Apalled!

This morning I am apalled after reading an article in the Dallas Morning News about a bill that is currently up for consideration in the Texas Legislature. Actually, the bill itself is much-needed, but the opposition to the bill is what is disturbing me. Many districts in Texas have adopted grading policies that set minimum scores for students. For example, in Dallas ISD, teachers are not allowed to give students a grade below 50, even if they have not done the work. Other districts have even set the minimum grade at 70, meaning teachers cannot "fail" students. They claim that if students fail too badly and get themselves into too deep of a hole, so to speak, they won't try to climb out. They claim this leads to increased dropout rates. The current bill up for debate seeks to put an end to setting minimum scores and would return rights to the teachers to assign grades that actually reflect what the student has or has not done in the class.

I always had a problem with DISD's "nothing below a 50" policy, but I cannot emphasize enough what a disaster it would be if that were changed to "nothing below a 70." Case in point. A student this morning overheard me discussing this subject with another teacher. He grinned and said, "Oh, I like that rule! That means I don't have to do any work!". Exactly. That is exactly the message that such a grading policy sends.

Our expectations for children are already so low. Vast numbers of students are being passed from grade to grade without mastering basic skills. Just imagine if the grading policy was skewed even further. We always tell our kids, "Failure is not an option." We say this to let them know that we do not want to accept anything less than success from them. It is intended to be a motivating statement and to send a message that we're not giving up on them and they shouldn't give up on themselves. But in the real world, failure IS an option. It is a choice that as adults we have to make daily. Failure is a very real and very possible outcome if we don't make the right decisions on a day to day basis at our jobs, with our money, etc. That ever present consequence motivates us as adults every day. Without that possibility, what motivation do students have? What is success if there is no failure to measure it against? How can we possibly say that we are preparing these students for college and for life? In college, professors actually have high expectations for students. Failure is a very real possibility. You MUST do the work and do it well...there is no way around that. You MUST master the content and the grade is a reflection of that. If we changed to a no-fail grading system, I'm not sure what the grades are supposed to reflect!!

It's not that as I teacher I enjoy "failing" students. In fact, most teachers will do everything in their power to assist a struggling student, whether by providing individual reteaching and tutoring, or opportunities for extra work and re-testing. If through these efforts, a student demonstrates mastery of the content, then they do indeed deserve an improved grade. However, I've had students that absolutely refused to do any work. They went an entire year and didn't attempt or turn in a single assignment, despite my best efforts to motivate and inspire. Now on paper I could give them a 70. But that would not mean that they had mastered the class or had the skills to be successful at the next grade level. It might make our dropout rates look lower and it might make our schools look better on paper, but it would not mean we were being successful in educating these students. In reality, we're doing a huge disservice to the students. We're really taking away their options when we do this. If students refuse to do their work or do not demonstrate competency in a subject area and we choose to say they have, then we have taken away their choice to fail or succeed. And it ultimately has to be their choice. We of course do not want to see students drop out or fail and as teachers, we have a responsibility to do everything in our power to prevent that from happening. But the reality is that at the end of the day, it is up to the student. I would rather have 2out of 10 students CHOOSE to drop out than FORCE 9 out of 10 students to the next grade that don't have the necessary knowledge or skills. I would rather lose a few along the way than gradate 100% that can't read or write.

I just don't know how my conscience would allow me to adhere to this policy. I just don't know how I could live with myself, allowing a student to believe he has been successful in my class because his grade says he has mastered at least 70% of the content, when I know that he or she simply has not done the work or demonstrated competency. How can we be expected to lie to these kids and their parents like this? The grading system would have absolutely no meaning, no integrity, or no objectivity. Can ANYONE explain to me why this is a good idea??????