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

latimes.com

61–70 of 359 posts

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

#61
post #26

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…

> homework This is one issue that I'm passionate about. Research increasingly implies that homework is probably harmful in elementary; of dubious value in early middle school; and only valuable in high school and beyond. > and objective performance assessments I think some of these radical experiments are crazy. But, there's valid reasons to consider e.g. not grading missing absent assignments as a zero. A few of the…

My son is experiencing the homework issue this year. He’s 2 years ahead in math and the class he’s in gives out massive amounts of homework. It’s exhausting. He had to pull him out of sports so he could have more time in the evening for his homework.

It’s so frustrating how worthless it all is too.

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

#62

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…

I knew so many valedictorians that flunked out at the state school I went to (University of Missouri - Rolla). High school is a garbage indicator for how well you'll do in life or further education.

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

#63
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The crazy thing is that the bar is so low in the US. Where I live, Hoboken, NJ, the high school math and reading proficiency rate are 8% and 44% respectively, while the graduation rate is >95% What the hell are they doing if they're not even teaching kids math and reading? And why are they graduating them? Grades aren't meant to be a feel good merit badge. They're supposed to be an accurate reflection of your level o…

How on earth do we de-escalate from here? I feel that in the US it is impossible to summon the political willpower to make it HARDER to graduate HS or go to college, even if these things would make society better off. My personal opinion is that the government should get out of education, just lower our taxes and let the free market handle the rest. Never gonna happen, however.

US HS has an impossibly high skillcap atm to the point of absurdity.

One does not simply graduate US HS and come out as an equal to every other HS graduate. The meta these days is to become the most accomplished HS graduate achievable.

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

#64
post #48

Translation of the article from ivory tower speak to English: "We don't care about your children actually learning anything, we only care about dancing to popular politics and getting our union raises."

Didn't have to wait long for union bashing to come around.

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

#65

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…

oblig Vonnegut http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/harrison.html

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

#66
post #21

> 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…

I think one of my most important work lessons was deadlines are almost always not real.

For many of us in manufacturing the deadlines are very real. I actually like them. I do my best work under deadline as it forces me to focus.

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

#67
post #27

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…

The crazy thing is that the bar is so low in the US. Where I live, Hoboken, NJ, the high school math and reading proficiency rate are 8% and 44% respectively, while the graduation rate is >95% What the hell are they doing if they're not even teaching kids math and reading? And why are they graduating them? Grades aren't meant to be a feel good merit badge. They're supposed to be an accurate reflection of your level o…

[deleted]

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

#68
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

As Ds and Fs soar, schools ditch inequitable grade systems - Los Angeles Times

and the article itself very much does outline it. I don't want to quote the exact parts where it does touch on it, because I'd end up copypasting a wall of text.

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

#69
post #48

Translation of the article from ivory tower speak to English: "We don't care about your children actually learning anything, we only care about dancing to popular politics and getting our union raises."

Didn't have to wait long for union bashing to come around.

In an article about global warming, coal bashing is going to come around pretty quickly.

Because it is the source of the problem.

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

#70
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> homework This is one issue that I'm passionate about. Research increasingly implies that homework is probably harmful in elementary; of dubious value in early middle school; and only valuable in high school and beyond. > and objective performance assessments I think some of these radical experiments are crazy. But, there's valid reasons to consider e.g. not grading missing absent assignments as a zero. A few of the…

My son is experiencing the homework issue this year. He’s 2 years ahead in math and the class he’s in gives out massive amounts of homework. It’s exhausting. He had to pull him out of sports so he could have more time in the evening for his homework. It’s so frustrating how worthless it all is too.

if it is worthless, then why force him to do it?

if his situation is anything like mine was, then the answer is likely to maintain good grades to support future educational prospects.

which is unfortunate as this system encourages the pursuit of the grade over the pursuit of knowledge. it took me many years to shake that mindset.

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