No More Bad Grades for Late Work, Flunked Tests in Dallas Schools

The same thing is already happening at the colleges. Parents are increasingly calling college professors, the dean of students, the college deans, admissions, and the high-muck-a-mucks. There are already lawsuits because little Billy and Susie didn't get an A, thus were denied law school.

And people wonder why we're internationally ranked #14 in education. I'm a teacher, and there are students who work hard out there. I was "encouraged" to falsify grades and give "certain" students (translate = the affluent students) some "breaks."

Our education system is broken.

It's obnoxious when parents, especially parents of college-aged students, try to get their child's grade changed for one reason or another. I went to school with many trust fund babies who skated through classes simply because their parents had money. It was so frustrating for those of us who actually worked.

I will have to admit, however, that my mother once spoke with the director of our theatre department about a particular professor - not to get my grade changed, but because the professor was a nutcase. Her entire class had also spoken with him, and he had done nothing because she was his friend, but my mother's visit (which I only found out about afterward) forced him to attend several classes and review what she had been doing for the quarter - after which he realized that she was not only insane, but wasn't following any of the university or departmental rules, and was abusive to her students and unsuitable to teach. So, when professors refuse to listen to students or act on repeated complaints, parents have to step in to get something done.

Jeeze, nobody skates by at my college! My professors are hardasses, I suppose. They don't give in to parents or sob stories.

Depends on your college, I suppose. Mine had a myriad of issues in their administration and elsewhere. It's all about money for that university, and they seem to forget what they are supposed to be focusing on.

Then again, just because you don't see it, doesn't mean it's not happening... (sorry, I'm incredibly cynical).

That's exactly the message that I'm passing along to my sixth and seventh graders (as well as to the school board). Our kids won't just be competing with others within our community for the high-end jobs, but with the entire planet. ...and most of the rest of the world is more concerned with results.

Call me old-fashioned. I believe self esteem needs to be earned.

(And yes, I am bitter).

I hadn't noticed. :)

Dozens of teachers in our district have written open letters to the administration (via the op-ed section of the newspaper) and been published - yet the lunacy goes on. ...and while I can't seem to get anyone in the administration (up through and including the school board) to cite evidence that this will help students in fact, what I am getting are 'off the record' comments that this is all in effort to 'close the achievement gap.'

They're trying to close the achievement gap by making everyone pass? That's like lowering the crime rate by legalizing murder.

Would somebody please explain to me how this is going to help anyone, except our competition?

... yeah, I've got nothin'. Scholastic achievement is going to implode once these kids leave the school system.

This plan is closing the achievement gap by completely eliminating achievement. Makes sense to me;)

Exactly! It's the same with CSAP and other standardized tests that do nothing more then produce meaningless statistics.

I had teachers in school who refused to teach us according to CSAPs and other ridiculous tests - and I have used the knowledge gained in their classes more frequently in my life than from classes that only taught me which little circle to blacken in.

(This also seems to be a way for the schools to raise their ratings and it seems to be an attempt to pad the success rate behind the "No Child Left Behind" policy.)

Right on the money.

Companies aren't going to say "oh, well seeing as how you didn't complete this important project, we're not going to expect much of you anymore, but we'll still let you keep your job". They're going to fire that person.

Absolutely right.

(This also seems to be a way for the schools to raise their ratings and it seems to be an attempt to pad the success rate behind the "No Child Left Behind" policy.)

To paraphrase what the principals have been telling the teachers in our district: "We agree that a child's education is like a three-legged stool - the legs representing the student, the parent, and the teacher. While it is obvious that a three-legged stool cannot stand with one or more legs missing, the teacher is the only part of this triad that we can control, and therefore we shall demand that the teachers find a way to ensure that that stool remain upright. Every stool."

No stool left behind...

No stool left behind...

LOL

Well, they'll get good grades now dammit!!!!

Well, just like in times past, the kids that go to expensive private schools are going to run things.

Yup, Abby, and it's worse than you think.

The kids in expensive private schools are given "breaks." I teach private high school. At one particular high school, I had been "encouraged" to inflate grades and give preferential treatment to students whose parents paid the full tuition as opposed to students who were there on partial scholarship.

The parents felt perfectly justified, as they were "paying for As" instead of paying for their child to receive the opportunity to learn at an institution with smaller class sizes, better resources, and Masters Degree-level and PhD-level instructors in their respective fields.

There were many hard-working incredibly bright kids that I had to "put aside" because some of the "privileged few" in the first place demanded that I go through each topic five or six times. This was galling because these "privileged few" didn't have the prerequisites to qualify for the class. Their parents got them into the classes, and then blamed me when the girls inevitably failed the tests in comparison to the other students who were earning an average of 15% higher on test and quizzes...even though these girls' homework was "perfect."

They...and I hate to say it...but it ALWAYS a clique of the socioeconomically privileged girls. The "golden ones." Boys in that socioecomic class are socialized to suck it up. The few boys who behaved in this manner were generally ostracized were labeled p*ss**s by the other students, and quickly modified their behavior to fit in.

They refused to see me during office hours...their social time was more important than their education. The parents of the Little Princesses felt that their childrens' self-entitlement was completely justified. I didn't learn until after half a year at this place that this attitude was the ingrained culture there. I quit that place.

I'm now in a private school that actually respects education and its students work for what they earn. Though there are some exceptions...there are always one or two apples...things are much better.

It's easy to see why some socioeconomically advantaged conservatives are the way they are: their indoctrination into cheating and entitlement is socialized into them and reinforced at a very young age.

Agreed, AL616

They might as well dispense with grades altogether, hand out lollipops, turn up the MP3s, and tell the kids to come back in 4 years to pick up a piece of paper with "Diploma" on it. Remember terms like OBE, Scans Report, and labor sector drives the education system? It's led to arrogance, entitlement, and a new 'theory of relativity' - it's OK if you don't get caught. I guess it's one way to keep the dropout rates down, huh?

I'll bet these public schools are actually charging fees to attend, too. What a crock.

In an ironic twist, another article is floating around today that states one Texas district is allowing teachers to bring guns to school.

One of my kids ended up in a school system with "block" schedules. This one sees or hears something once and has it down - block schedule was mind-numbing to this one and he has no time or patience for those who fool around and don't get it. So, at the beginning of his second year, he dropped out.

Reading this article, I was thinking about all the cajoling, begging, and arguing I did to try and get him back into high school. This article emphasizes that was a waste of time, effort, and emotion.

Four years later, without cracking a book, this kid, who I couldn't get to sit still, who learned 'on the run', who had the equivalent of one semester of high school credits, walked into the GED, scored a perfect 800 in reading and the rest of the test scores placed him in the TOP 3% OF NATIONAL TRADITIONAL HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES THAT YEAR.

Yeah, I've seeded that article about the Texas gun thing, but it doesn't seem to be showing up anywhere.

Scary.