4.10.2009
Senate Education Committee Hears Bill on Grading Policies
Having taught the sixth grade in Tarrant County public schools, Senator Nelson passionately supports the ability of teachers to manage their own classrooms. Last year, she was surprised to learn that several school districts around Texas have implemented "minimum grade" policies, which would prevent teachers from giving students a grade below 50, 60 or, in some cases, 70 percent. "A student's work should always be based on merit. These policies reward failure, harm the education of our children and undermine the professional authority of our teachers," she said. The Senate Education Committee this week heard testimony on SB 2033 by Senator Nelson, prohibiting such policies.
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4 comments:
As a teacher I am all for the removal of a minimum grade. I have taught for 12 years and that has always been the policy. Even if a student never came to class and has a zero, a minimum grade of a 50 must be given. How is this fair to the students who came to class and took pride in their education? When are we going to start teaching parents and students that there are consequences for their actions? Poor work and attendance leads to poor grades! Thank you Senator Nelson for looking into this matter! I would like to see this policy banished from all school districts!
Senator Nelson,
Please give me just a moment of time to explain a not so obvious merit to such a policy and suggest that rather than no minimum that the language might be adjusted to allow failing grades (40 or 50 minimum) without making it statistically impossible to recover from a bad six weeks or project grade with a Zero in the calculation. Once it is statistically impossible to recover, the student loses his or her motivation to work toward recovery and we lose a child to the very options that we are trying to prevent.
Ray Ivey,
Director of Administration, Azle ISD
rivey@azleisd.net
I have taught elementary education for 25 years. I am strongly in favor of removing the minimum grading policy. For too many years, we as educators have not been holding our students accountable for their actions. They move on to middle and high school completely unprepared. This is unfair to the child and the teachers. Children are not learning to become responsible adults, and they are totally unprepared for higher education. Colleges have more students in remedial classes than ever before. It is our duty, as educators, to teach students responsibility and that there are consequences for their actions.
As a teacher of elementary education, however, I do feel that younger students should have a chance to bring in late work with points taken off for each day it is late. An automatic zero would be far too harsh.
Kim Jimerson EPISD
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