California School District To Give Students “C” Grade For Doing Nothing…
CA School District: No Homework, No Tests, You Pass
'F' means Fantastic!
10.27.2015
News
Trey Sanchez
A Sonoma County, California school district has instituted a new grading scale that substantially lowers the bar to allow underachieving students, traditionally known as failures, to climb into more average grade territory.
It's called the equal interval scale, and according to The Press Democrat, "it makes it harder to get a failing grade" by moving the 'F' scale to below 20% as opposed to the standard 59% and below. The equal interval scale is modeled to raise grades in 20-point increments, which would mean scores between 20% and 40% will now earn students a D- or D+. Making a score of 80 or above now makes them straight-A students.
From the Democrat:
Some teachers have tried to hang on to the traditional grading system but have been tripped up by a blanket new policy that students, even if they do not hand in homework or take a test, get 50 percent. Under the new rule, it’s possible for a student who skips a test to receive a better grade than a student who takes the test and does poorly.
Administrators in the district are defending against complaints saying the new grading system is part of "a national movement to encourage students to strive rather than demoralizing them with low grades that make success seem out of reach," the report states. And Superintendent Robert Haley insists that "it doesn't lower the bar" but what it means is that the students who are flunking don't have as far to climb into passing-grade territory.
There are teachers who are embracing the new grading system and view it as having a positive impact on students who are falling behind because for them, getting ahead no longer seems as daunting.
One teacher in the district wrote in defense of the equal interval scale in an op-ed for the Democrat. She compares two fictional students to give an example of how the system works. The first, Student X, receives a "well-earned A" for having "excellent skills and knowledge" and "consistently scores in the 90-percent range" for the entire semester. But what about Student Y who is not doing as well?
Through no fault of her own and for myriad possible reasons, she comes to my English class with a deficit of skills in reading, writing and even staying organized. Her early assignments earn abysmal grades, and she determines to do better. Through our school’s various interventions — and especially through her own hard work — she masters the skills being taught in my class.
By the end of the semester, she is scoring in the high 80s on assessments similar to the ones she failed earlier.
Under what logic should her early, low grades be counted against her?
Is it not right to give her a grade reflective of her mastery of the class material?
But then there are other teachers who aren't as forgiving of the new system.
"It's a lie, that's all it is," said one of them, recalling a failing student who ended up earning a passing 50% (now a C) after he stopped coming to class altogether because of the blanket rule. Under the old system, the teacher reminded, this student would have a final score of just 3 percent.
A middle school math and science teacher told the Democrat that his worst math students are now receiving Cs and a science student with only a 23% grade has earned a D-.
Speaking before the school board, this teacher complained, "This isn't giving students hope, it is lowering standards in order to raise grades."
With all of this in place for these California students entering the 2015-16 school year, it's no wonder Superintendent Haley signed off in his welcome letter, " Everything is awesome!"
http://www.truthrevolt.org/news/ca-school-district-no-homework-no-tests-you-pass
Why do they even make kids go to school in CA? Isn't that kind of mean when they're not going to learn anything anyway? |
