"we filed public record requests for more specific data regarding MCPS grades and sent emails to multiple college counselors requesting an interview about the subject; however, all of these requests did not receive a reply."

Grade A Scandal: MCPS grading policies raise concerns

MCPS has recently come under fire for allegedly inflating the grades of its students by altering the semester grading policy in 2015. The altered policy reversed the former downward trend grade calculation with a quality point mathematical grade calculation, and the number of As and Bs students have received in the ensuing school years has risen exponentially. Whether or not the rise in higher semester grades is an unintended consequence or a deliberate goal of the altered grading system is the mystery this investigation sought to solve.   The Washington Post recently investigated this issue, concluding that MCPS is guilty of grade inflation and urging action to be taken.

Over the course of the past six months, we have looked into numerous sources of information, with our most prominent source being interviews around the local community. We have conducted a total of 42 interviews, many of which feature students, teachers and even school board members. We also looked through online data of MCPS grade trends, MCPS standardized testing score and RM’s school profile for college admissions. Since the issue of grade inflation has also recently come into the spotlight in the news media, we were able to obtain more information from both local and national news outlets. Additionally, we filed public record requests for more specific data regarding MCPS grades and sent emails to multiple college counselors requesting an interview about the subject; however, all of these requests did not receive a reply. 

https://thermtide.com/7972/news/grade-a-scandal-mcps-grading-policies-raise-concerns/

“In the first place, God made idiots. That was for practice. Then he made school boards.”

Dropping exams is a mistake

Regarding the Nov. 17 Metro article “It’s final — Montgomery to eliminate final exams”:

It appears that the Montgomery County Board of Education is more concerned with concealing failure rates than educating students. Roughly 15 years ago, activists uncovered wide variations in the required passing scores among the county’s high schools. The county school system was forced to establish the same passing grade countywide, and the high failure rates in some schools were revealed. Now, having failed to solve the failure rate problem, the district again is concealing it.

The article quoted a school board member quoting Albert Einstein, but I’ll quote Mark Twain: “In the first place, God made idiots. That was for practice. Then he made school boards.”

Julie Lees, Silver Spring

Despite Opposition From Teachers, Board of Education Drops Final Exams

...“Whether it be right or wrong, I think teachers feel they weren’t in the loop enough,” BOE member Michael Durso said. “I worry about morale issues. The principals and the teachers don’t seem to be on the same page on this one. If everyone’s not on the same page, we’re just going to be running around in circles.”

 http://www.bethesdamagazine.com/Bethesda-Beat/2015/Despite-Opposition-From-Teachers-Board-of-Education-Drops-Final-Exams/

Final Exams Get an "F" in Montgomery County

MCPS Eliminates Middle School Final Exams

...Under the plan presented Tuesday, centrally developed end-of-semester exams in middle school courses would be eliminated in the coming school year (2015-2016). Further discussion will be held on Bowers’ plan for high school exams, which would eliminate end-of-semester exams in the second semester of next school year in subjects for which there are already Maryland state end-of-course tests—Algebra 1, English 10, Biology, and Government. Bowers’ plan would eliminate all end-of-semester exams in high schools the following year (2016-2017) and would instead use in-class assessments that are given throughout the school year, including unit tests, essays, projects, document-based questions, and more.
In the coming weeks, the Board’s Policy Management Committee will begin reviewing the impact that eliminating exams in high school would have on Board policies and district regulations. Public feedback will be gathered on any substantial changes to these policies...

http://www.mymcmedia.org/mcps-eliminates-middle-school-final-exams/