I am troubled...

[forHISglory]

Suppose I work for you, and I tell you that I won't be coming in to work, but that I expect 50% of my salary.

Suppose that I go to college and inform my professors that I won't be turning in some of my assignments, but that I would like 50% on the missing ones.

Crazy, eh? Well, I am really wrestling with trying to understand the local school district's decision that no child can ever get below 50% on any assignment.... even if he/she does not do the work or turn one in. The teachers have been told to add points to the grade books to inflate the grades so that no student gets below 50%.

One teacher told me that he recently gave a test worth 100 points. Some students did not even try to take the test; they turned in totally blank papers. He still had to put down that they earned 50%. Many of the teachers are now keeping two sets of books: one that has the inflated grades and one that has the real grades.

The teachers have been told to NOT tell the parents about the new policy.... but of course, it is leaking out anyway. Morale is low among the teachers, and many are wrestling with their consciences. They feel that what they have been asked to do is morally wrong, yet they feel they are to obey their employer.

I really feel for those teachers. I'm not sure I could stay in the profession or in the district with policies like that coming down. I also feel for the children. They are being crippled, and will not be able to compete at all in SAT or ACT tests, or in college. I think it sets up a horrible precedent of what to expect in life, on the job, etc.

Any thoughts?

[frugalwarrior2]

DD went to community college 2 years ago w/ the "no worker left behind" people. they were paid by the gov't to be there. apparently stoned was not a prob.
So I paid for my DD to go to school w/ these "idiots" (and of course thats not every auto worker w/o a job-not saying that). So there not only wasting their time,my money but also being distracting to DD's education the whole time. Not to mention safety and that they dealt drugs out by the dumpster. I suspect they also passed. WHOOOPEEE. Shxx.
So in conclusion-I certainly can.

[Debbie-cat]

That's horrible! I wonder the teacher's morals are low. I am glad to hear that they are keeping two sets of records though....that's what I would do. Scary to think that our future leaders might have been some of the children that didn't hand in their papers and played the system.

[forHISglory]

I really cannot figure out the rationale behind this move. Surely the administration can figure out that in a couple years, it will all blow up in their faces when the students cannot pass national and standardized tests, and start flunking out of college big time. You can't hide these results... I keep thinking that they must have some super reason for this move, but for the life of me, I don't get it.

[many houseapes]

Is that even legal?? It's good that the teachers are keeping record of the real grades these students are making.....perhaps there is a law agency that they could turn the evidence over to? This isn't right.

[khaski]

Is that even legal?? It's good that the teachers are keeping record of the real grades these students are making.....perhaps there is a law agency that they could turn the evidence over to? This isn't right.

I was thinking along the same lines...perhaps report it to your state's Dept. of Education? Based on your post, it almost sounds like they're trying to inflate grades to hide the issues at their school, possibly.

[brennasmom]

What the heck? That is crazy!

If a student turns in a blank paper they should get a zero.

[forHISglory]

I found this on the district's site:

"50% then becomes the lowest grade a student can receive. This policy was designed to help motivate students to continue to try in their classes even if they do very poorly on a particular assignment or test. The 50% would not damage their grade as a 0 would have on a 100 percent scale.

For years, ===School name=== has given zeros on tests and assignments. Research has indicated that the zero did not motivate students to come back or try harder. The fact is that students actually shut down and stopped working when they realized that they could not pass the class. Sometimes, this occurred only four or five weeks into a semester. The 50% minimum has given struggling students hope of passing class which has caused them to continue to try and stay in classes longer. "

You should know that this school district has the highest drop out record in the state. I honestly do not think that this policy will change that statistic significantly. And I think that students are playing the system now, knowing that even undone work will receive 50%. I am a retired teacher, and at times had the unmotivated students and struggling students. But I didn't lower standards for them. I did recognize that there were off-days for students, like any person can have, so I often allowed students to drop their lowest homework assignment grade at the end of the quarter, provided that they had turned in all work.

[peanut]

This sounds like an outgrowth of the self esteem movement that started in California years ago. The education profession felt it was damaging to children's self-esteem not to pass (go figure), so they determined to pass everyone, so as not to hurt their self-esteem. Maybe a better way to get through to them would be smaller class sizes and more one-on-one!

[ladykemma2]

my schooldistrict that i teach for rescinded that policy,

if a kid gets a 2 he gets a 2.

[ladykemma2]

i don't understand why we don't let kids drop classes. why don't we have a study hall?

also it's the week before thankgiving and i have half my chemistry kids give up and put their heads down -- "I'll just take it in night school, miss." they don't do their assignments or test reviews.

[justpeachy92]

Many of the schools have a similar no-fail policy here. They don't want the students to get less than a 77% on anything. The students are givin as many chances as needed on every assignment and test until they get the 77%. My kids have told me the teachers will stand there and give answers just so the 77% is reached and they can move on to the next thing. This policy honestly scares me, I don't see how it is doing anything to help prepare high school and middle school aged children to learn anything, to take pride in there work...let alone prepardness for the job force and higher education.

[Darlene]

Stop with the sissification of our youth. If you don't do well you should get a true grade representing that and to get a better grade you have to earn it. That grade should be written in red ink not in pretty "nice" colors. Actions have consequence's and the earlier people learn that the better. Why would anyone strive to do better when doing a crappy job is sufficient? Work ethic is important, very important.
I really don't know how teachers can stand all these mandates and have their hands tied. Uncle. Enough of allowing the craziness, laziness.

[imagine]

So many opinions I have on this ( from an educator and a parent's point of view that makes me me)

First, 50% is still failing. Just like an 0% is an F

Second, I think the district is between a rock and a hard place put up by the government. I know here they will be required to have a 0% drop out rate by 2015. I think that is national wide. So they can not have ANY freshman drop out at all during their 4 or 5 years at their school. So about now I would think that the schools would be pulling out all they can to motivate the students.

Third, the high school my son goes to is very strict about school grades. Turn in your assignment a day late, unless an excused absence and you get a 0 on the assignment. They also have the rule you can not go to dances and the like with a failing grade in a class. ( yes they check names as you enter in the dance and will send you home if your name is not on the list) Just 1 zero can take a C student to way past 50% failing student in one day late grade. An A student can recover to passing but a C student might not.
My A student child turn in one late paper and spend the rest of the time making 100% to bring the grade up is hard on him. I can see where a not as strong a student could give up on the class/ school. Buddy has students that are in his classes with him that now are just buying time (sometimes disrupting class too) until they can retake the class in summer school.

Fourth, K-12 a nationally accredit computer school some home schools use it as do some public and private schools, has a student redo all lessons until they get a 80% there is a theory of education that says this is an excellent way of teaching.

[greekislandgirl]

That's completely absurd.

And it's not true that zeroes don't motivate. I remember living in fear of forgetting to do a homework assignment and having a single zero pull my whole average down. I always triple checked to make sure I was on top of my work. So I would say it is motivating.

It's not new though. Don't you get an automatic score of 400 on the SATs just for paying for it?

I just hope that that school district is HONEST and includes a note to this effect on their transcripts. It is academic dishonesty that university admissions boards are not made aware of the fact that the school uses a 50 -> 100 grading spectrum in place of the standard 0 -> 100 spectrum. ALL the students in the district need to be evaluated on the basis of this different standard. Yes, that means that their transcripts and diplomas will be worthless on the academic and job market, but that's the consequence to this action.

If I were on the admissions board of a college, I would make certain that no student from that district were admitted to my institution without a special review. I have served on admissions committees before (not for colleges but for college programs) and the SCALE is extremely important. You can't draw any conclusions if the scale is not known.