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Former teacher here. I'll explain a little bit about this NO ZERO and MINIMUM 50% mentality.
Zeros are like stabs to the chest. One zero has the ability to drop your grade by an entire letter grade. This is part of a larger conversation about how skewed our grading system is in the US (A, B, C, D are on a 10pt scale, but an F is 60 or below).
At the school I used to work at, my principal had a "zero excuses for zeros" policy. If students failed to turn in work and got a zero, they were required to stay after school, come in early, or come in during lunch to make it up. If they bombed the assignment and got a 40, fine, but at least they attempted.
The mentality around this policy is that giving a zero is the easy way out for lazy students. They don't have to do any work, they get a zero, and no one is holding them accountable. Forcing them to come in on their own time and do the work is more of a punishment than the zero.
Lastly, schools get funding for having higher graduation rates. It's a terrible metric to use because it encourages schools to make tasks so easy that even the dumbest of the dumb can pass.
Former teacher here. I'll explain a little bit about this NO ZERO and MINIMUM 50% mentality.
Zeros are like stabs to the chest. One zero has the ability to drop your grade by an entire letter grade. This is part of a larger conversation about how skewed our grading system is in the US (A, B, C, D are on a 10pt scale, but an F is 60 or below).
At the school I used to work at, my principal had a "zero excuses for zeros" policy. If students failed to turn in work and got a zero, they were required to stay after school, come in early, or come in during lunch to make it up. If they bombed the assignment and got a 40, fine, but at least they attempted.
The mentality around this policy is that giving a zero is the easy way out for lazy students. They don't have to do any work, they get a zero, and no one is holding them accountable. Forcing them to come in on their own time and do the work is more of a punishment than the zero.
Lastly, schools get funding for having higher graduation rates. It's a terrible metric to use because it encourages schools to make tasks so easy that even the dumbest of the dumb can pass.
I'm all for teaching and encouraging kids, to succeed, but no kid left behind, isn't working....and every kid gets a reward, isn't working, plus parents that don't care and will not work with the teacher....to me, a lot of it is all about money...which basically is the cause for a lot of our decisions including schools.
Kids have the great capacity to absorb like sponges, if they are willing...and with all that has been going on, concerning this, kids are nobody's fools, and it won't take them long to figure it out. Kids who are college material will maintain below his/her skills and kids who are failing, will not try even more...and know they'll just get by, so this is making every kid suffer. Not good.
I realize that not all teachers are great teachers, but somewhere along the line, the masses have to realize, something isn't working and also realize, that politics is also a great part of this problem, and do better....
I can also imagine, teaching is like everything else....a lot of teachers start out with good intentions, and a real "go get em" attitude, but when faced with this dilemma just isn't right...this whole thing is a no win situation for everyone concerned, and effects everyone, teachers, parents, and most of all students....
Thank you for the explanation, greatly appreciate.
EDIT - yep, I found it. The school changed the school board guidance.
*****NO ZERO’s- LOWEST POSSIBLE GRADE IS 50%
Stupid policy, and the school added it to the board's handbook policy for grading, but indeed, she did violate that handbook. She has no case, it is printed, in bold red lettering, in the handbook that is the official policy of her job. She committed the violation and got sacked. No harm, no foul. I stipulate.
Political digression - that amounts to curving and grade inflation to make failure less punitive. You get 50% credit for doing 0% work. Such an insidious introduction to the concept of entitlement and socialism.
The ONLY reason she has no case is that she was a probationary employee.
Had she passed her probationary period, notwithstanding what was written in the textbook, her union would've been all over those administrators like a cheap suit. And she'd still be teaching.
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