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Is this really the hill you want to die on? My first year of teaching I had several students fail. It was stressful and I got in more trouble than they did. Another teacher - with many more years of experience - told me to pass those students with a 70. I make especially sure my special education students pass, even if I know it's just because they are lazy and not because they are incapable of doing the work.
I think in the current job climate it is even more important to make sure your job is secure. If taking a stand on this is going to cost you your job, it isn't worth it.
You're right. IF this were happening , I'd pass the buck to his SpEd teacher. While I would be the one who pulls the trigger to post the final grade, logically, the SpEd teacher is the one who should know what is reasonable to do in order to pass or not pass a particular student. I'd get this ball out of my court.
You're right though. No one gets in trouble if he passes. There will be hell to pay if he doesn't. I can hear the parents now...."And YOU said he'd never pass...I guess he showed you...".
Oh, I would be having a conference with these parents, showing them exactly the "work" he has done, adding up his grade right in front of them and then I would ask them what they expect....put the ball in THEIR court.
Is this really the hill you want to die on? My first year of teaching I had several students fail. It was stressful and I got in more trouble than they did. Another teacher - with many more years of experience - told me to pass those students with a 70. I make especially sure my special education students pass, even if I know it's just because they are lazy and not because they are incapable of doing the work.
I think in the current job climate it is even more important to make sure your job is secure. If taking a stand on this is going to cost you your job, it isn't worth it.
I have no intention of dying on this hill. I just thought it would make good debate fodder. Seriously, a third time around taking this class isn't going to help him any more than the second time did. I do wonder what is going to happen to him in college. I wonder if they fix grades in college so students can play sports? I can't see him making the grade on his own but, then again, there are some really easy majors out there.
I have no intention of dying on this hill. I just thought it would make good debate fodder. Seriously, a third time around taking this class isn't going to help him any more than the second time did. I do wonder what is going to happen to him in college. I wonder if they fix grades in college so students can play sports? I can't see him making the grade on his own but, then again, there are some really easy majors out there.
If he is a top player at a top DI program they will provide him with all kinds of tutors, put him into an "acceptable major" etc. At lesser programs, they won't keep him if academically he is too much of an issue. His parents are delusional if they think they are "helping" him. Again, the NCAA has a lot of control over this and if at final audit he doesn't make the grade, he can't play no matter how much whining his parents do. How did he do on his ACT/SAT?
I wrestled in college, Div III but with many friends in Div I schools. Pretty much if you cannot cut it academically, you are given more and more tutor help. You stop going to class, and work through every assignment with your tutor. In practice, often the tutor is doing more of the assignment than the athlete, but the athlete does actually work through each assignment. The most abuse happens with papers, where the tutor does so much editing that only the most basic concepts come from the athlete.
This is not every athlete; I know several guys on the Stanford team and they certainly did all their work. But it is somewhere around 5-10% of athletes in my experience.
I wrestled in college, Div III but with many friends in Div I schools. Pretty much if you cannot cut it academically, you are given more and more tutor help. You stop going to class, and work through every assignment with your tutor. In practice, often the tutor is doing more of the assignment than the athlete, but the athlete does actually work through each assignment. The most abuse happens with papers, where the tutor does so much editing that only the most basic concepts come from the athlete.
This is not every athlete; I know several guys on the Stanford team and they certainly did all their work. But it is somewhere around 5-10% of athletes in my experience.
I was afraid of that. It really bugs me that they will go to great lengths to get him through school, while paying his way, when there are students who deserve to go to college who can't afford to go. When I graduated from high school, I was turned down for financial aid because my biological father (who paid $12/week child support...even in the late 70's that wasn't much) made too much money. He wasn't about to help me go to college. So I didn't go. I worked for a few years and then went to school.
Fail, the only time that I do not fail is when it is a special ed student and the majority of them do at least try. We should NEVER just give grade, in the case as to the student never trying..no he will fail. I do not ever reward lack of effort in my class. As for his parents, thats their fault not mine, they need to be held accountable.
Last edited by historygrad; 01-30-2012 at 11:21 AM..
I was afraid of that. It really bugs me that they will go to great lengths to get him through school, while paying his way, when there are students who deserve to go to college who can't afford to go. When I graduated from high school, I was turned down for financial aid because my biological father (who paid $12/week child support...even in the late 70's that wasn't much) made too much money. He wasn't about to help me go to college. So I didn't go. I worked for a few years and then went to school.
Our system is mucked up.
But it's the system you have to work within.
The system is bigger than you so stop fighting it because IT will win each and every time.
Is it really worth it ?
I look at it this way..."try to teach the kids in spite of the system" but knowing you have to play with their rules whether you like them or not.
What does it matter to you? Are your ethics outraged by passing the kid? Will it really matter if he moves on?
As a former SPED teacher, I will say in a 20 year career, I never told a teacher to pass a SPED student. My job was to make sure all materials were correctly adapted, and to give my input on the correct placement of a student. But I never told another teacher what to grade a student.
I wonder if they fix grades in college so students can play sports?
Yes. Not blatantly, but with really easy classes, and they do push teachers to give the athletes higher grades than they've earned. (My mom's a university professor in the same school as the athletics department.)
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, I'd pass the buck to his SpEd teacher. While I would be the one who pulls the trigger to post the final grade, logically, the SpEd teacher is the one who should know what is reasonable to do in order to pass or not pass a particular student. I'd get this ball out of my court.
I can't see him making the grade on his own but, then again, there are some really easy majors out there.
