The reason given for this policy is that you don't want to take the kid out of the game in the first quarter by giving a zero and creating a 30-week discipline & attendance problem. The local Board of Ed policy is we teachers have to leave room for them to pass the class. The math generally works like this across most districts that I'm aware of:
WITH THE ACTUAL EARNED ZERO (NOT LIKELY - MY EXPERIENCE IS IT'S USUALLY IN THE '30S OR '40S BECAUSE OF CLASS WORK & ASSESSMENTS) The kid would need to get a MINIMUM 81 EACH quarter AND on the midterm & final just to pass with a 65%.
WITH THE UNEARNED 50%: Each quarter is worth 2/10 of your final grade and the midterm and final is worth 1/10 of your final grade so, if you crunch the numbers, it's 2 * 50 = 100 and then you need 8 * 68 = 552 for a total final grade of 65.2% which is a passing grade.
So here's the question: Do you give them the freebie grade of 50 and only ask them to achieve a 68% average for the rest of the year or so you demand better and measurable improvement and make them work for the MINIMUM 81 for the next 30 weeks?
BEFORE YOU ANSWER KNOW THIS: 1) I have never known a department chair person to say no to a teacher's discretion to change the grade to whatever the most "common good" is; that is to say if the kid doesn't get the minimum 81 to pass but has shown improvement up to say let's say in the low mid-70s or even high 60s, as long as that chairperson gets a heads up on WHAT you're doing it's absolute teacher discretion, the WHY is left to us (correctly I believe) to determine after 40 weeks of being with that student. 2) EVEY ASSIGNMENT IS ONLINE for parents to view 24/7
So what's it going to be? Mediocrity or merit? Freebies or no free lunches? What's the "common good" for the student, the teacher, the school, the parents, the college, future employers and the community and nation at large?
Fuck that! You get what you EARNED
Makes sense but gives me the ick
I'm totally OK w/ that. It's sound reasoning
Other option - hopefully with restorative justice
Select gender and age to cast your vote:
Please select your age
Updates
6 mo
Agreed. Except for the left back part. Research doesn't support it - intensive remediation in a specialized environment following the failing year does. I TOTALLY support learning from failure - in fact it's the ONLY way! The DoE is just a clearaning house for fed funds and a compliance regulator. States run education completely.
Most schools in my region have a grading policy that you can't give a lower than a 50 in the 1st quarter. Even if you do ZERO WORK, minimum grade: 50?
Post Opinion
Like
Share
Follow
2 likes
What is your opinion?
Add Opinion
Most Helpful Opinions
Anonymous
(36-45)
6 mo
I would love to say honor merit 100%, but I'd be a hypocrite. I went to a university where there was a portion of students who I had to wonder HOW they ever even got in because stepping in the door, they were in remedial classes learning "how to write college term papers." Really??? However, having worked in some pretty crappy school districts, it is hard to say merit alone should be the only path to an education because a lot of these kids were absolutely screwed by their home lives/a poor education and would have zero hope of ever getting even a sniff of a chance to advance in anyway or to help themselves improve their lives if the districts or universities only allowed merit based education alone.
Even though I wasn't in that situation, I know I am the beneficiary of "grading on a curve." I went to a college prep high school where the classes were how shall I say, Korean high school level INTENSE! You had to test into the school, had to maintain a certain GPA to stay, high grades were literally THE competition, and it was stressful and exhausting with 4 hours of homework a night at minimum. Our teachers knew they were having to give us work that wasn't even required in the district to graduate on any metric, and so to fail you on that---they felt was a bridge too far, so in particular, the advanced math/science classes, had their finals graded on a curve.
I think you can't just rope every situation together and say everything has to be a or b, nor do I think education should belong to a certain few. The world benefits from having more people working and educating themselves to do better even if they have to START at the back with some unconventional help. I could literally go on about the schools I've worked with and comparing them to my own situation which was quite the opposite. If only kids all had the same opportunities to do well across the board, but that's not reality.
But they can provide college level academics to bring them along. There is nothing right about depriving a top student of access to higher learning because this guy had shitty parents.
@Dongie As you say that, money does this every single day. Alumni do this every single day. Athletes do this every single day at universities--they take spots from students who should be there on merit because mom and dad built a wing of the school or Alexander is a star athlete but with poor grades, or Jess has a mom that's an alumni. There are so many intricate and complicated ways in which fairness in education is not really a thing and to harp on one while clearly ignoring another, is well, hypocritical.
If you truly want fairness in education---get those laptops to the poor schools too, make recruitment of the best teachers like a football draft where the best schools can't just automatically get the top teachers, offer real funding to low performing schools to help them improve, actually address the disparities in poverty that prevent students from being top level. How do we benefit as a society by just giving lip service to certain students and certain areas of town. And I'm speaking from a place of being at those schools where we had everything and every single resource under God to help us, but working at several low performing schools showed me how really f'd the system is for these kids that adults in cushy offices want to say are just doing nothing, or their teachers are doing nothing. Be there, and see the problems, then you understand it's not black and white.
The fucks wrong with you? Ask me to send all the dumbasses to school. Do you know how much money the top schools have fucking Harvard alhas a surplus of Billions. A B. Not to mention the dumbass thriving democrats are paying off student loans. They paid o of mine I paid mine and I guess am paying some of theirs through tax funds. Shit. You pY, you get laptops. Fucking college has more money than insurance companies. Excuse me.
They just want to make sure they’re not flunking kids who try. A 50 is still an F, just not a reason to be expelled. If they want to do well, they will. If not, well then they can flunk out next year and be someone else’s problem
I see it as a temporary safety net, much like one’s 90-day probation period in a new job. You’re allowed to make mistakes, provided you learn from them, and it doesn’t affect your future at the company.
So you think it's okay to do one time, but if it continues for two years in a row, they should get held back? If so, I can get behind that. I just don't like the idea of never failing, because you're guaranteeing some kids will choose to never learn and will never have a regular life because of it.
Everyone fails at some point, it’s a given when you’re trying something new. After a year you should have enough of an idea of the expectations you’re facing to set up your own plan.
Everyone needs to do well because any failure in the mind of educators is a reflection of the school and if it's not and you hold individuals or groups accountable they fear marginalizing certain groups. This is what you get as a result, illiterate high school graduates who will believe that they are the victim, they will take 0 accountability or responsibility for the work they didn't do.
Failure can be a good thing, way more kids need to be held back and failed. Feel that embarrassment, feel like your an idiot or your failing someone, something to actually create a bit of character and push someone to do something positive. However, the department of education is not in the business of admitting they are massively behind in every way of education and their priorities are so out of line.
If you can't average above a 50% in an academic environment then I 100% believe your life will be a useless, unfulfilling, unnoticed life that likely lived largely on government subsidies. That's the innovation our schools are trying to create.
Homeschool your kids (yes parents I'm asking you to invest time and effort into your child instead of letting daddy gov do it), or if you can research private schools that align with your values, morals, and curriculum.
If you have to send them to public school you'd best actively be involved or else when you send them to the melting pot of quality and culture that is college, they won't be way behind.
that's why I don't like big systems. each are individuals. This why some people end up failing... they aren't getting the specific guidance they require to get on the right track. The real answer is parents. the rest is a band aide. I don't know enough to state a policy...
The key consideration is the "common good," which involves balancing fairness with encouragement. Giving a baseline of 50 allows students to remain motivated and not feel overwhelmed by early failures. This policy can serve as a safety net to encourage students to improve rather than disengage. Teachers can then focus on supporting and encouraging students to reach higher standards, while maintaining communication with parents to ensure transparency. It's about fostering a growth mindset and setting realistic goals for improvement, ultimately benefiting the student, school, and community.
Ridiculous. I am fine with a teacher giving a kid who puts in a lot of effort a little bit of slack if he or she is close to passing, but freebies create a disincentive to even try.
The problem is for the other students. The and these kids have no hope of passing without it. They become psychopath level disruptive and 29! other kids get fucked
I didn't read it all Doc, but that's not doing nobody any good. Give'em what they earn but have extra make up work along the next periods. If you said that good. That's the only way other than summer school or except failure.
Pepper, you don‘t seem to have learned that leftists ruin everything. Yet you continue to support them, even though their anti-Semitism is also really bad these days.
LBJ, you say? Surely you’re familiar with where his policies like the Great Society/War on Poverty were originally directed, right? Now, would you say those policies were leftist? Would you say LBJ was a leftist?
With what you are describing parents are to understand their child has learnt 0% in first quarter even though they got a score of 50. The child is to understand they have actually got 0 despite being graded at 50 and are just being encouraged.
This seems more obfuscation than transparency. The common good has to be all students obtaining competency in the basic subjects. because in adulthood you need to 1/ understand percentages 2/ read and follow instructions 3/ write and give obstructions.
A missing stakeholder is society who has a legitimate interest in at least those abilities being achieved with the investment made by society.
No the free 50 is communicated how arrived at AND the actual numerical grade is provided in comments of report card. It's utterly transparent. The community through their BoE proxies IS society.
What does it teach children to not give them what they deserve? I don't think it's a good lesson. A far better lesson is to fail when you fail and to succeed when you succeed.
Agreed. In a perfect world yes. Would you want your child in the same class as the kid who has no hope of passing? That kid WILL destroy class for the other 28 kids. If you have nothing to lose...
Would you want that kid who can't pass in class with your kids? They are a disruptive menace and harm every other student. That's in no one's interest.
Lol, no they aren’t. Seriously a dude who claims to be a teacher should know how the shit is run. What happened to the kid who came into your classroom with 0 desire to learn. Can you fucking be honest for once in your life?
I don’t blame the children solely. Growing up without a father in a toxic environment doesn’t help. But to pretend there aren’t asshole kids is just ridiculous
The only opinion from girls was selected the Most Helpful Opinion, but you can still contribute by sharing an opinion!
Click "Show More" for your mentions
Home > Education & Career > Polls > Most schools in my region have a grading policy that you can't give a lower than a 50 in the 1st quarter. Even if you do ZERO WORK, minimum grade: 50?
Girl's Behavior 
Guy's Behavior 
Flirting 
Dating 
Relationships 
Fashion & Beauty 
Health & Fitness 
Marriage & Weddings 
Shopping & Gifts 
Technology & Internet 
Break Up & Divorce 
Education & Career 
Entertainment & Arts 
Family & Friends 
Food & Beverage 
Hobbies & Leisure 
Other 
Religion & Spirituality 
Society & Politics 
Sports 
Travel 
Trending & News 
Most Helpful Opinions