Thursday, January 13, 2011

Mixed Messages


Monday's faculty conference dealt with grades and the things that go into giving a grade.  Many people wanted to look at effort and extenuating circumstances for missed exams and projects.  They wanted kids to have a chance to redo failing exams and do extra projects to increase grades. 

My department has been told that exams are the way, the only way to go.  Effort doesn't do it if a child is not making the grade.  We are pressured to make sure our grades don't vary much from the final exam and from the regents.  There is nothing we can do about the regents but many of us have resorted to some pretty creative methods to circumvent the final exam rule.  (Sorry I can't mention them here for obvious reasons.)

There is more to a grade than a number on a piece of paper but a young, untenured teacher will follow the guidelines set out by their chairperson if they want to keep their jobs.  They can't give the child the benefit of the doubt, even if they want to do so.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

understood, I was one of those 'young and untenured' teachers, except I never had department or grade meetings. I never received directions, feedback, instruction from the supervisor. I was left alone and given absolute guidance. I had no idea what they wanted from me.