I was reading Neal’s Nuze this morning and came across a story about a school district in Texas that has drastically changed its homework policy. Check this out:
•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.
Really, what more is there to say other than, "Oh my word."
And we wonder why American students' test scores are worse than nearly every other industrialized nation’s students…?
Don't tell your kids or mine - or they'll be trying to move to TX!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you "OH MY WORD!!" Do they really think this is going to make teachers work harder, or just give kids passing grades? As a teacher I can think of some teachers at my school that would just give out the grades. I always tell my kids that it is my job to teach, but their job to learn. It is a 2 way street. We both have to do our jobs in order for it to work.
ReplyDeleteJill, I thought the same thing! Of course, our principals would take points off for tardiness, so even moving to Texas wouldn't help them!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous - as a teacher you bring a lot of credibility to the discussion. It is definitely a two way street; you can be the best teacher in the world but some students just won't do their part. Isn't there something about horses and water that applies here?
ReplyDelete