| It breaks my heart sometimes, when I consider how big a factor home environment is on student performance. It makes such a difference if there is stability and support at home, or if it is chaotic and one has parents who are just to busy or ignorant to help the student along. I got branded a gifted underachiever early on--- I made the honor roll, but could have made straight A's---- and no one knew (nor, of course, would I have told) how much family problems had to do with that. Take someone who is not genetically blessed, and what was a somewhat laughable situation for me (gee, a B plus GPA isn't good enough?) becomes a real crisis. The teacher cannot be responsible for compensating for all problems, but a reasonable effort can be made to NOT exacerbate the problem by giving assignments that depend too much on parental help or cooperation, for example, involving extra- curricular library time, or a lot of web surfing. I think that it is right to use various means of assessment, as well, so that they have a chance to exercise particular strengths....... |
