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If you read the article, it is actually a fair point they're making to assume that if you go from Algebra I to Algebra II, that well, you probably aren't failing. This seems more a case of a school system that messed up, as opposed to solely individual responsibility issues.
The reason he went from Algebra I to Algebra II can be summed up in four words, "No Child Left Behind". I taught Algebra I in the Las Vegas area and we were literally not allowed to not let the kid move on to the next math level (in our case Geometry). Sometimes if we had enough teaching hours available we would do a remedial Algebra I but it was mostly used to get Seniors their credits so they could graduate. That meant they would have to go through Geometry and Algebra II before they had a chance to retake Algebra I.
On the other hand, the school I taught at has a minimum F policy (before you yell at me, I thought and still believe that this is the dumbest thing ever created for the classroom) where no matter what they actually scored on a quiz or test, they would get a minimum of 50% on it. We also were told to do a completion grade on all homework assignments, so if they tried and even if they got all the answers wrong, they still got full credit. So if they showed up everyday, turned in all of their homework and took all the quizzes and tests they would be guaranteed to pass with a 67.5% D. And I still had classes with more than 75% of them failing, my last week of each quarter was usually me spending the entire day calling kids up to work on assignments so that they could get a passing grade and I still had multiple kids per class with a final grade of less then 10%. I finally had enough and just quit, the stress was simply killing me (literally, my doctor told me that if I didn't stop teaching I would probably die of a heart attack).
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"I don't understand. But I don't care, so it works out."
(set 11 days ago)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tymberwulf
The reason he went from Algebra I to Algebra II can be summed up in four words, "No Child Left Behind". I taught Algebra I in the Las Vegas area and we were literally not allowed to not let the kid move on to the next math level (in our case Geometry). Sometimes if we had enough teaching hours available we would do a remedial Algebra I but it was mostly used to get Seniors their credits so they could graduate. That meant they would have to go through Geometry and Algebra II before they had a chance to retake Algebra I.
On the other hand, the school I taught at has a minimum F policy (before you yell at me, I thought and still believe that this is the dumbest thing ever created for the classroom) where no matter what they actually scored on a quiz or test, they would get a minimum of 50% on it. We also were told to do a completion grade on all homework assignments, so if they tried and even if they got all the answers wrong, they still got full credit. So if they showed up everyday, turned in all of their homework and took all the quizzes and tests they would be guaranteed to pass with a 67.5% D. And I still had classes with more than 75% of them failing, my last week of each quarter was usually me spending the entire day calling kids up to work on assignments so that they could get a passing grade and I still had multiple kids per class with a final grade of less then 10%. I finally had enough and just quit, the stress was simply killing me (literally, my doctor told me that if I didn't stop teaching I would probably die of a heart attack).
We had something similar.
A student can't get lower than a 50 on the first semester final grade. Because if they got less than that, it's hopeless for them to pass the course. If they get a 50, then they can get an 89 second semester and get credit for the course. A student who earns an 89 second semester, has pretty much mastered the subject so it works out.
Secondly, it's not fair to grade homework when some kids have mom and dad check their work and make sure it's all correct, and some kids have to muddle through with no one to ask for help. If the student did in fact, TRY, that's a completion grade, and that seems fair.
it's a 16 yr old charter school, with what might be called an "untraditional curriculum" and limited enrollment.
Its principal is a Black woman who earns $170K a year. She recently moved there after a scandal at her last school of grade-changing and graduating students with grossly-excess missed days.
At $170,000 per year do you think she gives a zhit?
It wasn't completely the school's fault, after all, he missed 359 days, How can you learn anything if you are not there and wasn't his mother paying attention to his grades throughout the year? OTOH, the school district should have caught it and held him back from the beginning and if he was having trouble he should ask for help. It is obvious this student and his mother were partly responsible for what happened and are now looking for a free ride. If they graduate this student without the basics in education he will end up in jail or dead. With that said, I have very little use for the public school system.
I missed a lot of school when I was a child because I was sick so much. I still tended to be on the honor roll, except for the one grading period where I was denied the ability to make up the work I missed. My mother didn't fight for me. She could have had she cared enough. I fought it as much as I could. I would have been on the honor roll that grading period too had I been allowed to do the work. I did all of the homework assignments, but the tests for those weeks were most of the grade. The teacher refused to let me make up the tests. I was out for several weeks. I almost died.
Some people don't even try or care about getting an education. This kid and his mother are two such people.
What the woke politicians will never address is how to make societal changes where they are needed. Painting BLM murals on the avenues of the city won't stop people from creating babies they have zero intention of raising. The fact is that very little education goes on in the worst of these inner city schools. The momentum is in the wrong direction; in New York City politicians are champing at the bit to disband or dilute specialized schools such as Bronx School of Science and Stuyvesant, in order to bring a spurious "equality" to the educational system.
Let's face some truths; academic success is the last thing on that student's and for that matter the parents' or school's mind.
"Whatch" I mean... them leftists on C-D who virtue-signal and love to prattle on about their morally superior ideological diarrhea which they never live out.
Thank you.
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