Student with straight F grades gets her diploma

[Rebel]

There you go.

Okay. Now lets just sit back and wait for someone to claim that all these students are black, despite any evidence whatsoever.

[Red Panda]

Theres a differance between a change for one class, especially when the teacher is not teaching correctly, and failing every class and still getting a diploma.

[Rebel]

How was the teacher in question not teaching correctly?

[Hobbs]

Like a Tootsie-Roll Pop, Rebel, the world may never know.

[KnitShoni]

100% of the cases of this happening I am aware of are this black girl. I have not been shown any evidence of a non black girl getting the same treatment. I am aware of many white people flunking out of high school.

So you only being aware of this one case automatically means this has to do with her race? The fact that the school is closing and the faculty is afraid of not being able to find jobs because of failure rates (as they themselves said), the fact that they're being told by the principal that if they didn't pass these students (seriously, just because she was the one featured does not mean she was the only one. Especially considering the article stated there are several other students who were given the same treatment.) they could possibly receive bad recommendations, none of that is relevant? It HAS to be because she's black.

Oh, and I'm not sure why you keep saying that being given an unearned passing grade in a class is not the same as being given an unearned diploma, since you can't GET a diploma (earned or unearned) without passing grades. So, in effect, EVERYONE who has been given a passing grade without earning it is receiving an unearned diploma.

[PepperElf]

it's "no child left behind unpassed"

and i too know of teachers who were ordered to pass failing students

i've posted about it before too.


for once of them, she quit after a year because it sucked.
the kids refused to behave, she had to spend more time getting them to sit down and shut up than she did teaching, they constantly said they were going to "sue her" - over giving out homework. and when the kids were failing she'd get angry parents who refused to understand that precious junior wasn't doing any of the work - therefore he was failing. one parent even cornered her after school - i don't know exactly what he did, but i believe he tried to physically intimidate her.

the final straw was when the school ordered her to pass the little shits who weren't doing their work.


this is what happens when schools are more concerned about getting grant money than they are about actually teaching.

[Greenday]

You mention people getting passing grades for classes. You do not mention somebody getting a diploma without any passing grades at all. There is a huge differance

But this girl was passed. She was given D's she didn't earn. My classmates got passing grades they didn't earn.

[Stormraven]

My girlfriend had to drop out of school her junior year for personal problems. She came back at 20 and finished her schooling, and was able to walk the stage. Sometimes, it's not because someone's slacking that they graduate from high school later in life.

Which would not run afoul of what I said. She dropped out, yes, but returned willing to work. My statement was clearly 'if they reach 18 and aren't willing to do the work'.

[Red Panda]

The differance between getting a passing grade in a single class and getting a diploma when she failed all of her classes is that you need to pass classes to get the diploma. She didn't. Getting a passing grade in a class, even if undeserved, is still a passing grade. The girl here didn't pass any classes so she didn't fullfill the requirments for getting a diploma.


And I believe the teacher didn't teach the class properly because the majority of the class failed. If the majority of the class don't know the material then the teacher needs to review his methods because they don't work.

[KnitShoni]

Oh, I see! Here I was thinking you'd actually read the article! Silly me! You missed the part where the teachers were pressured to give her Ds instead of Fs. Which, by the way, is the scenario you keep bringing up and saying doesn't apply here.

[Plaidman]

And I believe the teacher didn't teach the class properly because the majority of the class failed. If the majority of the class don't know the material then the teacher needs to review his methods because they don't work.

Or the students are just that stupid. Take my customer service class I had to take. Easiest class in existance. Seriously, you just had to show up. I did learn alot more about customer service and skills, langages, different cultures, people with different mindsets then I ever had before, so it's bit more then just kiss the customer ass that I thought it would be.

Half the class didn't pass. Why? Not showing up was only a minor part of the grade. Class involvment was a decent chunk, but you could still pass the class if you did well on the tests.

These students still didn't even do THOSE right, even though the answers were pretty DUH if you even did even a five minute study.


As for the barely pass being getting the diploma? Your missing what others are stating. These other students, of all races, DIDN'T deserve a D or passing grade. They got F's. But Teachers were forced to give higher grades, so that
1: The idiot parents who belive their drooling ten felony counts, father of 4 by 16, barely sentint son who only learned ABC's by just that much, A, B... and C. Let just say that he can't count to ten. Doesn't even know the name of the country he lives in. Thinks the capital of China is Japan etc, is the smartest person in the world.
2: School is closing. Means they need to get a new job. Only way to really get good reviews by principals is if they /pass/ their idiot students, and so other schools look at their past and go "huh, this teacher has a 79 passing curce of students! Excellent Teacher!"

Let's face it. Not all students are bright eyed and willing to go happy to school to learn all they can. Maybe in preschool. Maybe in kindgarten. But in High School? Most students already think they know everything. Or that they can get by dealing drugs, being a prostute, or better yet, just pretending to be disabled or unable to get jobs for welfare. So I can totally see a decent chunk of students failing class because they choose not to do work, not because of a teacher.

[crashhelmet]

What I'd like to know is why the school district waits until 21 to 'age out' a failing student. As far as I'm concerned, once you hit 18, if you're not doing the work required, you shouldn't get to come back.

The school still gets state funding for the student. Although she has to actually show up for class for them to get paid, as long as she's enrolled there's still the chance.

CH

[Skunkle]

I don't think we'll be able to placate Red Panda. Any example we give won't be accepted, yet I have a feeling he'll say we simply haven't presented anything that's worthy.

Best bet here is to move on, and just keep discussing the topic.

I don't know about diplomas with all failing grades, but plenty of white kids at my high school who spent ALL their time in the classes I had with them goofing off and talking about faux-gangsta stuff ("doin' drive-bys" and "robbin' the Circle-K" [convenience store] were popular bragging exploits I'm sure these kids never actually came close to doing) still graduated. I don't know about ALL their classes, but in the ones I had with these guys, they did zero work and bragged about it. And yes, I know they graduated - a few were in my year, and I saw 'em get diplomas. I knew all of one black kid who was like this... The rest I knew were just your average students like most of us. Also, mind, this school admittedly wasn't inner-city or in an impoverished area, but neither was it a wealthy school - we had outdated textbooks and equipment - and we were racially diverse but not ALL minorities. Average area, average school.

Apparently said zero-achievers were still considered good enough, because I also knew a few average students, who aced some subjects and just sucked at others, who were declared retarded by the school and placed in classes with the retarded students. Why do I use the archaic and offensive term "retarded"? Because said school did - and this was in the late 90s!

[Plaidman]

Apparently said zero-achievers were still considered good enough, because I also knew a few average students, who aced some subjects and just sucked at others, who were declared retarded by the school and placed in classes with the retarded students. Why do I use the archaic and offensive term "retarded"? Because said school did - and this was in the late 90s!

So.... does that mean I can go around and killing others, because our army does?

How about go rob places, because others do.


Using offensive places just because others did, even public, doesn't free you to use it.

[Exaspera]

This is the main reason why I will never teach in a public school. In the community college where I teach part-time, I get to see the glowing results of "no child left behind" in action. One school district near our college has dropped the deadlines for assignments. If a student hands it in 2 weeks late, that's just fine.(!)

The students don't understand that when I give a deadline, I mean it. This is usually learned after the first assignment of the semester when everyone who doesn't hand it over in time gets a zero. They seem so surprised!

And I have never been coerced into raising a grade. I've been begged by students("I'm working 40 hours a week and taking 21 hours here, give me a break!), but it won't fly. Fortunately, the Dean backs me 100%.

Maybe karma will catch up with this particular graduate, but I only see another welfare recipient, unfortunately. It makes me sad to see folks not even bother to live up to their potential or find a passion in their lives.