missypie17976 replies503 discussionsRegistered UserPosts: 18,479Senior Member
The answer is in the editorial:
To "ensure that all Texas students are competing for college admission on equal footing."
It will give a lot more kids the chance to be in the top 10%....above average but not brilliant? smart but don't like to study very hard? Get 100s in your regular courses, and you'll beat all those ambitious super smart kids out of the top 10%. Very democratic. Not wise, but democratic.
I have a very smart 7th grader who is not very interested in academics...she'd much rather be dancing, cheering, tumbling, etc. She would LOVE IT if we let her take all regular classes....she'd breeze through and maybe she'd be the first of our kids to break into the top 10% (under the proposed method.) Then she'd get to college and hit the wall, like most of her other peers who also didn't challenge themselves.
missypie17976 replies503 discussionsRegistered UserPosts: 18,479Senior Member
As I think more about it, under the proposed plan, it will be easier than ever to "game the system" (if a high GPA is your primary goal.)
There are some courses at our school where you need to have taken the pre-AP courses to get the AP courses...math comes to mind. You can't get to AP Calc senior year without taking the preAP math courses. So a student would have to bite the bullet and take the unweighted pre-AP math classes. Or, better yet, take three years of regular math, then AP Stats.
But, for example, I think it would be pretty easy for a smart kid to succeed in the AP English and social studies courses (offered only in 11th and 12th grades) while only having taken the regular courses in 9th and 10th....So a student takes the regular courses in 9th and 10th grades to get the sure A.
Enrollment in AP courses with no real prerequisite would sky rocket (AP Art History comes to mind.)
If you don't ever plan to take an AP science, no reason to take the pre-AP version of that science earlier in school. Or, take regular Bio, Chem and Physics and AP Environmental senior year.
Hmmm....I think I have my 7trh grader's high school courses all figured out now....
missypie, interesting thoughts. It will put the onus on schools, I'm thinking, to set up mechanisms for kids to be able to skip the prereqs if they want to.
Also, though, will we need two GPA calculations -- one for Texas top10% and one for OOS?
missypie17976 replies503 discussionsRegistered UserPosts: 18,479Senior Member
Our school pushes AP classes so much that there aren't formal prereqs. If a student wanted to take regular math and then try AP Calc senior year, he would be allowed to enroll. It's just the conventional wisdom at the school that you really need to take the preAPs to do well in Calc. But you may be right....they might have to institute formal prereqs to keep the preAP classes full.
prefect1264 replies17 discussionsRegistered UserPosts: 1,281Senior Member
In my opinion, this will hurt two groups of students the most: Those who want to go out of state to competitive colleges and the smartest and most motivated who want to stay in state. The kids who want to go out of state, to top 20 caliber schools need to have taken the most rigorous courses that their schools offer. They can't take remedial math, basic english, etc. So, they take the honors, pre ap, etc. When they get an 89 or 90 in these courses and the kids taking the easy courses get 99's, their class rank will suffer, and possibly their college admissions choices will suffer as well. The chronicle seems to think that this doesn't matter, that they should be learning just for learning's sake. For the student wanting to go to competitive colleges out of state, a class rank of 25th percentile will hurt. The motivated student who wants to stay instate will probably elect to take the easiest courses possible to attain the top 10% rank, but won't be as prepared as if he/she had taken more difficult courses. Taking the harder courses won't help this kid because it will hurt his/her class rank, most likely. Potentially, UT could be getting a class full of kids who were top 10% but were less prepared than their lower ranked classmates. Why can't the lesgistors trust individual schools to recognize what the most difficult courses at their schools are and calculate GPA's according to the level of difficulty?
MidwestMom2Kids_6345 replies328 discussionsRegistered UserPosts: 6,673Senior Member
If a high school kid had college admissions as his/her main criteria for HS course selection, he would have to decide early on whether he wants a Texas public college or "other." For a Texas public college, the key is rank, so unless a class is AP or IB, only take it if you are 100% sure of an A. As missypie said
But, for example, I think it would be pretty easy for a smart kid to succeed in the AP English and social studies courses (offered only in 11th and 12th grades) while only having taken the regular courses in 9th and 10th....So a student takes the regular courses in 9th and 10th grades to get the sure A.
Students who want to go to "other" should take the honors courses that interest them. Their GC will be able to check the "most rigorous curriculum" box on the application (something that matters to "other" colleges), and they will be able to explain their "lower than you would think for such a sharp kid" class rank by saying "I'm from Texas."
I just read the Houston Chronicle article. All I can say is tell this to my 9th grader. I've got a current 9th grader with a less than stellar initiation to HS in 4 pre-AP classes. Among the other benefits to pre-AP courses is that they far less forgiving for bad grades. From all that I have read, while these changes are not retroactive they do count for current 9th graders who have already made their course selections. Perhaps at this point in time my 14 year old should be more mature but the top 10% rule is a motivator and "padding the GPA" comes with a price.....more work and effort. At this point in time I am sure if anyone told him that he could pull out of these classes, get higher grades and just worry about having fun in HS he would say sign me up.
So who in state government should be contacted to share concerns about this? Has anyone heard if the proposed methods of calculating GPA have any stipulations about how HS classes taken in MS count in GPA?
missypie17976 replies503 discussionsRegistered UserPosts: 18,479Senior Member
I got this from our superintendant of schools:
The state is soliciting feedback regarding the issue of standard GPA calculations. You can send your comments to Natalie Coffey at the Texas Education Coordinating Board, [email protected]. The deadline for public comment is October 16.
fireflyscout5294 replies169 discussionsRegistered UserPosts: 5,463Senior Member
Please note that according to the Texas Attorney General's opinion, the GPA calculation will not take effect until the current 8th grade class (graduating class of 2013).
Which also means there is time to urge the state legislature to repeal this. Doubt it would happen, but it's possible. Worst. Texas. Legislature. EVER.
missypie17976 replies503 discussionsRegistered UserPosts: 18,479Senior Member
Right...that's why I posted the link to the AG opinion (and why I looked it up in the first place)...EVERY news article/report I've heard/read says it starts with the class of '09. I guess no one at the paper or TV station can be expected to slog through an AG opinion.......
Saying it's the worst Legislature ever....that's quite a statement? Why is this one any worse than any of the others? It's been terrible for so many years....I really think that's the linchpin of their plan to reduce property taxes: Drive almost everyone from public schools, so then they can cut taxes.
Thank you Firefly Scout, I thought I had read an article over the summer that said it applied to the incoming freshman class but I am delighted to know that isn't correct. It could have made for one extremely frustrating intro to HS.
Replies to: Texas parents -- new class rank legislation
To "ensure that all Texas students are competing for college admission on equal footing."
It will give a lot more kids the chance to be in the top 10%....above average but not brilliant? smart but don't like to study very hard? Get 100s in your regular courses, and you'll beat all those ambitious super smart kids out of the top 10%. Very democratic. Not wise, but democratic.
I have a very smart 7th grader who is not very interested in academics...she'd much rather be dancing, cheering, tumbling, etc. She would LOVE IT if we let her take all regular classes....she'd breeze through and maybe she'd be the first of our kids to break into the top 10% (under the proposed method.) Then she'd get to college and hit the wall, like most of her other peers who also didn't challenge themselves.
There are some courses at our school where you need to have taken the pre-AP courses to get the AP courses...math comes to mind. You can't get to AP Calc senior year without taking the preAP math courses. So a student would have to bite the bullet and take the unweighted pre-AP math classes. Or, better yet, take three years of regular math, then AP Stats.
But, for example, I think it would be pretty easy for a smart kid to succeed in the AP English and social studies courses (offered only in 11th and 12th grades) while only having taken the regular courses in 9th and 10th....So a student takes the regular courses in 9th and 10th grades to get the sure A.
Enrollment in AP courses with no real prerequisite would sky rocket (AP Art History comes to mind.)
If you don't ever plan to take an AP science, no reason to take the pre-AP version of that science earlier in school. Or, take regular Bio, Chem and Physics and AP Environmental senior year.
Hmmm....I think I have my 7trh grader's high school courses all figured out now....
missypie, interesting thoughts. It will put the onus on schools, I'm thinking, to set up mechanisms for kids to be able to skip the prereqs if they want to.
Also, though, will we need two GPA calculations -- one for Texas top10% and one for OOS?
But the trend is for Texas legislators not to trust the local districts to do anything.
Of course, there may be a lot of horrible districts in the state, so the distrust may be warranted for some.
Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. GA-0655 (2008) -- Greg Abbott Administration
So I guess our seniors are safe, contrary to what the newspaper articles say.
According to my friends who teach there, that's exactly what's already happening.
Students who want to go to "other" should take the honors courses that interest them. Their GC will be able to check the "most rigorous curriculum" box on the application (something that matters to "other" colleges), and they will be able to explain their "lower than you would think for such a sharp kid" class rank by saying "I'm from Texas."
This could be interesting.
I think that lots (all? most?) of the state schools in Oklahoma and Arkansas are giving in state tuition for "qualified" Texas students.
Was that right? I was never in a musical, obviously.
So who in state government should be contacted to share concerns about this? Has anyone heard if the proposed methods of calculating GPA have any stipulations about how HS classes taken in MS count in GPA?
The state is soliciting feedback regarding the issue of standard GPA calculations. You can send your comments to Natalie Coffey at the Texas Education Coordinating Board, [email protected]. The deadline for public comment is October 16.
Which also means there is time to urge the state legislature to repeal this. Doubt it would happen, but it's possible. Worst. Texas. Legislature. EVER.
Saying it's the worst Legislature ever....that's quite a statement? Why is this one any worse than any of the others? It's been terrible for so many years....I really think that's the linchpin of their plan to reduce property taxes: Drive almost everyone from public schools, so then they can cut taxes.