Quote :

"RALEIGH -- The way Wake County students are graded could be overhauled with far-reaching changes - such as reducing the role of homework and the penalty for handing it in work late - under a proposal being presented to the school board. Among the changes being proposed: Grading classroom behavior separately for middle and high schools - in addition to the A-F academic grading systems already in place. Reducing how much homework can be counted toward the academic grade - from 15 percent to 10 percent per marking period - in grades 6-12. Prohibiting K-12 teachers from giving extra credit. Requiring teachers to allow students to have up to five days to hand in late assignments with the penalty capped at 10 percent. Requiring that higher scores on retests replace the original exam grades. Restoring the use of A-F letter grades on report cards in grades 3-5. Administrators have justified the need for changing grading practices by pointing to how inconsistently grades are handed out now. For instance, teachers of the same subject at a school might have different policies on late assignments, how much to count retests and whether to issue extra credit. "

Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/08/02/1384586/homework-done-on-grade-policy.html#ixzz1TsfBtlbj

Pretty sure different teachers having different requirements in their classroom is called life. Learn how to handle each teacher differently and you're better prepared for having bosses with different sets of standards. And wtf to no more extra credit. Extra credit rocked

8/2/2011 10:12:46 AM

American youth are lost. Who cares

china #1

I'm AstralAdvent and i approved this message.

8/2/2011 10:14:26 AM

You get what you vote for.

8/2/2011 10:27:05 AM

I think that there is merit to changing the grading system to promote consistency.

While learning how to handle the expectations of different teachers is a part of life, I think that there should be certain constants in grading children who are taking the same classes. In an environment where you are not allowed to pick your classes or your teachers, I think that there is something to be said for eliminating extremely divergent grading practices. And let's not forget that we're also talking about elementary school children who are just learning how to navigate the school system, not just savvy slack ass teenagers.

8/2/2011 10:27:20 AM

^ Most of their changes affect middle school and high school.

8/2/2011 11:24:55 AM

omg our kids will all be gay

8/2/2011 11:52:01 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U

This is a rather brilliant description of what's wrong with our education system and how we educate the youth.


That article was total bullshit.

8/2/2011 12:51:23 PM

The golden rule is that is not what you learn, it's what grade you receive.

8/2/2011 1:02:12 PM

Wow the new "conservative" board being more interventionist than the old board.

So much for reduced gov interference.

8/2/2011 1:19:21 PM

they're squishing the bell curve

8/2/2011 1:25:27 PM

Quote :

"For instance, teachers of the same subject at a school might have different policies on late assignments, how much to count retests and whether to issue extra credit."

Each PLT (teachers who teach the same course) handles this. They agree on grading practices and the like at the beginning of the year and adhere to those policies throughout the course. This includes policies for late work, extra credit, retests, test corrections and the like.

Currently, our policy is that late work (without an excusing note) receives a 70 at the highest. The same goes for retests. We also have a Zeroes Aren't Permitted (ZAP) policy that forces students to make up missing assignments or receive disciplinary action, but that's only on the freshmen campus.

bottombaby said,

Quote :

"In an environment where you are not allowed to pick your classes or your teachers, I think that there is something to be said for eliminating extremely divergent grading practices."

I agree.

[Edited on August 2, 2011 at 1:27 PM. Reason : .]

8/2/2011 1:25:52 PM

^^^ They're small government where it fits their fancy.



[Edited on August 2, 2011 at 1:28 PM. Reason : s]

8/2/2011 1:26:08 PM

Survival of the fittest.

I agree with most of them except a ban on extra credit, that shit saved my ass a few times.

I think it is ridiculous how much homework is assigned in grade school. I would rather see an 8-5 school day with longer class periods and less/no homework. Some students have a nice desk at home and a quiet place to study, others have their parents arguing and beating the shit out of each other and an older sibling at the house partying.

Kids do not control their home environment, also too many teachers do a shitty job of teaching an rely on students to study/read on their own time which is not what they are in place to do.

8/2/2011 1:32:47 PM

Quote :

" I would rather see an 8-5 school day with longer class periods and less/no homework."

Periods are already 1.5 hours in high school. What more do you want?

8/2/2011 1:34:01 PM

The problem with schools is not that we don't pass enough people, it is that we don't fail enough people. If someone fails a test, they might figure out that they need to work harder to pass the next one, rather than saying "This is the test. Fail it and take it again next week for a better grade."

8/2/2011 1:40:13 PM

We need our students to go research active at a younger age.


Throw them 12yos in the lab.

I think college should run like graduate school/ mandatory research covers some expenses/ you don't have to do as much as normal grad students.

8/2/2011 1:40:28 PM

Quote :

"The problem with schools is not that we don't pass enough people, it is that we don't fail enough people. If someone fails a test, they might figure out that they need to work harder to pass the next one, rather than saying "This is the test. Fail it and take it again next week for a better grade.""

As a teacher, I don't believe this. I see students every year that are 16 or even 17 in the ninth grade, and they've learned little about how to work harder (better, faster, stronger). They've mostly been made to feel like the slow kid or the kid with no ability or the problem child, which I don't believe is right. I'm not saying that these kids should get a free pass, but acting as those failure is the great educator is delusional. These kids can tell you a lot about failure.

Quote :

"We need our students to go research active at a younger age."

There are actually several schools that are trying this out; they call it Project-Based Learning (PBL). Students are grouped with others in a lab/research setting, and they spend the semester exploring a problem or concept. I think SRHS here in Raleigh has a program.

8/2/2011 1:44:21 PM

FIVE days to turn in something late at no more than 10% lost on your grade?

8/2/2011 1:45:28 PM

They did go full retard on that rule.

8/2/2011 1:47:06 PM

It's kind of scary how quickly this country is falling behind.

8/2/2011 1:51:49 PM

My high school didn't give extra credit. It was always fun to watch the slackers beg and pleade for something to boost their grade towards the end of the semester.

And I don't know if it was a school policy or not, but I think most of the time late assignments could be handed in with 10% knocked off for each day it was late.

8/2/2011 4:05:25 PM

I like the consistency element of it, but consistently not awarding those who go above and beyond, and not taking action when some fall behind, might be the wrong kind of consistency.

8/2/2011 4:06:44 PM

Quote :

"It was always fun to watch the slackers beg and pleade for something to boost their grade towards the end of the semester. "

really? i remember it being the girls who sucked up to the teacher all the time being the ones begging for extra credit.

fucking bitches.

8/2/2011 4:18:20 PM

Quote :

"I like the consistency element of it, but consistently not awarding those who go above and beyond, and not taking action when some fall behind, might be the wrong kind of consistency."

8/2/2011 4:21:26 PM

Quote :

"It was always fun to watch the slackers beg and pleade for something to boost their grade towards the end of the semester."

I still keep in contact with one of my old professors at state and a few months ago he told me a student tried getting extra credit at the end of the semester (apparently he did really poorly throughout the entire time) and acted like it was every day practice. The prof asked him why he did so poorly the whole semester and the dude responded, "Senioritis"


I just can't believe someone even had the nerve to say anything like that... Pretty ballsy

8/2/2011 4:23:26 PM

Must've been a psych major!

8/2/2011 4:25:04 PM

Quote :

"I still keep in contact with one of my old professors at state and a few months ago he told me a student tried getting extra credit at the end of the semester (apparently he did really poorly throughout the entire time) and acted like it was every day practice. The prof asked him why he did so poorly the whole semester and the dude responded, "Senioritis""

Nahhh, he was only showing symptoms of Senioritis. A student with full blown Senioritis would have not done the work, and also accepted the bad grade and moved on. At least, that's what I did.


Also, turning in an assignment 5 days late and still getting a 90% is pretty god-damn-wow.

[Edited on August 2, 2011 at 5:06 PM. Reason : ]

8/2/2011 5:04:51 PM

Sir Ken Robinson is a dick.

8/2/2011 5:37:02 PM

Our school system is all sorts of messed up. The feds and state do best by staying the hell out of it as much as possible. Attach money to each student, let them and family determine where they go. Force schools to compete. If the family and student is apathetic they would get automatically assigned. The state can run some schools but this would allow small schools to be able to start up and function with a minimum of oversight and micromanagement. The saved bureaucracy monies can be used to enlarge a accreditation program to make sure the schools are meeting certain minimums for each grade level subject up through 8th. Then by each course type. Teachers would get paid more (oh yeah abolish the teacher union) and actually have a real interest in their students (both liking to teach and a monetary influence). Allow principals and school staff to set their own performance goals per classroom with oversight at the superintendant level only. There are so many other effective ways to teach and get students excited about learning than the bullshit that's currently being used.

8/2/2011 6:00:07 PM

Quote :

"Requiring teachers to allow students to have up to five days to hand in late assignments with the penalty capped at 10 percent."

so...deadlines don't mean shit now? perfect.

8/2/2011 6:40:32 PM

Eh, Wake county schools are a joke

8/2/2011 6:43:40 PM

No deadlines must now be shifted five days in the past. So when a teacher assigns a HW they want due tomorrow they will say:

"Your Homework was due four days ago."

8/2/2011 6:43:47 PM

Quote :

"Eh, Wake county schools are a joke"

If that's true, North Carolina is fucked.

8/2/2011 6:46:57 PM

Nah d

you must have went to WCPSS if you do not account for the other 99 counties in the state

I heard some of them are even smart enough to let kids go to the school 100 yards down the road and not bus them halfway across the county to dilute the ratio of stupid kids in a given educational setting

8/2/2011 6:51:10 PM

In case you missed it, you won.

So you're whining about a policy that's already been thrown out.

CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU!

8/2/2011 6:56:51 PM

thread title is a lie just to get you in here

8/2/2011 11:14:26 PM