What happens when you take a classroom full of children, add in a teacher, and then prevent that teacher from doing anything which has to do with teaching? You get the Dallas Independent School District:
Dallas public school students who flunk tests, blow off homework and miss assignment deadlines can make up the work without penalty, under new rules that have angered many teachers.
The new rules will be distributed when teachers return to their campuses next week. But many who have already seen the regulations say they are too lenient on slackers, and will come at the expense of kids who work hard.
For example, the new rules require teachers to accept late work and prevent them from penalizing students for missed deadlines. Homework grades that would drag down a student’s overall average will be thrown out.
Think about this for a second: no penalty for turning work in late, low grades which would affect grade point average thrown out, and no grade lower than a 50. Excuse me for asking, but if we’re not going to grade a student according to his work, just exactly what are we supposed to grade them on?
So, why is the DISD doing this? Well. listen to the dribble coming out of this educrat’s mouth:
School officials said the new guidelines are needed to ensure that all district teachers operate under the same rules and to create a “fair system” for grading students.
“The purpose behind it is to ensure fair and credible evaluation of learning – from grade to grade and school to school,” said Denise Collier, the district’s chief academic officer.
Ms. Collier jumped the shark when she started talking about credibility in relation to these new rules.
So, you say, where were the parents when this was happening? They likely didn’t even know it was happening:
The new guidelines were developed by district staff and did not require school board approval.
District records state that the changes are part of a switch to “effort-based” grading and are designed to give students multiple opportunities to demonstrate that they’ve mastered class material. Requiring teachers to contact parents instead of awarding zeros is designed to increase home-school communications, according to district materials presented recently to principals. Retests and deadline extensions are meant to motivate students to do better after initial failure.
This is what happens when governmental entities like school districts go unchecked by the citizens. And by the way, what exactly is “effort-based grading”? Does that mean regardless of how poor you did on your work, you get a good grade if you tried real hard? I wonder how that would work out in Medical school — “Oh, that’s OK doctor. I know you killed the patient but at least you tried real hard. Here’s your fee.”
More and more, local school districts are getting out of the business of teaching students and into the business of baby-sitting mobs of clueless kids between the ages of five and 18. The districts no longer care if the kids are or are not learning anything; they mearly have to appear to be trying to learn something. Regardless of the work done, all kids are guaranteed to pass and as long as that continues, the district officials crow about how great their policies are.
Just remember this: fifteen to twenty years down the line, these are the people who will be running our financial institutions, designing and building our homes and bridges, and in general running things. Having given them this type of education, how much faith do you have in the future?
