused absences.  But this penalty doesn’t seem to deter many students from skipping class, especially on days when there is no formal assessment.
“With this year’s attendance policy, it gave me more peace of mind when I skipped class,” an anonymous student said...

PC Open Forum: Credit Reclamation

The Parents' Coalition received a comment about something called Credit Reclamation. Apparently, if a student fails a class they are permitted to petition to regain the credit without actually retaking the class. 


There does not seem to be a time limit on the petition and we have not found a MCPS policy on this practice. We do have a Loss of Credit Petition from one school, see below.


We are asking readers to weigh in. Tell us how this works. How long has this been an option in MCPS? Is it available at all schools? How often do students petition to reclaim credit? Is this available in other Maryland Counties? How about in other school districts? 


Is this a good option for students? What are your experiences with this option? 

Loss of Credit PDF

MCPS Terminates Loss of Credit Policy

The Warrior Online:  MCPS Terminates LC Policy

Beginning next school year, Montgomery County students will no longer lose credit for classes in which they accumulated unexcused absences or tardies. The new policy aims to remove attendance as a factor for a student’s grade in a class. The revised policy will give students disciplinary consequences for unexcused absences with a minimum of a conference to a maximum of detention....

...Science teacher Mike Miehl was asked in late May to participate on Sherwood’s advisory committee, which included parents and students, to brainstorm ideas for the new attendance policy. Miehl agrees that the current system in broken, but he also has multiple concerns about the revised policy for next year. The new policy proposes consequences for unexcused absences or tardies. If every student was given detention for each unexcused absence, Miehl thinks security, teachers, and administration will be overwhelmed with disciplinary actions.

"Teachers already have a huge work load to have to implement and then follow through with disciplinary consequences for students who chronically skip was not resolved [at the meeting of the advisory group]. Will security handle them? What is the threshold of disciplinary action; i.e. how many unexcused absences does a student need in order for disciplinary action to kick in?"

...Another problem discovered by the county’s Project Team is how the current loss of credit policy disproportionately affects some student subgroups more than others. In MCPS, 19.2 percent of Hispanic students and 16.4 of black students lost credit in the spring on 2008, compared to only 4.1 percent of white students.

Silver Chips: Loss of credit policy to be revised

Silver Chips, October 23, 2009

A Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) work group will submit a formal report to the Board of Education (BOE) within the next couple of months recommending a repeal of the Loss of Credit (LC) policy for the 2010 - 2011 school year, according to Suzanne Maxey, a consulting principal at the Office of Organizational Development who heads the committee.

... Despite widespread acknowledgment that current LC procedures constitute a broken policy, many teachers are concerned that the new proposal will be difficult to implement or prove ineffective in application. Social studies teacher and academy coordinator Kevin Moose raised doubts about the discipline recommendation at Thursday's meeting. "I see recommendation number two as a problem with a school so large," he said. "It's difficult to do that and implement it in a way that is fair."

Washington Post: 3-Strikes Policy Gets Expelled

With Motivation in Mind, Fairfax Schools Drop Automatic Failure Rule
by Jenna Johnson

For years Fairfax County public schools have had one of the strictest attendance policies in the region: Miss three classes in a quarter without a legitimate excuse, get an automatic F.

But the three-strikes policy made it nearly impossible for students who skipped class a few times to change their ways; they had little motivation to show up for class because they had already failed.

"There's no hope for that grade at that point," said Teresa Zutter, director of intervention and prevention services. "The student says: 'Why should I try? I can't undo this mistake.' "

So schools officials decided to get rid of the policy starting this fall....

...In Montgomery County, high school students who accumulate five unexcused ("unlawful") absences in a semester generally receive a failing grade and lose course credit. But Betsy Brown, the school system's director of curriculum and instruction, said that the regulation is under review...

...Parents have complained about the policy for years, which can occasionally cause trouble for seniors who are trying to graduate, said Michele Menapace, president of the Fairfax County Council of PTAs. Menapace said she has never understood why school systems would link attendance to grades...