Let’s talk credit recovery. Student have been getting the letters day by day informing them they are not getting credit for classes due to excessive absences, and I must say it is getting insane. I have passed these letters out to well over 50% of my students. Most of whom have more than one letter, a few even had seven. YES, all SEVEN of his or her classes! That means that student will not get credit for ANY class from the fall. Should that be it? Sorry, the student just doesn't get credit. Or do we have an alternative programs for students to make up the credit? I am curious, what are your schools doing? What do we do for these students? Read more below to see some of my thoughts.
Students that have been absent are usually failing because they miss work and are behind on content. Say the student though is passing, should they get credit for the class? On one hand, if they are passing they must have mastered the material enough to receive a passing score. Clearly they attended enough class to learn what they needed to know. I had a student approach me that has more than five of these letters, a job, and a child at home. He is a senior that is doing everything he can to get to school. He has my class first period, and some days he has to miss class because he does not get home from work until am. He passed my class and he is working hard. I would argue he deserves a chance to get credit for the class. On the other hand, school is an obligation and we are not just teaching content but responsibility. If we let kids skip repeatedly throughout the year and make up their hours on a Saturday, how are we teaching responsibility? You cannot skip work and come in on a day off to make up the hours you owe. You skip work and you are fired.
What is even more frustrating though is the same students that have to miss class excessively for other obligations cannot make it to school earlier, stay late or come in on Saturday. Instead teachers are asked to create projects for these students to make up the hours they missed. So I plan lessons with your skills in mind, I plan stations for your needs, I create the best lesson I can every SINGLE day and now I need to create a project for the students that could not make it to those lessons. More work for the teacher. Create the project, monitor the project and grade the project. I feel bad asking this question, but why does the teacher have more work because the student did not come to class? I planned the lessons you did not show up to. These students loose the opportunity to learn from their peers and contribute to the classroom environment. Maybe the solution is to send them to alternative school. If we let them make up their credit at the end, we are reinforcing their actions to skip. If we denied credit, discussed options, and sent students to school settings that met their needs, we might help the student, the school, and the teacher?
As frustrated as I am to create these projects, I will. Personally, I think many of our students are doing everything they can to get to school. They have more responsibility than even I do in my life. If they can come on a Saturday or can successfully complete a project, I am willing to give them credit as long as they had already passed the class. For now they are my students and as their teacher I want to help them be successful. If it is creating alternative assignments for students with special needs or additional responsibilities, I will help. But as an institution we need to think about what is really in the best interest of the students and how we can support their needs.
What is even more frustrating though is the same students that have to miss class excessively for other obligations cannot make it to school earlier, stay late or come in on Saturday. Instead teachers are asked to create projects for these students to make up the hours they missed. So I plan lessons with your skills in mind, I plan stations for your needs, I create the best lesson I can every SINGLE day and now I need to create a project for the students that could not make it to those lessons. More work for the teacher. Create the project, monitor the project and grade the project. I feel bad asking this question, but why does the teacher have more work because the student did not come to class? I planned the lessons you did not show up to. These students loose the opportunity to learn from their peers and contribute to the classroom environment. Maybe the solution is to send them to alternative school. If we let them make up their credit at the end, we are reinforcing their actions to skip. If we denied credit, discussed options, and sent students to school settings that met their needs, we might help the student, the school, and the teacher?
As frustrated as I am to create these projects, I will. Personally, I think many of our students are doing everything they can to get to school. They have more responsibility than even I do in my life. If they can come on a Saturday or can successfully complete a project, I am willing to give them credit as long as they had already passed the class. For now they are my students and as their teacher I want to help them be successful. If it is creating alternative assignments for students with special needs or additional responsibilities, I will help. But as an institution we need to think about what is really in the best interest of the students and how we can support their needs.
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