Who agrees with me on this?

[donaldgallinger]

Dallas Public Schools: New Leaders in Entertainment

Recently, the Dallas Public School system implemented a new grading policy intended to ensure “fair and credible evaluation of learning—from grade to grade and school to school.” Here are the key points in this plan:

1. Homework grades should be given only when the grades will “raise a student’s average, not lower it.”


2. Teachers must accept overdue assignments, and their principal will decide whether students are to be penalized for missing deadlines.


3. Students who flunk tests can retake the exam and keep the higher grade.


4. Teachers cannot give a zero on an assignment unless they call parents and make “efforts to assist students in completing the work.”


I don’t teach in Dallas, but I am a public high school teacher of nearly twenty-five years, and I can tell you that similar policies are creeping into school systems across the country. Soon, I believe, these blueprints for teaching students to ignore—or even celebrate—mediocrity and failure will become commonplace practices in our nation’s public schools.

For the politically naïve (and yes, the shaping of school policy is ultimately political), here is why every student must be forced to “succeed” on paper:

It’s because public schools can’t tell the truth. And the truth is that as a society, we are becoming incapable of raising children to be responsible adults. The reasons are deep, systemic, and will probably not change for at least a few generations. In the meantime, schools must continue to lie to the public as long as the public keeps lying to itself, because the alternative would be political suicide. We have educated our children to be excellent consumers—and not much else. Soon, we will see the full fruition of these, our true values, as a society. Not only will our kids have neither the skills nor the patience required to run the infrastructure of our country, they will also lack the emotional maturity to understand or learn from their failures.

So I offer this piece of advice to the Dallas Public School system—and any other school facing similar problems with student failure rates: You’re off to a good start, but keep up the momentum. Inevitably, students who flunk tests will want not just a second chance, but a third and a fourth. Give it to them. Eliminate the grade of “zero” on any assignment. Award academic points on tests for simply showing up at school. Create an “action plan” for each individual student depending solely on his tastes and interests. For example, if a student cannot master simple addition and subtraction, then allow him to draw an impressionistic picture of mathematical operations. If a student doesn’t like reading, let him watch television and then perform an interpretive dance of what he’s seen.

Lastly (and most importantly), MAKE SURE THAT EVERY STUDENT GRADUATES. Put on a lavish show for the graduation ceremony, the gaudier the better. Parents and kids love graduation. They like to scream and holler and take pictures and videos of the grand event. It means absolutely nothing—or soon will—but that’s not important. What’s important is the appearance of achievement.

In the end, appearance is all you’ve got to work with. So make it count. You’re in show business now, Dallas Public School system. Give the folks a good show.

I’ll be retired from public school teaching in less than two years. It’s just as well. I don’t have a flair for tap dancing or the guts to be part of a criminal conspiracy to violate the public’s trust.

donaldgallinger.com

 

[random3434]

I love your post!

Great points, and funny too!


How did Dallas get away with that? I'm shocked and disappointed. Shame on them for doing that. It's a disservice to the students and the teachers.

 

[Chris]

Kid should wear orange jumpsuits and pick up trash on the side of the road until they are 18.

 

[random3434]

Kid should wear orange jumpsuits and pick up trash on the side of the road until they are 18.

Chris/Kirk, you have posted that comment on countless threads on here about teens.


Did a teenager beat you up or something?


Did your high school girlfriend dump you again?


What is it with you and teens anyway? Do they scare you that much?

 

[Luissa]

The problem with my generation and the next one is everyone gave us rewards but not punishment. Look at the baby boomers who have a stronger work ethic and they were slapped on the wrists with rulers and whatever else. They have had to restructure they way they treat their employees at corporations. The last place I worked was always giving us some certificate or other rewards half the time for not doing really anything. I got a $25 gift card for pretty much doing what I was suppose to be doing.

 

[PeterS]

Dallas Public Schools: New Leaders in Entertainment

Recently, the Dallas Public School system implemented a new grading policy intended to ensure “fair and credible evaluation of learning—from grade to grade and school to school.” Here are the key points in this plan:

1. Homework grades should be given only when the grades will “raise a student’s average, not lower it.”


2. Teachers must accept overdue assignments, and their principal will decide whether students are to be penalized for missing deadlines.


3. Students who flunk tests can retake the exam and keep the higher grade.


4. Teachers cannot give a zero on an assignment unless they call parents and make “efforts to assist students in completing the work.”


I don’t teach in Dallas, but I am a public high school teacher of nearly twenty-five years, and I can tell you that similar policies are creeping into school systems across the country. Soon, I believe, these blueprints for teaching students to ignore—or even celebrate—mediocrity and failure will become commonplace practices in our nation’s public schools.

For the politically naïve (and yes, the shaping of school policy is ultimately political), here is why every student must be forced to “succeed” on paper:

It’s because public schools can’t tell the truth. And the truth is that as a society, we are becoming incapable of raising children to be responsible adults. The reasons are deep, systemic, and will probably not change for at least a few generations. In the meantime, schools must continue to lie to the public as long as the public keeps lying to itself, because the alternative would be political suicide. We have educated our children to be excellent consumers—and not much else. Soon, we will see the full fruition of these, our true values, as a society. Not only will our kids have neither the skills nor the patience required to run the infrastructure of our country, they will also lack the emotional maturity to understand or learn from their failures.

So I offer this piece of advice to the Dallas Public School system—and any other school facing similar problems with student failure rates: You’re off to a good start, but keep up the momentum. Inevitably, students who flunk tests will want not just a second chance, but a third and a fourth. Give it to them. Eliminate the grade of “zero” on any assignment. Award academic points on tests for simply showing up at school. Create an “action plan” for each individual student depending solely on his tastes and interests. For example, if a student cannot master simple addition and subtraction, then allow him to draw an impressionistic picture of mathematical operations. If a student doesn’t like reading, let him watch television and then perform an interpretive dance of what he’s seen.

Lastly (and most importantly), MAKE SURE THAT EVERY STUDENT GRADUATES. Put on a lavish show for the graduation ceremony, the gaudier the better. Parents and kids love graduation. They like to scream and holler and take pictures and videos of the grand event. It means absolutely nothing—or soon will—but that’s not important. What’s important is the appearance of achievement.

In the end, appearance is all you’ve got to work with. So make it count. You’re in show business now, Dallas Public School system. Give the folks a good show.

I’ll be retired from public school teaching in less than two years. It’s just as well. I don’t have a flair for tap dancing or the guts to be part of a criminal conspiracy to violate the public’s trust.

donaldgallinger.com

I was a trustee for DISD in 1989. At the time DISD had two schools ranked in the top 10, public and private, K-12 nationally and probably the best magnet program available. Today DISD will rank just ahead of Washington DC public schools if they are lucky. So what happened? Standardization with accountability.

It is fine to mock and ridicule DISD, they deserve it, but DISD is simply a look in the mirror and there isn't a single school district nationally that isn't following the same path.

 

[Chris]

Chris/Kirk, you have posted that comment on countless threads on here about teens.


Did a teenager beat you up or something?


Did your high school girlfriend dump you again?


What is it with you and teens anyway? Do they scare you that much?

It's a joke, dude.

Lighten up.

 

[donaldgallinger]

PeterS:

I think you are absolutely right about the pernicious influence of using standardized tests
to measure public schools' effectiveness. In general, voters don't understand why this should be a problem. They don't understand how schools must completely change not only their teaching strategies to meet state requirements, but must also change discipline codes, attendance policies, and a host of other rules in order to receive state funding. It all terribly complicated and very political.

I don't enjoy mocking or ridiculing the Dallas Public Schools. In fact, I agree that we are all headed in the same direction. (Here in New Jersey you can see the "writing on the wall.") Sometimes, however, satire is a good way to direct the public's attention to a serious issue. And what is happening to our schools and our children is very serious indeed.

 

[random3434]

PeterS:

I think you are absolutely right about the pernicious influence of using standardized tests
to measure public schools' effectiveness. In general, voters don't understand why this should be a problem. They don't understand how schools must completely change not only their teaching strategies to meet state requirements, but must also change discipline codes, attendance policies, and a host of other rules in order to receive state funding. It all terribly complicated and very political.

I don't enjoy mocking or ridiculing the Dallas Public Schools. In fact, I agree that we are all headed in the same direction. (Here in New Jersey you can see the "writing on the wall.") Sometimes, however, satire is a good way to direct the public attention to a serious issue. And what is happening to our schools and our children is very serious indeed.

Amen.

The greatest hope we teachers have is that with a new guard in the White House the NCLB Act will be retooled to be more in tune on educating our children in a realistic way. Teaching to the test is all teachers are allowed to do anymore in a lot of places, and it takes any creativity and joy out of teaching and learning from all involved.


You should see my students with IQ's of 58-75 take our States Standardized Test. God love them, they try their best, but most of it is Greek to them. Yet, because of NCLB, they have to take it, and we all are held accountable for their scores. We lost AYP last year because of the special ed and ESL scores, yet the gen. ed kids scored the highest for any inner-city school.

Go figure.

 

[donaldgallinger]

Luissa27:

I'm not sure that "punishment, by itself, will do much to help kids today. I've been teaching high school now for nearly twenty-five years, and I think the problems besetting your generation are the same problems plaguing our greater society. For one thing, there's no particular incentive to "grow up." Adulthood, at least as a state of mind, holds very few rewards according to the popular culture. What can you do as an adult that you can't do now as an adolescent? (I'm not talking about voting or paying taxes or grown-up responsible "stuff.") I can't tell you the number of times that my students have informed me--quite seriously--that they must have fun NOW, because these are the best years of their lives. (Fun for many of them means all sorts of mayhem, much of it illegal or just plain dangerous.) When I tell them that the best years of their lives are ahead of them, or should be, they stare at me with a blank expression. From their perspective, I'm sure they think they're right.

Really, how have we made adulthood seem attractive to kids? Why would anyone want to leave adolescence for adulthood as those two stages in life are now presented to kids?

As for getting rewards for just doing your job--that's all part of the extension of childhood, too. Unfortunately, it's the part that assumes that all children are emotionally damaged and must be constantly reassured that they're not worthless.

 

[Annie]

Donald, loved that post! I've been teaching middle school social studies for 10 years. I am in a parochial school and while standardized testing is important, to show 'prospective parents' we are teaching, we don't have the pressure of NCLB. I'd venture to say we have more parental support, however the pressure to move kids along and more of a concern, 'not label them' is problematic.

However, I think we know that the behaviors/expectations of both administration and parents started long before NCLB. Luissa has a point, it's all rewards and no punishments. The attitude that there should be no failures is reflected in grades, curriculum, and expectations. New new math or fuzzy math is just the beginning and it certainly precedes NCLB.

My homework philosophy from the getgo, (probably a result of getting my teaching credentials at 38, with 3 school aged children), has always been-credit if done. They need to do homework, for reinforcement and assessment of understanding. I spot check to make sure there aren't garbage writings, but if a solid attempt is made, they get the points. I collect their notebooks on Friday to make sure they corrected mistakes and where necessary elaborated on answers.

On the other hand, the song & dance as far as presenting materials does become wearing. I got a Smartboard this year. It certainly is a great thing, but the kids now want all games, all the time. Sometimes they just need to 'get down to it' and study.

 

[PoliticalChic]

There are so many problems with the educational system today, that I have little faith that things can be changed unless we start by accepting personal responsibility.

Education is not about self-esteem, but about earning self-esteem through accomplishments.

I feel if the nation would return to traditional values (not necessarily religious ones), where people/students get rewarded for hard work, maybe there is hope.

In the meantime, I am only too happy to educate my kids in my own home where they will be safe, learn our family morals and values, and actually learn something to boot.

BTW, I have family and friends in the educational field who constantly say that things in the system are getting worse and worse.

Actually, this is not a panacea, but I support virtual schools, and if those came to New York, I would be hopeful that there might be a change. But even virtual schools, may not be an option for many families.

 

[Luissa]

Luissa27:

I'm not sure that "punishment, by itself, will do much to help kids today. I've been teaching high school now for nearly twenty-five years, and I think the problems besetting your generation are the same problems plaguing our greater society. For one thing, there's no particular incentive to "grow up." Adulthood, at least as a state of mind, holds very few rewards according to the popular culture. What can you do as an adult that you can't do now as an adolescent? (I'm not talking about voting or paying taxes or grown-up responsible "stuff.") I can't tell you the number of times that my students have informed me--quite seriously--that they must have fun NOW, because these are the best years of their lives. (Fun for many of them means all sorts of mayhem, much of it illegal or just plain dangerous.) When I tell them that the best years of their lives are ahead of them, or should be, they stare at me with a blank expression. From their perspective, I'm sure they think they're right.

Really, how have we made adulthood seem attractive to kids? Why would anyone want to leave adolescence for adulthood as those two stages in life are now presented to kids?

As for getting rewards for just doing your job--that's all part of the extension of childhood, too. Unfortunately, it's the part that assumes that all children are emotionally damaged and must be constantly reassured that they're not worthless.

One thing I think might be a good idea and it might not be is lower the drinking age to 16 and raise the age to 18 for when you can get a drivers licenes. They do this in some European countries and they have lower DUI rates in these countries and it teaches them to have responsiblity when it comes to drinking before they can drive. You don't hear about college kids and binge drinking there much either.
As for illegal drugs, of course I was in high school ten years ago but I remember it was a lot easier to buy pot and coke then it was alcohol. You don't have to show your ID to the drug dealer.
And I am very much against the children of today only getting rewards! My sixth grade teacher would through erasers at you if you were not paying attention and he was probably the best teacher I had!

 

[editec]

I’ll be retired from public school teaching in less than two years. It’s just as well. I don’t have a flair for tap dancing or the guts to be part of a criminal conspiracy to violate the public’s trust.

But you managed to make it long enough to retire?

Your tolerance for bullshit must be far higher than mine was.

 

[PoliticalChic]

But you managed to make it long enough to retire?

Your tolerance for bullshit must be far higher than mine was.

donaldgallinger: I regret teachers like you have already left or are leaving the system. Teaching use to be a rewarding career and now my husband and I discourage other people and students from going into that field because it is a career that will probably be filled with frustration and grief.

 

[random3434]

donaldgallinger: I regret teachers like you have already left or are leaving the system. Teaching use to be a rewarding career and now my husband and I discourage other people and students from going into that field because it is a career that will probably be filled with frustration and grief.

And what a sad statement that is for our society.

 

[donaldgallinger]

donaldgallinger: I regret teachers like you have already left or are leaving the system. Teaching use to be a rewarding career and now my husband and I discourage other people and students from going into that field because it is a career that will probably be filled with frustration and grief.

No, no, no! It's true that public school teachers now face terrible obstacles in the classroom from administrators, state regulators, and even parents. But now is NOT the time to back away from teaching, if that's what you really want to do in life. Yes, I've got ambivalent feelings about what I"ve actually accomplished over the last twenty-five years. Yes, I'm angry and sickened by the lack of respect for learning shown by our society. Yes, I'm worried to death about what we're teaching our kids and how they'll survive in what appears to be an economically depressed future. All the more reason for good, tough, creative people to step into the classroom and change the narcissistic climate of our culture. Far more dedicated teachers than I ever was do their best--in spite of overwhelming odds--to help kids think better, analyze better, BE better as human beings. I'm tired; I want peace from the "bullshit" more than you could know. But I have the satisfaction of knowing that in my own little way I tried to use my skills, patience, and sense of humor to help sustain the good things in this lovely country.

Don't dissuade young people from going into the teaching profession. We need creative, idealistic people in the classroom--now more than ever. But but do let them know what they're in for.

 

[Annie]

No, no, no! It's true that public school teachers now face terrible obstacles in the classroom from administrators, state regulators, and even parents. But now is NOT the time to back away from teaching, if that's what you really want to do in life. Yes, I've got ambivalent feelings about what I"ve actually accomplished over the last twenty-five years. Yes, I'm angry and sickened by the lack of respect for learning shown by our society. Yes, I'm worried to death about what we're teaching our kids and how they'll survive in what appears to be an economically depressed future. All the more reason for good, tough, creative people to step into the classroom and change the narcissistic climate of our culture. Far more dedicated teachers than I ever was do their best--in spite of overwhelming odds--to help kids think better, analyze better, BE better as human beings. I'm tired; I want peace from the "bullshit" more than you could know. But I have the satisfaction of knowing that in my own little way I tried to use my skills, patience, and sense of humor to help sustain the good things in this lovely country.

Don't dissuade young people from going into the teaching profession. We need creative, idealistic people in the classroom--now more than ever. But but do let them know what they're in for.

Agreed. If you know of a new teacher entering their first year or years, may I suggest, The First Days of School by Harry K. Wong & Rosemary T. Wong. It's a treasure trove of what to do right. (That is not to imply politically right. )