"Mr. Lampros’s introduction to the high school’s academic standards proved a fitting preamble to a disastrous year. It reached its low point in late June, when Arts and Technology’s principal, Anne Geiger, overruled Mr. Lampros and passed a senior whom he had failed in a required math course.
That student, Indira Fernandez, had missed dozens of class sessions and failed to turn in numerous homework assignments, according to Mr. Lampros’s meticulous records, which he provided to The New York Times. She had not even shown up to take the final exam. She did, however, attend the senior prom." http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/01/education/01education.html?em&ex=1186286400&en=acf692212ec5bd17&ei=5087%0A
Your Motel Concierge read the article. The school administrators attempt to challenge the credibility of the teacher, but the supporting anecdotes appear to put the teacher in a favorable position for his action. This article interests me in a couple of ways. First, I personally was involved in an incident similar to this, so there are at least two isolated incidents. Second, it gives credence to concerns that the pressures being brought to bear on the educational system for accountability and "producing a product" is resulting in desperate unintended consequences. It reminds me of when someone says that a student is doing well because the student is making good grades. However, when the student takes a standardized test, the student fails.
The other interesting point I read had to do with the School's grading policy. If a student shows up once in a grading period, they get 45 points towards 100. It reminds me of when one of my children was given extra points on an assignment for bringing in a roll of paper towels to her teacher(not the one in SpEd, the one in middle school, gifted, advanced math). But back to the 45 points. As an employer, I have often seen the attitude that an employee should get pay and raises just for showing up. I will be forwarding this article to a professor in a community college out west. She frequently complains of how she gets students who say they are going to be a nurse, or equivalent, yet they have no concept of basic algebra. And what does she hear most from the students- "well, I made good grades".
Friday, August 3, 2007
Trouble in a Hotel - But not in my Area
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http://threestandarddeviationstotheleft.blogspot.com/
"So it is no surprise to read in the New York Times the story of a math teacher that failed a student (who missed a third of the days and was tardy for so many of the rest) and had the grade that he gave the student changed by the principal so that the child would graduate. I'm sure that this is not unique to math teachers, but I know that we do more that our share. I know at graduation this past year, I was sickened to see so many of my senior math credit factory dropouts walk across the stage (they get their credits at alternative schools once they drop out of my class). I couldn't even write about it at the end of the year - didn't even want to talk about it - because I didn't want to think of the year as a bad one because of some poor students.
There are a couple of things that I was thinking about when I read the article that will probably go unanswered:
1) Where are the other departments in this story? If the kid missed school one-third of the days and probably was tardy to other classes as she was in math class, why did it all come down to the math teacher's grade? Why was she given credit in her other classes? This happens to me quite often as well. I'm pretty tired of kids who miss lots of school and who are lazy when they are there come to me and tell me that they are doing fine in their other classes.
2) Why don't more parents teach their children to accept the consequences of their poor decisions, especially once they are old enough to know better? Once the assistant principal insisted the grade be changed, the union stepped in to support the teacher, the principal steps in to change the grade (allowed by the teacher contract), the media gets hold of the story, and the parent is contacted, here is what she has to say:
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