apparently, showing up IS half the battle...
...at least as far as Pittsburgh public schools are concerned. They have instituted, and intend to enforce, a policy that sets 50% as the minimum grade that may be given for any test, quiz, or assignment.
Ostensibly, this policy is being put in place to prevent students who "start slow" from becoming discouraged, and allow them a reasonable chance to catch up, since a student earning a 20% as a first-half grade would have to score a 100% just to "squeak by" with a 60%.
Without even getting started on the fact that, in my day, 60% was still a failing grade, this policy stinks on ice! What the hell have we come to when we are rewarding substandard performance and encouraging fucking laziness? This policy will also mean that if a student is being graded on 5 assignments, and scores 100% on the first four, he can "mail in" the fifth one and still average out to 90%. Yeah, way to go there, Pittsburgh.
Feel free to discuss in the comments, as I'd love to hear other points of view. Full article about the policy is here.
Ostensibly, this policy is being put in place to prevent students who "start slow" from becoming discouraged, and allow them a reasonable chance to catch up, since a student earning a 20% as a first-half grade would have to score a 100% just to "squeak by" with a 60%.
Without even getting started on the fact that, in my day, 60% was still a failing grade, this policy stinks on ice! What the hell have we come to when we are rewarding substandard performance and encouraging fucking laziness? This policy will also mean that if a student is being graded on 5 assignments, and scores 100% on the first four, he can "mail in" the fifth one and still average out to 90%. Yeah, way to go there, Pittsburgh.
Feel free to discuss in the comments, as I'd love to hear other points of view. Full article about the policy is here.