My student works hard all year and should be rewarded with the course grade, not a one day test score.
L
Lau Ruhoff
2 years ago
I am the parent of a 9th grader that is not benefiting from this situation.
Q
Quinn LeeOhalloran
2 years ago
The current policy is a disincentive for kids to challenge themselves for fear of negatively affecting their GPA! Don’t we want students challenging themselves? I’m an IB alum and missed much of the essence of the IB experience due to remote learning while the rest of the world was back to in person learning. Stressing about passing the exam so I could keep my GPA up was unnecessary added stress! I was already motivated to do well to try for my IB Diploma. Motivation is productive. Stress is not!
J
Julie Berman
2 years ago
Parent
A
Andi Bodeau
2 years ago
Parent
F
Fiona Sayer
2 years ago
Dear Minnetonka School Board members, please change the policy regarding A/P and IB weighted grades. Students should not be required to take the AP or IB exam to be given a weighted grade. Students taking these classes work hard throughout the year. Their weighted grade should not depend on the results on an exam they take on one day.
A
Anonymous
2 years ago
Not all kids are amazing test takers. Some work really hard but their brains just don’t work that way.
J
Jessica Kuhn
2 years ago
We should be aligned with other districts and recognize the effort our kids put into these AP classes, regardless of whether they take the test or nor.
J
Jane Friedrich
2 years ago
I'm a parent
J
John Sulciner
2 years ago
Alumni and current parent of class 2024
A
Amber Miller
2 years ago
I don't understand why Minnetonka thinks it is so special that it needs its own weighted grade IB/AP policy. Get rid of all weighted grades. This is all just grade inflation to try to make the school look better. Why don't we ensure that our entire student population can actually read instead of forcing these courses on already stressed out kids?
J
Jennifer Rauen
2 years ago
Minnetonka HS Parent
T
Tom Colville
2 years ago
As a former Minnetonka IB student, I agree with all of the points and hope the district will consider these moving forward.
S
Samantha Cassioppi
2 years ago
The current policy does not benefit the students and puts undue burden by being a “pay to play” system.
A
Anonymous
2 years ago
This seems like it creates extra stress for no good reason
M
Matthew Stone
2 years ago
As a parent the current policy strikes me as unnecessarily stress-inducing for students, and since student anxiety rates are at all time highs in America and anxiety interferes with learning, it is entirely sensible that the Board should revisit a policy installed some time ago. If Minnetonka wants to check whether it is successfully teaching the content in AP courses it can track AP scores without penalizing students. The existing system is set up more as an extra penalty for those who do not do well on the exam than as an incentive for students to try a challenging course. They already have a negative consequence if they do not do well on the AP exam - they don’t get college credit. We don’t have to penalize them again.
A
Anonymous
2 years ago
Parent of two Mtka students
M
Mary Severson
2 years ago
If no other schools are requiring students to have a certain score on their AP test to weight the grade up,, then we should not either.
K
Kristin Bilardi
2 years ago
Parent of MHS course-applicable student
E
Elizabeth Drotning Hartwell Esq
2 years ago
I am a Minnetonka parent of a high schooler and an elementary schooler. I feel strongly that students’ performance on one day should not carry more weight than their work over a semester. Both of our children have type 1 diabetes and sometimes experience symptoms during testing or other high-pressure moments. Their grades should reflect the hard work done over the course of the class, not their performance on one day which - in my kids’ cases - could be severely limited by chronic illness out of their control.
Thank you for your consideration of this important topic.
My student works hard all year and should be rewarded with the course grade, not a one day test score.
I am the parent of a 9th grader that is not benefiting from this situation.
The current policy is a disincentive for kids to challenge themselves for fear of negatively affecting their GPA! Don’t we want students challenging themselves? I’m an IB alum and missed much of the essence of the IB experience due to remote learning while the rest of the world was back to in person learning. Stressing about passing the exam so I could keep my GPA up was unnecessary added stress! I was already motivated to do well to try for my IB Diploma. Motivation is productive. Stress is not!
Parent
Parent
Dear Minnetonka School Board members, please change the policy regarding A/P and IB weighted grades. Students should not be required to take the AP or IB exam to be given a weighted grade. Students taking these classes work hard throughout the year. Their weighted grade should not depend on the results on an exam they take on one day.
Not all kids are amazing test takers. Some work really hard but their brains just don’t work that way.
We should be aligned with other districts and recognize the effort our kids put into these AP classes, regardless of whether they take the test or nor.
I'm a parent
Alumni and current parent of class 2024
I don't understand why Minnetonka thinks it is so special that it needs its own weighted grade IB/AP policy. Get rid of all weighted grades. This is all just grade inflation to try to make the school look better. Why don't we ensure that our entire student population can actually read instead of forcing these courses on already stressed out kids?
Minnetonka HS Parent
As a former Minnetonka IB student, I agree with all of the points and hope the district will consider these moving forward.
The current policy does not benefit the students and puts undue burden by being a “pay to play” system.
This seems like it creates extra stress for no good reason
As a parent the current policy strikes me as unnecessarily stress-inducing for students, and since student anxiety rates are at all time highs in America and anxiety interferes with learning, it is entirely sensible that the Board should revisit a policy installed some time ago. If Minnetonka wants to check whether it is successfully teaching the content in AP courses it can track AP scores without penalizing students. The existing system is set up more as an extra penalty for those who do not do well on the exam than as an incentive for students to try a challenging course. They already have a negative consequence if they do not do well on the AP exam - they don’t get college credit. We don’t have to penalize them again.
Parent of two Mtka students
If no other schools are requiring students to have a certain score on their AP test to weight the grade up,, then we should not either.
Parent of MHS course-applicable student
I am a Minnetonka parent of a high schooler and an elementary schooler. I feel strongly that students’ performance on one day should not carry more weight than their work over a semester. Both of our children have type 1 diabetes and sometimes experience symptoms during testing or other high-pressure moments. Their grades should reflect the hard work done over the course of the class, not their performance on one day which - in my kids’ cases - could be severely limited by chronic illness out of their control. Thank you for your consideration of this important topic.