Inefficient administrative staff at schools

[LovelySummer]

What should you do? Why you've got to speak up and get to the bottom of what is going on! The same thing you should do if you believe there is a problem at work or in another case. It's fully accepted to be a little pushy in the U.S. and this is sometimes what is needed to get results. I would speak with the teacher immediately and, if not happy with the result, take it to the teacher's boss. I think you are up in arms partly bc you bought into the idea that the school is a good school. There is no such thing. The only issue is whether a school is a good school for a particular child. One child may thrive in one environmt and another fail miserably. This can happen at any school, even those with good parent reviews and test scores. My husband, who is a teacher, makes this point all the time. Just bc a school is popular as a good school doesn't mean the teachers are worth much (if all the kids are smart and come from shiny backgrounds the teachers may not have to be very good and the classes will still have good performance). Also, the teaching style at one school may be more amenable to your child than at another school. One school may teach more rote learning while another requires more original thinking. One may require teachers to offer students extra help. Another may have more of a sink or swim attitude. These may all be considered good schools but one may be better suited for one child, another for another child. Just advocate for your child irrespective if the school's reputation. The approach is the same whether the child is in a school that is lauded or in a school that is considered crappy. No difference.

Originally Posted by nanhi

No LovelySummer. That parent's feedback, a year's research, reviews, ratings together made me feel its the right choice. What should i do about this test score?
Thanks

[nanhi]

Thank you LovelySummer and roxyrn

[residinghere2007]

Originally Posted by LovelySummer

What should you do? Why you've got to speak up and get to the bottom of what is going on! The same thing you should do if you believe there is a problem at work or in another case. It's fully accepted to be a little pushy in the U.S. and this is sometimes what is needed to get results. I would speak with the teacher immediately and, if not happy with the result, take it to the teacher's boss. I think you are up in arms partly bc you bought into the idea that the school is a good school. There is no such thing. The only issue is whether a school is a good school for a particular child. One child may thrive in one environmt and another fail miserably. This can happen at any school, even those with good parent reviews and test scores. My husband, who is a teacher, makes this point all the time. Just bc a school is popular as a good school doesn't mean the teachers are worth much (if all the kids are smart and come from shiny backgrounds the teachers may not have to be very good and the classes will still have good performance). Also, the teaching style at one school may be more amenable to your child than at another school. One school may teach more rote learning while another requires more original thinking. One may require teachers to offer students extra help. Another may have more of a sink or swim attitude. These may all be considered good schools but one may be better suited for one child, another for another child. Just advocate for your child irrespective if the school's reputation. The approach is the same whether the child is in a school that is lauded or in a school that is considered crappy. No difference.

Just wanted to say, ITA with the bolded above. It really isn't so much about the school. It is more about advocating for you child and having a good line of communication between yourself and your child's instructors.

I also agree with speaking to the teacher about this, but like other posters have said, and what I'm sure you know, there are many not all that great teachers.

In regards to your daughter not qualifying for AP, are there options where she can skip AP and just take college courses for college credit? Many times at in other school districts across the country, kids in high school can take a college level course, get the boost in GPA, and get the college credit without having to endure long, difficult AP classes.

I recently moved from the Atlanta area (one of the things I miss most BTW was my son's school. It saddens me that I know I will never find another like it and I feel badly for my daughter for never being able to attend because I know she would have loved it more than her current school ). My son goes to a public STEM magnet school and they don't offer AP because they feel it is not worth it if the goal is just to get college credit. They offer the kids the same GPA boost as an AP class for taking a college class at our local university. When the kids graduate they have the option to earn 16-40 college credits and I don't have to pay for the college classes or AP (or IB) exams.

[roxyrn]

In regards to AP courses- my experience is that very few colleges actually give you credit for passing the AP test especially if you score below 5. Some of the colleges will give foreign language credits based on the tests that they administer prior to class selection and having AP classes helps.

You should always be prepared to advocate for your child, but there can sometimes be a fine line between advocacy and being a helicopter parent. Every child needs to learn to be their own advocate and every parent needs to teach them to be resilient by not catching them every time they fall.

BTW- 90% is perfectly respectable and nothing to get bummed about.

[lastminutemom]

Originally Posted by roxyrn

In regards to AP courses- my experience is that very few colleges actually give you credit for passing the AP test especially if you score below 5. Some of the colleges will give foreign language credits based on the tests that they administer prior to class selection and having AP classes helps.

You should always be prepared to advocate for your child, but there can sometimes be a fine line between advocacy and being a helicopter parent. Every child needs to learn to be their own advocate and every parent needs to teach them to be resilient by not catching them every time they fall.

BTW- 90% is perfectly respectable and nothing to get bummed about.

Bolded the important part.

As I understand this, your child is in 8th grade. The course is likely a year long course and all that will be looked at is the final grade.

Fulton schools often have access limitations for AP courses, but generally speaking, at least in my exp, AP gov isn't a freshman level course. If that is the case at your high school, absolutely don't push her into it. AP Human Geographay (or some such thing) is generally the freshman social studies AP class.

I think you are very driven for your child -- is your child as driven as you are?

[nanhi]

AP government is a freshman level course in our high school. . She is as driven as I am. She is disturbed that it has brought down her GPA.

[HappyGoLucky15]

Originally Posted by nanhi

AP government is a freshman level course in our high school. . She is as driven as I am. She is disturbed that it has brought down her GPA.

That's impressive. I took that course back in high school and it was a challenging but fun course. I wouldn't have thought a 14 year old would have the maturity to understand everything taught in that class. But every kid is different and kudos to your kid for wanting to take on the challenge.

[AtlJan]

I took the AP World Geography exam even though my high school did not offer the class. A teacher recommended I do so bc I had a passion for the subject. I don't know if this is still the case, but at that time you could sign up for an exam whether or not you'd had an official class in the subject or not.

But regardless, being driven toward a high GPA is probably less fulfilling than being driven in a certain subject area (soccer, chess, robotics, poetry) or toward a certain goal--(microbiologist, black belt in taekwondo etc). A high GPA is not an end in itself, but I'm guessing you and your daughter are smart enough to know that. . .