You all know what I’m talking about. Those students who have barely done anything all year other than being physically present in your class. If it was an education system with integrity, there’s no chance they deserve to pass. But with all the other factors in mind, none less than the fact that it adds work for you, it’s just easier to mark them as ‘working towards the standard’ or whatever your report-writing system’s lowest passable category is. Here’s my view on why we need to bring back fail grades, for the sake of the student, their classmates, teachers and the education system as a whole. Would love to hear what you think, whether you agree or if you think I’m way off the mark with this one. Thanks all!
A better question is how many students did you fail that administration passed anyway?
SarahJackson said:
A better question is how many students did you fail that administration passed anyway?
“how many students failed your class that admin passed anyway” We all need to remember that WE are not failing THEM, they did not complete the requirements to pass the class.
@RaeganRevord
True! To emphasize this idea, I always use phrases like “You earned ___ points” (and never “I gave you ___ points”) when discussing grades with students.
SarahJackson said:
A better question is how many students did you fail that administration passed anyway?
This exactly! I had several students fail for term 1 and then all teachers got an email two weeks before Thanksgiving saying that we had to give those students makeup work so that they could pass instead. Like, what??? I’m on year ten and this is a first. Typically a student might fail one term but not the next because they now understand that they don’t get to make it up and need to pass the semester so they do better the second term. Now the admin is showing them that they can fail and just make it up during a holiday break. It’s insane! So I made it easy on myself and assigned them the original work they didn’t do in the first place all conveniently located on our online platform and set it to auto grade everything. Before moving to the next item they had to make a 70. So that’s what they all got for T1. A 70 instead of the 38 that one of them earned. And what am I seeing for T2? The same level of apathy because they know that I’ll have to offer make-up work again. It’s crazy.
@Carson
I went to high school with a kid that really struggled with school. When he got too overwhelmed in a class, he’d stop doing work and just say “I’ll do this class in summer school”. Not quite as bad as your kids, but he got used to being able to repeat stuff and would blow off 2 of his classes every year. I ended up going to the same college as him. He failed out his first semester
@Lilnim
Yikes. And that’s where the system fails students. I do understand letting them make up tests, they get nervous and have bad days, but we give them almost no reason to try in the first place and then if they go to college they find out quickly that they either have to change their study habits or drop out. If we can help them create solid study methods before leaving high school it would help. I give my students multiple ways to take notes and then I let them choose the method they want the rest of the year. No one taught me how to take notes in high school and I struggled in my lecture classes in college until I figured out how to abbreviate and do short notes. Also reading the material ahead of time was helpful too.
SarahJackson said:
A better question is how many students did you fail that administration passed anyway?
good point
SarahJackson said:
A better question is how many students did you fail that administration passed anyway?
good point
You just earned one point.
SarahJackson said:
A better question is how many students did you fail that administration passed anyway?
This - absolutely. I NEVER entered a passing grade for a student who deserved to fail - but I know of too many instances where my admin overrode my grading decision.
SarahJackson said:
A better question is how many students did you fail that administration passed anyway?
My old administration uses the term ‘promote’. No one passed but everyone was promoted!
Zero. I filled out a lot of paperwork as a result hahahaha
None and I’m getting looked at now because of it. I had 97 kids this semester and 7 of them failed. So I failed them. Now I have 5 meetings with parents and an admin meeting to ‘explain myself’
Racey said:
None and I’m getting looked at now because of it. I had 97 kids this semester and 7 of them failed. So I failed them. Now I have 5 meetings with parents and an admin meeting to ‘explain myself’
Be prepared with facts and calmly explain why they could not keep up with their passing classmates.
“Don’t know the data on student that are retained and they incarceration?” -Principal “Do you know that data on students who should have been retained, weren’t, and are still incarcerated?” -Me We will never know…
Racey said:
None and I’m getting looked at now because of it. I had 97 kids this semester and 7 of them failed. So I failed them. Now I have 5 meetings with parents and an admin meeting to ‘explain myself’
Does your school have a parent portal, then parents should have no questions. They could have realized junior samples was failing long before the end of the semester. Kids get the grades they earned.
@lmason
Oh we do, every comment, summative and formative assignment is online. We scan all written work and upload it for parents to see. They don’t look at anything. We hold a parent boot camp to teach parents how to use the software and check it about 4 times a year. 45 min session with free snacks and food. About 10 parents show up all year long in a school of 1200 kids.
None. Here at the East Podunk Cosmodemonic Junior College, probably more than half the incoming freshmen this term failed. They can’t read, most of them.
Many. Passing students are not made into my problem. I take 0 flak for passing dumbasses. When I fail even the dumbest shit student, the problem becomes mine to explain/justify/fix. If I want to teach, I pass kids. If I want to get fucked by administration, parents, and politicians who will make it into my problem, I fail kids. Multiply x 120 and maybe you will understand why grade inflation is normal.
I flunked more students than any teacher at my school for 7 straight years, still passed way more than I should. I taught history so it was an easy subject and the justification was always backed up with communication home and plenty of warnings. Frankly, I think we need to flunk way more students and make the diploma actually worth something by encouraging kids who aren’t capable of being good students to drop out.