There is an expectation among students that if they show up they will get a grade. Where has this expectation come from? Have their prior teachers passed them for doing that just? You got it A, you tried B, you showed up C? Even if this was the policy of previous teachers, is it their fault? Teachers today are required to fail less than 10% of their students. The school will not tell you how to grade your students, but not meeting the requirement results in extensive paperwork, growth plans, increased evaluations and additional pressure. For example direct quotes I have been told by my administration are:
- “You need to decide if the paperwork is worth it, as a young teacher you have more to worry about.”
- “Have you done absolutely EVERYTHING to ensure that the student would not fail”
- “If most students are failing because the will not do homework, why do you assign homework?”
- “Have a makeup packet for students that are failing the final week so they can pass”
Is this preparing students to be college ready? Aren’t we teaching kids you can wait to the last minute, you don’t have to work hard, if you don’t do it, no worries the teacher will not count it? Those are not habits that set our students up for success. Do successful students ask why the teacher failed them or do they reflect on their own shortcomings. In the end, who is the passing requirement really hurting? Students that have not mastered the material are passed year to year, falling continuously further behind. We now face eleventh grade students that cannot read a picture book asking for a grade because they are present.
- “You need to decide if the paperwork is worth it, as a young teacher you have more to worry about.”
- “Have you done absolutely EVERYTHING to ensure that the student would not fail”
- “If most students are failing because the will not do homework, why do you assign homework?”
- “Have a makeup packet for students that are failing the final week so they can pass”
Is this preparing students to be college ready? Aren’t we teaching kids you can wait to the last minute, you don’t have to work hard, if you don’t do it, no worries the teacher will not count it? Those are not habits that set our students up for success. Do successful students ask why the teacher failed them or do they reflect on their own shortcomings. In the end, who is the passing requirement really hurting? Students that have not mastered the material are passed year to year, falling continuously further behind. We now face eleventh grade students that cannot read a picture book asking for a grade because they are present.
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