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Seating arrangements based on making public the kid's grades will be another opportunity for some kids to bully other kids. It's common knowledge that kids who sit in the front rows will pay attention better and thus do better, so arrange it by yourself without making a big splash about it in the classroom.
If you have students that are struggling, contact the parents and discuss your desire to have the kids sit in the front rows. NOT a specific desk like the old dunce chairs. If a parent won't respond (which I know is common), talk with the student privately yourself and convince him/her to try it for a while.
There's too much drama in things these days. Many times things can be accomplished quietly and privately.
Almost everything I experienced in school circa from the 1980s early to mid 1990s would now be considered a FERPA violation, from the seating of musicians in band (best students, first chair/first section) to the display of high-scoring papers and projects in an annual community showcase. There is an awful lot by way of privacy safeguards in public education.
Very true, these days parents tend to side with their child instead of the adult.
I know that I wouldn't do well in this classroom arrangement because I was picked on for doing well in school. I wanted to keep my grades to myself because the kids that didn't do so well would grab my paper from me to copy it. Why should I let someone get the same grade after all the hard work I did?
Since we are hearing this second hand, I wonder if the teacher really did mention actual grades at all. I can see her saying explaining the new seating arrangements, but doubt she actually said - John's avg is 68, he's sitting here. Ben's avg is 69, he's sitting here..... etc. It's mid-July now. Was this done at the end of the school year or is the brother in a year round school?
If I were the teacher, and faced with needing to circumvent stupid laws, there is a simple solution.
Each week, ask the students to arrange their seating according to the results on the last test. Then just stand back and let them voluntarily disclose their test scores to each other in order to arrange the seating. Or, simply say "Would those of you who got between 90 and 100 please take the seats in the back." Then, that being accomplished, say "Now, those with scores between 80 and 90, please take the remaining unoccupied seats nearest the back." Continue this until all seats have been taken, and begin your lesson for the day. This would also be voluntary disclosure, as long as you did not challenge any student's seating choice and ask them to reveal privileged and classified documents to justify their position.
Or best of all, just say "Here is a problem I'd like you to discuss together and see if you can find a solution. I would like to have all those with the highest grades sit in the back and lowest grades sit in the front, but it's against the law for me to disclose the grades in order to do that -- it would be a felony and I could be sent to prison, unless I plea bargain to a lesser charge. How can this be accomplished without breaking the law?" The pupils will probably learn more of value that day than any other day of the school year, thus turning lemons into lemon meringue pie. The students will love the rebellion against a rigid and mindless authority, and admire the teacher for complicity against The Man. "The Law" has no idea that it is up against a room full of students dedicated to circumventing it.
Good idea! I still think my grade isn't anyone else's business. I would lie about my grade (no matter how high or low). You don't want the class to think you're an idiot, nor do you want them to think you're a genius.
Since we are hearing this second hand, I wonder if the teacher really did mention actual grades at all. I can see her saying explaining the new seating arrangements, but doubt she actually said - John's avg is 68, he's sitting here. Ben's avg is 69, he's sitting here..... etc. It's mid-July now. Was this done at the end of the school year or is the brother in a year round school?
According to him, she said that she will change their seats every Monday (she put hw, quizzes, and test grades in online grade system over the weekend). The students with the lowest grade will sit in the front and and as you go down the row, the grades will get higher so that the students with the highest grades are in the back. He took math in the spring semester, and she started this a few weeks into the semester (lasts 18 weeks). Thankfully, he made an 83% and maintained a B-average.
She never said what grade they had, but it's so easy for someone to say, "Haha! Chris, you're up front! What do you have in here?" Even though Chris probably doesn't want to share, he will most likely answer.
It's amazing how things have changed. I remember grading my classmates papers as well as passing them back and no one thought there was anything wrong with that.
This probably does not violate FERPA.
Daily grades are not covered as they are not gradebook records until recorded by the teacher.
If the students grade the papers and then read back the grades, that is not an educational record. If the teacher then records the grades in the gradebook, that is an educational record and reading them back again would be a FERPA violation.
Going back to this same situation, if the teacher assigns students based on gradebook grades, that is disclosing the record of class rank technically. But if, instead, the teacher seats students based on the teachers perceived success in class (struggling students up front, successful students in back), that is not disclosing a record because the teacher's opinion is not an educational record.
Kids have way too many rights as it is, but parents can know the grade up until the student is 18.
I said unless they were a major by law (ie if they are emancipated before 18) or turn 18.
As for the kids having too many rights, what rights do they have that aren't basic?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pinkmani
According to him, she said that she will change their seats every Monday (she put hw, quizzes, and test grades in online grade system over the weekend). The students with the lowest grade will sit in the front and and as you go down the row, the grades will get higher so that the students with the highest grades are in the back. He took math in the spring semester, and she started this a few weeks into the semester (lasts 18 weeks). Thankfully, he made an 83% and maintained a B-average.
She never said what grade they had, but it's so easy for someone to say, "Haha! Chris, you're up front! What do you have in here?" Even though Chris probably doesn't want to share, he will most likely answer.
I think after middle school the only assigned seats was chorus but that was based on vocal range.
I don't see how this violates FERPA. the teacher is not disclosing actual grades or posting grades.
from the link:
"A NOTE ABOUT POSTING GRADES AND DISTRIBUTING PAPERS Without written student consent, grades may
not be publicly posted, and papers/exams may not be publicly distributed, by methods that disclose confidential
information. This includes posting grades outside class/office or distributing papers in class or bins outside
classrooms/offices if they contain personally identifiable information. It is illegal to use all or part of a student ID or
social security number as an identifier for posting grades/distributing papers."
And really, FERPA protects the student from disclosure by a third party of personally identifiable information, and what the teacher is doing is not violating FERPA by seating students in a certain way.
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