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Faced with soaring Ds and Fs, schools are ditching the old way of grading

latimes.com

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Re: Faced with soaring Ds and Fs, schools are ditching the old way of grading

#11

Post by zem »

grammarnazzzi wrote: post #2

> Los Angeles and San Diego Unified — the state’s two largest school districts, with some 660,000 students combined — have recently directed teachers to base academic grades on whether students have learned what was expected of them during a course — and not penalize them for behavior, work habits and missed deadlines. That lesson is going to serve them well in the workplace. Teach students that they are entitled to…

the point of school is to give you a basic educational foundation, not to prepare you for the workplace

Re: Faced with soaring Ds and Fs, schools are ditching the old way of grading

#12

Post by throwaway23451 »

tmp_anon_22 wrote: post #8
throwaway23451 wrote: post #5

I’m sure every generation feels like the next is going to turn the world to hell… but what the hell? I find it absolutely bonkers that gifted classes, math, homework and objective performance assessments are suddenly under fire as instruments perpetuating inequality. Does our education system leave much to be desired? Absolutely! Let’s pay teachers more and improve access to quality education for all students, not co…

A decade ago my high school had two buckets: * students in mostly AP classes who were college bound * students in no AP classes who were mostly not college bound, or were at least limited to community colleges and state schools (Which are great choices! But often have lower success rates and career outcomes) For the AP students grades were a joke because all the teachers would happily give out extra credit to any stu…

That’s unfortunate. Twenty years ago I attended high school in a working class suburb. I was fortunate to get selected into a gifted program and had teachers who challenged me to work hard and overcome my surrounding. Changed my life and inspired a career as a data scientist and entrepreneur. I hope the younger generation can have the benefit of adults who care enough about them to challenge them to succeed, because the real world does not grade on the curve.

Re: Faced with soaring Ds and Fs, schools are ditching the old way of grading

#13

Post by bodhiandpysics1 »

skyde wrote: post #10
bodhiandpysics1 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is that exams are often an extremely poor assessment of actual student learning, since they're such an unnatural format (no checking of oneself, strong time limits, extremely "easy" problems that can be done in those time limits). The other problem is that the only way to actually learn something is often to practice it. Attaching grades to "homework" is a method of forcing students to actually do the pra…

in this case maybe force the student to complete homework during school hours. instead of expecting kid to do it at home.

There are a finite number of school hours! Teachers have to be paid! That being said, America is extremely unusual in the small number of explicit classroom hours students have, and the large amount of homework students are expected to do.

Re: Faced with soaring Ds and Fs, schools are ditching the old way of grading

#14

Post by bodhiandpysics1 »

zem wrote: post #11
grammarnazzzi wrote: post #2

> Los Angeles and San Diego Unified — the state’s two largest school districts, with some 660,000 students combined — have recently directed teachers to base academic grades on whether students have learned what was expected of them during a course — and not penalize them for behavior, work habits and missed deadlines. That lesson is going to serve them well in the workplace. Teach students that they are entitled to…

the point of school is to give you a basic educational foundation, not to prepare you for the workplace

I agree! Also "prepare for the workplace" is meaningless. There are many many different kinds of workplaces!

Re: Faced with soaring Ds and Fs, schools are ditching the old way of grading

#15

Post by tmp_anon_22 »

throwaway23451 wrote: post #12
tmp_anon_22 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A decade ago my high school had two buckets: * students in mostly AP classes who were college bound * students in no AP classes who were mostly not college bound, or were at least limited to community colleges and state schools (Which are great choices! But often have lower success rates and career outcomes) For the AP students grades were a joke because all the teachers would happily give out extra credit to any stu…

That’s unfortunate. Twenty years ago I attended high school in a working class suburb. I was fortunate to get selected into a gifted program and had teachers who challenged me to work hard and overcome my surrounding. Changed my life and inspired a career as a data scientist and entrepreneur. I hope the younger generation can have the benefit of adults who care enough about them to challenge them to succeed, because…

Rising class sizes, a ever expanding college-industrial-complex, and income inequality necessitating very specific career decisions, stop this I think.

Education-first initiatives don't seem to be popular in American politics.

Re: Faced with soaring Ds and Fs, schools are ditching the old way of grading

#16

Post by js8 »

throwaway23451 wrote: post #5

I’m sure every generation feels like the next is going to turn the world to hell… but what the hell? I find it absolutely bonkers that gifted classes, math, homework and objective performance assessments are suddenly under fire as instruments perpetuating inequality. Does our education system leave much to be desired? Absolutely! Let’s pay teachers more and improve access to quality education for all students, not co…

Noam Chomsky went to a Deweyite high school with no grading and turned out more than fine (he actually enjoyed it). I am opposed to grading, I would replace it with a levelling system - you would have to show certain proficiency to gain a level.

Re: Faced with soaring Ds and Fs, schools are ditching the old way of grading

#18

Post by throwaway23451 »

tmp_anon_22 wrote: post #15
throwaway23451 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s unfortunate. Twenty years ago I attended high school in a working class suburb. I was fortunate to get selected into a gifted program and had teachers who challenged me to work hard and overcome my surrounding. Changed my life and inspired a career as a data scientist and entrepreneur. I hope the younger generation can have the benefit of adults who care enough about them to challenge them to succeed, because…

Rising class sizes, a ever expanding college-industrial-complex, and income inequality necessitating very specific career decisions, stop this I think. Education-first initiatives don't seem to be popular in American politics.

Great point. It brings to mind an aphorism from Charlie Munger: “Show me the incentive, and I’ll show you the outcome”

Re: Faced with soaring Ds and Fs, schools are ditching the old way of grading

#19

Post by throwawaysea »

cududa wrote: post #3

Mod: editorialized title. It's subtle, but it drives narrative with "equity" being such a trigger for folks lately, and isn't what the actual article outlines

Is it possible the headline was updated? The word “inequitable” appears in the article’s URL indicating that’s the original framing of the author.

Re: Faced with soaring Ds and Fs, schools are ditching the old way of grading

#20

Post by throwaway23451 »

js8 wrote: post #16
throwaway23451 wrote: post #5

I’m sure every generation feels like the next is going to turn the world to hell… but what the hell? I find it absolutely bonkers that gifted classes, math, homework and objective performance assessments are suddenly under fire as instruments perpetuating inequality. Does our education system leave much to be desired? Absolutely! Let’s pay teachers more and improve access to quality education for all students, not co…

Noam Chomsky went to a Deweyite high school with no grading and turned out more than fine (he actually enjoyed it). I am opposed to grading, I would replace it with a levelling system - you would have to show certain proficiency to gain a level.

I think that’s a great idea. I’m not necessarily advocating for a strict grading scale, just an objective yardstick for gauging progress towards achieving proficiency in critical subjects like math, language arts, etc.
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