The Dallas School District has some...interesting new rules on grading, and some of the teachers aren't very happy about them:

Teachers have derided the new rules as being too lenient on lazy students by requiring teachers to accept late work, give retests to students who fail and force teachers to drop homework grades that would drag down a student's class average.

But [school superintendent] Dr. Hinojosa asked teachers and parents to consider that in the long run the rules will help more students succeed.

"We want to make sure that students are mastering the content [of their classes] and not just failing busy work," he said.

"We want students to get it right, and we want to make sure that they do get it right."

Judging from a list of the new rules, there's no way students can't get it right:

•Homework grades should be given only when the grades will "raise a student's average, not lower it."

•Teachers must accept overdue assignments, and their principal will decide whether students are to be penalized for missing deadlines.

•Students who flunk tests can retake the exam and keep the higher grade.

•Teachers cannot give a zero on an assignment unless they call parents and make "efforts to assist students in completing the work."

•High school teachers who fail more than 20 percent of their students will need to develop a professional improvement plan and will be monitored by their principals. For middle school the rate is 15 percent; for elementary it's 10 percent.

What do you think the result of that last one, especially, is going to be? Are the teachers going to bust their asses to make sure some of their less capable students learn the material and earn a passing grade, or are they just going to pass along those kids to the next grade, where they'll probably understand even less, eventually graduating with worthless diplomas? I'd like to think that at least some of them would make the effort to do the former, but I suspect the latter is a lot more likely.

Posted by: Sean M. at 12:00 AM | Comments (13) | Add Comment
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