Schools do away with "F" grades...

That's right. My D did happen - I made up for it and ended up with a B because of the average - can't get an A .... but a 3.0 was better than a 1.0 or whatever in the end average. I think part of the article suggested this - but another part didn't.

 

I like this.

 

Sadly, we see this far to often.

 

I think kids wouldn't have a problem receiving an F if it meant that they could actually get HELP and master it.

This might be on par with my friend who is a middle school teacher and isn't allowed to mark up papers with a red pen anymore because it hurts their self-esteem. So she uses purple or green...which doesn't show up a well making it harder for kids to decipher the corrections.

I can only give the example of my competitive gymnastics team versus the regular classes. In our team the kids compete against other teams and while everyone wins a ribbon, we go 1st through 10th place. It's not "everybody wins."

My competitive gymnasts don't suffer from a loss of self-esteem AT ALL. Even the ones who continually finish last place. Instead we teach them how to work harder, and as a result they've advanced further than our regular classes..

No Fs? That's a crock...

 

I don't like marks anymore

Reading these comments on doing away with F's reminded me of how much my thinking has changed on this topic. I used to believe the same way as many of these writers, but I don't anymore.

I agree that not everyone should win and that some have to lose, etc. That's life. I agree that we shouldn't heap empty praise on kids no matter what they do. That's insulting. We can't eliminate competition and I don't think we should. But should learning involve competition? I'm not too sure about that.

I used to believe that we should dish up the bad marks and that it would teach kids a lesson and that they would learn to try harder, but you know what? I don't think it works.

If you don't think my dress is becoming and you feel obligated to tell me the truth about my appearance, how does that help me? If you say, "Dianne, that dress is really ugly on you. I would rate your look today an F," does it make me more confident to dress nicer next time? Does it teach me a lesson about my appearance? Or does it chip away at me and make me less likely to try to dress up next time? It would be better for me if you praised me when you caught me in an attractive outfit and I would connect the dots. The outfits that people love look good on me. The others don't.

If I try to do something and I get a failing grade, how does that help me advance and improve? If I continually receive failing grades, negative comments or whatever a failing grade represents in whatever situation I am in, I will likely decide that I am indeed a failure.

Now, please hear me out. I don't believe in lying to kids to protect their egos, but I do believe in emphasizing the good. Most of us receive so much negativity in life that we don't need to be kicked again.

It's true. If you fail, you fail. But do you have to be reminded of it? Could we not find something good and kind to share even though a person has failed, something that will help that person try again? Most of us don't need to be reminded of our failures. We are all too aware.

One year, I tried something radical with a group of junior high homeschooling students (grades 7-9). I was supposed to teach them creative writing once a week for ten weeks. Most of them had been enthusiastically deposited in my class by parents who were at their wits' end because the kids were either very poor writers or they were discipline problems and the moms neede a break for a few hours. I think they hoped that I could also work a miracle and turn their children into writers.

The kids were a group of what most would label underachievers. They arrived in my "creative writing" class looking as if they were going to the dentist. They expected it to be a horrible experience and they expected to fail. They expected their writing to return to them covered in red ink and F's.

I didn't have a plan for that class--no curriculum, no lessons, no goals except that I wanted them to experience success and I wanted to pass on the torch of my love of writing.

I tried an experiment. I did a whole bunch of goofy exercises like drinking tea, burning candles, listening to music, dressing up, etc. and we read, discussed and wrote all sorts of stuff, but I made a deal with myself (privately. I didn't tell them what I was going to do).

I decided that I would not "mark" anything they gave me except to find at least one praiseworthy element and to comment on it. I ignored the mistakes and made no mention of anything that needed improvement. I simply dramatically RAVED about the one or two good things that I saw in their writing.

For some, it was hard finding that one thing (because it had to be genuine. No false praise allowed) and it might only be an interesting word or an inviting title, but I praised something every time.

The results? My praise electrified those kids. They wrote their brains out and they lapped up the truth about their writing. The fact that I didn't tell them everything I saw didn't negate the truth that I did express.

What about the "errors" that I ignored? They began to disappear because whatever I praised, they immediately duplicated next time and they tried harder to earn more praise.

Since that time, I do not give grades of any kind unless I am forced to. Grades are usually pretty subjective except in subjects like math where the answer is either right or wrong. I praise the good and when they aren't looking, I inject a little lesson to teach concepts that I notice they are struggling with, but I never tie it to their writing.

It works.

 

I disagree with the idea of getting rid "F"s. If a student gets an F on an assignment because they don't understand the work, you give them extra help. You work with them before school, after school, get them in tutoring, talk to their parents, etc. You get them the help they need to understand the work. Then, they'll do better on future assignments. If a child got an F because they were lazy & didn't bother to put effort in (or didn't do the work at all), they deserve the F and should receive one. It's their responsibility to do their work to the best of their abilities, and if they don't do it they should be held accountable.
You can generally tell if an assignment was failed because of lack of effort or lack of understanding. Put tutoring programs in place for those who need the extra help. Allow extra credit work to help raise their grades. Keep the parents aware of what's going on. Let them know if their child needs help with their work or if their child is not putting in effort. However, getting rid of F's & allowing them 3 months to make it up tells students that deadlines don't matter; that they can put their social life or personal interests before their education, because they can always make it up later.
That's just as bad as what my nieces' school does. If they don't hand an assignment in on time, they allow them to hand it in whenever they want, as long as it's in by the end of the year, and still get full credit for it. Why bother setting a due date for the work, if you aren't going to enforce it? You may as well just give them a list of assignments at the beginning of the year & say "Just make sure these are turned in before the last day of school." By not enforcing due dates, they're taking away responsibility & accountability. By not expecting the student's best work and having consequences when the work is sub par (i.e. bad grades), they are doing a disservice to the students & encouraging mediocrity.
I'm all for helping a child who is struggling, but policies like this one don't just help those students. They also provide an excuse & opportunity for the lazy students who just scribble down answers so they can say the work is done or don't bother to do it at all because they had something more interesting to do.

 

Accountability, yes. F's, maybe not

I agree that kids need to observe deadlines and be held accountable, but I also believe that most children want to succeed. If a kid gets to the point of not caring, I think there are bigger issues (probably deserves another discussion for this point).

I agree that a student who doesn't turn in work and does not meet the requirements to pass a course should not receive credit and should not move on to more difficult material until the original work is done and done well enough to display understanding and skill. I'm just not a big fan of F's in most cases. I believe that accentuating the positive is always a good idea. We all receive more than our share of negativity. Why not turn it around and help kids believe in themselves enough to try?

As far as homeschooling goes, I don't think we need to worry about giving marks at all, but people need to manage their homeschools according to their own convictions. We each love our children and want to do what's best. What works for one family might not work for another.

 

I agree with you. However, if the student fails due to lack of understanding, I think "Extra Help Is Needed" should be written on their assignment. It may not be the child's fault. Remember, each child learns differently. Some learn hands-on and some by just hearing.

On the other hand, if the child is just being lazy, then an "F" should be given. If a teacher gives them a second chance, no higher than a "C" should be given if passed.

 

What are we grading with an F?

We have to ask ourselves what we are grading when we give a kid an F. Let's say the subject is LA and the project is to write a paragraph. If the kid just doesn't do it, we might give her an F. Are we saying, therefore, that she cannot write a paragaraph; thus, the F is for not meeting the objective of writing a paragraph or that she is lazy; thus, she has an F in effort; or that she has a bad attitude; thus, she has an F in attitude? Let's say the deadline is for Tuesday and she hands it in two weeks late. We might give her an F for not having the assignment in on time. But let's say that is is an A paragraph; thus, is the F because she cannot meet the objective or the learning outcome of writing a paragraph or is she getting an F in time management?

Therein lies the problem. The school system's job is to teach the subject matter and they have certain learning outcomes. The child should be able to write a sentence, use periods at the end of sentences, etc. The school assigns work to allow the students to demonstrate that they are able to meet the learning outcomes. Whether or not the child is lazy, has a bad attitude or has poor time management skills is beside the point.

You might have a lawyer who aced the bar exam but who has lousy ethics. They are separate issues. The lawyer might be fantastic in the courtroom. You still may not want to hire this person because of poor character, but that doesn't change the fact that he or she is good at the job.

I have struggled with this issue for years because I thought the same way as many of you, "How does this type of assessment prepare the child for the 'real world'? The answer is that it doesn't necessarily and nor does it have to.

The school can't be everything to everyone and cover all the bases. They have a specific mandate and that is to teach subject matter and skills. It is not the school's job to instill morality and ethics in our kids; that's still our job, whether or not we homeschool. It's still up to parents and perhaps the church to cover the morals, ethics, behavior, life skills, etc. I think that it's unfair to put all of that on the school system and to criticize them for a crumbling society. We all bear responsibility.

To be fair, the school must assess learning outcomes. If a child can write a perfect paper but hands it in three weeks late, the school must assess whether or not the child can write a paper, not whether or not he or she is responsible and manages time well.

When kids tick us off and we want to teach them a lesson, we have the power to give them an F, but to be fair to them and to our system, we must ask the question, "What are we really grading with this F?"