talloulou

So last night was open house at the school. The kids drop off their supplies and the parents fill out all the paperwork.

Anywho....

Enclosed in the packed of paperwork last night was a letter from the principal informing me that our school, like the district, and according to the letter like the rest of the nation is now moving away from the old grading system and on to the new grading system. Yeah, I know sounds bad already, huh?

The new grading system is a standard's based system. Supposedly it focuses on essential learning requirements and grade level expectations. That doesn't sound so bad.

But wait.... this is an exact quote from the letter explaining how the new system works in detail:

Ok now this alarmed the hell out of me. Am I overreacting? To me it sounds like my school is now teaching my kids that homework is unimportant, they need not bother doing it, they don't have to worry about turning crap in on time since they can now turn it in whenever without penalty. Behavior is of little importance. Extra credit, extra effort, is just meaningless inflating bull****. Attendance is meaningless. (Remember this is Elementary School!) Oh and if you're a freaking god damn cheater we'll let you redo whatever the hell it is you cheated on vs giving you a zero and teaching you not to cheat. Good god.

Also why would homework, if given , not be graded even if it is ONLY practice? They must mean not graded as in not counted towards your report card, right. Surely the teacher is gonna check it to make sure you're on the right track? Whatever. I'm obviously kidding myself here. Clearly it sounds like they're doing away with homework all together.

On top of all that what does #7 & #8 even mean? I can't even imagine. How can grades not be organized by academic subject? Does that mean you no longer get a grade in math, science, reading, etc?

And the over emphasis on "standards" just kills me. But I especially appreciate the fact that grade "standards" are not listed anywhere.

I'm very worried about our kids. This just sounds to me like we're moving in the absolute worst direction. Who makes these decisions?

shuamort

I can see both sides of the issue on this one. If a student is getting As on all of their tests and homework but has a discipline problem. Those could be dealt with seperately.

Here's where the problems start. School has been good at preparing children for the real world. Not doing things in a timely manner is something children should be prepared for when they enter adulthood. I think this is a huge mistake.
I can see both sides to this one. The bad part, it's teaching kids not to go "above and beyond" what's expected of them. If they want to learn more and do more, there's no real direct reward. The good part is that kids can abuse extra credit, didn't study as hard for that test? Well, just do some extra credit and make up for it. Sometimes extra credit can take away a bit of the personal responsibility.

Interesting point too. You cheat on a test and you have to take it again. It will measure how much the kid knows but at the same time, it doesn't give punishment. Hmm.

I actually like this one. I skipped some school and I was almost always on the honor roll.

Nothing worse than being stuck in a stupid group. This seems acceptable too.

The "benefits" of "No Child Left Behind". It's very subjective and sets standards of what's required to learn.

I think this is getting rid of the whole "grading on a curve" thing. Since the goals are subjective, this makes sense to incorporate.


Seems redundant based on point 8.


Then, I guess the work is never missing or late. Why bother sending a kid to school, just have them go for a week at the end and take all the tests and do all the work at one time?


As a parent of three kids, I would love if they didn't have homework and we could spend the evening doing something else. Nothing worse than trying to organize that and still have time to relax after work and making dinner. But, at the same time, homework let's me know what is going on at school. It helps me keep up with 10th grade chemistry, math problems, etc. It bonds parent to child if done properly.

All-in-all, it seems that your school is moving away from personal responsibility in some really weird ways.

I spent about 45 minutes reading through class expectations for 2nd and 3rd grade for our two youngest last night. They're still getting graded homework, and spelling tests, and when we take the kids on vacation for two weeks (one week overlapping spring vacation) we still have to get the principal's permission first or else the student would be considered truant which will turn into a legal thing.

I'd check with other local schools (magnet, charter) and see if they're following these and if not, switch.

UtahBill

He needs to prove that the rest of the nation is going that way, and I bet that he cannot....

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mogur

Grades can't be used to discourage behavior that-
(1) disrupts other student's ability to be taught
(2) (10) causes the instructor to evaluate work at arbitrary times
(4) causes an unfair academic advantage by cheating. In spite of the claimed 'no curve' grading, honest students are only given one shot at it, while cheating students can retry until they succeed at not getting caught?
(5) (6) reduces the benefit to others by class participation

Grades can't be used to encourage behavior that-
(1) (5) (6) demonstrates cooperation, like the social animal that we are
(3) shows initiative
(2) (10) allows the class as a whole to advance and benefit from the participation in, and contributions of, individual ideas, in an orderly, timely fashion

Other than that, it's a swell litany of educational folly.

Captain America

Well, the elementry school my youngest son went to loaded him up with homework every night and it angered me to no end. The poor kid, who has learning disabilities, spent 3 to 4 hours after school doing his homework just trying to keep up. He had hardly any childhood, as childhood's should go, at all. Just school, homework, supper and a bath and it was off to bed just to get up and do it all again the next day. Finally, I had enough and I decided that he could do an hour a day and no more. I caught hell from his teachers but stood my ground.

I feel that a child should do 10 minutes of homework per grade. In other words, third graders should have 30 minutes, fourth graders should have 40 minutes and so on...

I am a big proponent of teachers. They have one of the most important jobs in our society and are very underpaid. But the teachers that screwed up my kids early youth can rot in hell as far as I'm concerned.

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talloulou

Well I've already emailed everyone I know at the school including the principal to request a meeting where this letter and the new standards can be further explained.

Who makes these decisions?

Hopefully the rationale behind this lunacy will be explained.

talloulou

Well I live on the west coast. Apparently we're doing away with homework. If given, it's optional.

I'm also a big proponent of teachers though I have little faith that they can do any kind of decent job with both hands tied behind their backs. Now, since our schools are failing, they've apparently decided to add more policies that essentially tie the teachers feet up too. I can't exactly blame some hog tied teachers for the crap level of schooling these days.

Korimyr the Rat

This only reinforces my conviction that no child of mine shall ever see the inside of a public school.

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WI Crippler

What a bunch of rot.

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rathi

This is reasonable. Behavior isn't the same thing as academic proficiency and lowering grades is a bad way to deal with discipline problems. However, problem student behavior still needs to be dealt with.

It shows the student can't meet deadlines if they turn in stuff late, which is a perfectly valid part of academic achievement. Fail.

Good policy. Extra credit should be allowed, but it shouldn't give bonus points.

This is too vague to make a call. Not all academic dishonesty should be an automatic zero, but it certainly is an acceptable punishment. It should be left the discretion of the teachers.

I don't really care one way or the other. Attendance is mandatory anyways and students will get punished in other ways. Students who don't show up will probably do badly on tests anyways.

Fine by me. Your grades represent your work so they should reflect your actions.

Downright insane. The whole point of education is to learn about academic subjects. I'd call for the person who implemented this policy.

This is impossible to implement, and would be a terrible idea even if it were realistic.

What does this mean? Are they saying they won't average up the grades the student received in order to determine the final grade? Downright insane.



I'm torn on this. Homework is sometimes useless and simply wastes kids time. However, sometimes its the only way to learn about the subject and its a good habit. Can't offer a good opinion.

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