New grading system for school district--insane!

[dreamcometrue]

our school district has something similar. The best you can really get is a B+, unless you do extra projects every single week, for every subject! Well, sorry...but that's just not possible, esp. since the extra projects are sometimes very time involved, and have to be done on top of the homework! You can get 100% in every single test at school, but as long as you don't go "above and beyond", you don't get the extra credit, and don't "deserve" the A. I think it's ridiculous! This is for elementary school also!

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Ok, our school district, usual great minds at work, have changed the way they grade.

Instead of grading 60's, 70's up to 90's, or even D, C, B, A's, they have started grading 1,2, 3 or 4.

I can't remember exactly why, something to do with standarized testing scores, but it seems they are grading for mediocraty! Almost all the kids end up w/ 3's. The grade range for a 3 is 80 to 96. That's insane. All the parents hate it, the teachers hate it, but the superintendant did it anyway.

Anyone else have a school district doing this, or thinking about it. Anyone have a good reason why? I am thinking about starting a letter writing campaign to get complain about it. (one teacher even suggested contacting the super and complaining about it, they hate it so much). It would be great to have some good points for addressing this. Maybe some teachers out there have experience with this?

thx,
lori

In our district, A=4, B=3, c=2, D=1. F=0. A minus takes off 3/10, a plus adds 3/10. 93% is the standard for an A, 90 for an A-.87 for a b plus, 83for a B. Etc. But all that appears on the report card is the number. It's grading more in line with a GPA.

When I was a kid, our grades were Satisfactory, Is improving, Needs improvement, and failure. Any needs improvements or failures on the last report card got you held back. We didn't have letter grades until Intermediate school.

 

[hentob]

"When everyone is special-nobody is" Dash

I work out with a few teachers and last year they were cracking me up with the new rule that they could no longer use red pens or pencils when they marked papers. (these are middle school teachers) The red markings were felt to be negative and damaging to the student's self esteem. The sad part of all this is that it was SERIOUS. The teachers that told me about it thought it was completely idiotic but they have no choice to go along.
Does it truly make the answer less wrong if it is marked wrong in PURPLE??? Isn't it more important to the student's self esteem that they learn to do math, english, science and all that correctly rather than what color the papers are marked in??
I'm betting the banishment of letter grades is coming from the same motivation.

What kind of future workforce are we creating

If a student doesn't do well on a test, shouldn't they feel negatively about it? Shouldn't that negative feeling make them try harder so they don't have to feel that way again?

I just don't understand this mindset of not rewarding good grades (taking away Honor Roll), yet coddling those who do poorly (shhh, don't hurt their feelings).

A bunch of mediocre whiners coming to a future near you!

But, they will all have Super Duper Self Esteem! Whooopeee



PS--Fitswimmer--Did you stop using red

 

[FreshTressa]

Our school won't give a 4 unless a child is working one FULL grade level above in a topic.

 

[Fitswimmer]

What kind of future workforce are we creating

If a student doesn't do well on a test, shouldn't they feel negatively about it? Shouldn't that negative feeling make them try harder so they don't have to feel that way again?

I just don't understand this mindset of not rewarding good grades (taking away Honor Roll), yet coddling those who do poorly (shhh, don't hurt their feelings).

A bunch of mediocre whiners coming to a future near you!

But, they will all have Super Duper Self Esteem! Whooopeee



PS--Fitswimmer--Did you stop using red

I left teaching in 1996, I saw ALL this coming. I still have friends hanging in there, God Bless them. I didn't leave because of the money, I left because of creeping insanity. Every time I talk to my friends or hear something like this I know I made the right decision.

 

[icebrat001]

Lots of schools use the rubric system.

 

[poohandwendy]

Our report cards state only percentages earned for that grading period, in that class. There is a guide at the bottom that shows where those numbers stand (a-f), but I think it is most important to know exactly what they earned, rather than which category it fell in. Especially important in gauging their progress over time, IMO.

For example:

Johnny's English grades for 2 grading periods:

1st- B
2nd- C

Looks like a significant change...but ours only says this:
1st-85%
2nd- 84%
(not much change at all)

or if it were:
1st- C
2nd- B

Sounds like an improvement, but ours says this:
1st- 75%
2nd- 90%

The percentage way shows significant changes and it also shows when they are just barely making a grade.

I think marking by category does not give parents enough info to see exactly how their children are doing.