At some schools, 4 is the new A+ (except when it isn't)

Darkwater wrote:

Dumb, Dumb, Dumb Get back to one standard of A through F. Then tell the parents exactly what that means. Geez, The more they try to make each kid feel good about themselves the less they make of the achievements. Every kid is equal, how are they going to experience failure and triumphant? They need both. Idiot teachers and admins both!

Independent Voter Joliet wrote:

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Remember when they had a check that said needs improvement? there were other choices but you got a grade in one column and a check on the other with it clearly marked what the problem was.. easy and to the point..

Gobblygook wrote:

One of the key motivations to the nonsense of alpha and numeric 'grading' is that it helps make quantification of acadmeic results more difficult.
You can't evaluate - on any meaningful basis, that which is unquantifiable.
These institutions mights as well drop the alpha-numerics altogether and simply send home report-cards that provide a single number - reflecting the number of days the student was present. After all, since the number of kids on the number of days that show up determines funding, that's all that really matters - right? It doesn't matter that we're turning out generation after generation of unemployables. No, it's only about getting their hands on those tax-dollars.
Learning - real learning {instead of preparing for standardized/lowest common denominator tests that are used as a basis for funding from the public trough}, that ceased to be the goal of public education in these parts a long long time ago.

bob1stshirt wrote:

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Give me a break. A, B, C, D, & F are PERFECTLY acceptable ways of determining whether a child is learning what's expected of them! All this other **** is just a smoke and mirrors method of covering up what's really going on. If a parent can't decipher the report card, then it doesn't matter what you call it.
We've gone so far down this "self-esteem" road that we're now producing young adults who can't balance a checkbook and think that life owes them a big house, new car, and a 60" plasma TV.
"You're special," works just fine until the day when an employer expects you to actually DO something. The professional educators and the schools that teach them have been "tinkering" with methods of education since the late '60s. At one point in time, my grade school tore down the walls and there was nothing but air to separate one class from another. This "Open" design was supposed to liberate a child's mind. It was supposed to stimulate them to think of new ideas. Instead, the kids and teachers were distracted by the noise from other "classrooms," and the kids began chatting with kids in other classrooms.
How 'bout less innovation and more concentration on 'readin', writin' and 'rithmatic?
And, if Chicago's now using these amended grading scales... how's that workin' FOR THE KIDS? I could care less if it makes the teacher's job any easier.

S means Satisfactory wrote:

I grew up in the 70s in Ohio (outside of Cleveland), my district used the E-S-N-U system for the primary grades. It's nothing new and nothing to get in a twitter about - it works well for the younger crowd because they're learning the basics, not competing against each other. Competition is healthy, but in its proper place. Crushing little self-esteems that early is not the right method. My daughter's school uses a similar system from kindergarten through 2nd, and the A-B-C system starts in 3rd. It's really not a big deal to expand it to include older students.
Change happens - we have to adapt to become a more global culture. All of you "Who Moved My Cheese" moaners need to realize that we really aren't the big fish in the lake any more, and the U.S. lags behind in its educational methods.

Smell_The_Coffee wrote:

Better parents would make better students.