Two schools in our district have stopped giving "D" grades. (Neither is a school my children attend.) In these schools, anything below a "C" is a failing grade. The idea is to encourage the students to put in more effort and to make the classroom grades align with those given for the Kentucky's Commonwealth Accountability Testing System.
Having the same expectations for classwork as for the standardized tests is reasonable but as for making the students want to work harder, good luck with that. Class grades are usually based on a combination of classwork, homework, and tests. A student can do well on all the tests but still receive a low grade if he or she doesn't do enough of the homework. The theory is that homework reinforces what was taught in class but if a student gets an A on the tests without doing the homework, is homework really necessary or just busy work?
If they want the class grades to align with the standardized test scores, the class tests should be the major part of the grade. It seems silly to insist that a four grade system better matches the four grade test score if you are measuring different things.
Posted by marybeth at August 17, 2006 09:10 AM Oldham County