Grade discrepancy and how to handle it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I’ve been teaching high school for a very long time and I don’t understand this. I’m also having a hard time believing you have access to other students’ grades, at least enough of them to determine some type of pattern.

You'll have to trust me on this - I can't explain further without describing this teacher's particular grading scheme in detail, which would make the teacher very identifiable to anyone who has taken a class with them. But it's a very obvious issue and doesn't require any sort of pulling back the curtain on how the assignment was actually scored. Imagine it's a multiple choice test with questions of equal weight and two students both got 18/20 but one exam got recorded as an 89 and one a 91 - it's a similar sort of issue.

I can’t imagine a scenario in which that would happen. 18/20 is a 90. There isn’t some grand formula involved. And, in the unlikely chance there is, then I suspect it’s akin to rounding. I will round up for students who have demonstrated effort and dedication. That’s even written in my policies.

And still - you keep referencing other students’ scores. I can’t imagine you have a large enough sample to make an argument that your child was somehow scored down.

[Anonymous]

I am also usually a stickler about these things, but I would also reach out for clarification at least. I'd have the student do it though (maybe from your email, or with you explicitly stated as cc'd)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I can’t imagine a scenario in which that would happen. 18/20 is a 90. There isn’t some grand formula involved. And, in the unlikely chance there is, then I suspect it’s akin to rounding. I will round up for students who have demonstrated effort and dedication. That’s even written in my policies.

And still - you keep referencing other students’ scores. I can’t imagine you have a large enough sample to make an argument that your child was somehow scored down.

Right, the scenario I described is not the actual one, was just trying to think of a comparable situation where the same input yields different outputs. I can say 100 percent that there is no teacher judgment or rounding involved.

I understand the advice to let it go because it's my kid's fault for being in this situation in the first place. But I promise that I am not trying to sneakily challenge the teacher's judgment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it a rounding issue? Like rounded up for some kids but not yours? Nothing you can really say there. Otherwise you’re going to need to explain more.

No, it's basically like the raw score was plugged into a certain formula to get a percentage grade, and my kid's raw score was plugged into that formula slightly differently than other students' raw scores were. The issue is NOT that other students got higher grades or more credit. Also, the issue is quite obvious (I'm being a little evasive in explaining it to protect privacy) and doesn't require scrutiny of anyone else's grades. It may well be a simple error, but I'm not sure we'll be able to get in touch with the teacher in time to ask.

In my school district, they can change grades in the fall. My kid got a math mistake related to a June final fixed in September. He wrote promptly but the teachers here don't read their e-mail after school closes for summer.

[Anonymous]

You explained it all here:
"My kid did not like this teacher and did not hide that fact"

Any borderline grade and you are getting the lower grade. That's on your kid not to hide it better. Same thing goes in life. When you don't like your boss sometimes you have to hide it well.

I tell my kids avoid doing group projects with kids like yours that blatantly show disregard for the teacher and/ or it is obvious the teacher doesn't like the kid or the kid doesn't like the teacher.

[Anonymous]

He is an opportunity to be a good parent and explain to your kid that more likely than not they have have a boss like this at some point in their career and dealing with it in the same manner will more than likely derail their career.

They handled poorly from the start and got the grade they got. Turn it into a positive learning experience not a losing battle.

[Anonymous]

That happened to my kid. Teacher said she was giving a higher grade, makes down the final assignment by one point so kid got a b vs an a. I think she did it on purpose. Not doing anything.

[Anonymous]

I’d push it. Why not? You have nothing to lose and it sounds as though it might have been unfair. Send one more email then go over her head. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Teacher just wanted to give your kid a certain grade. Certainly they manipulated it. Certainly it won't change anything to call them out on it. Teachers revel in this power. Often not fair but it happens in all aspects of life, especially small environments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teacher just wanted to give your kid a certain grade. Certainly they manipulated it. Certainly it won't change anything to call them out on it. Teachers revel in this power. Often not fair but it happens in all aspects of life, especially small environments.

This is ridiculous. No, we don’t “revel in this power.” We didn’t go into this profession to battle points with teenagers (or their parents).

Sometimes children earned the lower grade. Period. I’m guessing that’s what happened in OP’s case, and she is struggling to accept it.

By all means, take this up the ladder and aggravate all levels of leadership over a point the child may not have earned. You do have that right as a parent and nobody is stopping you. It’s not what I would do as a parent, but we all make our own choices.

[Anonymous]

One of the reasons teachers are quitting and not returning is because parents and admin have to fight teacher on every single solitary minute decision. After the double overtime we already work...it makes our profession miserably corrupt and there is no support...just shame and blame.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teacher just wanted to give your kid a certain grade. Certainly they manipulated it. Certainly it won't change anything to call them out on it. Teachers revel in this power. Often not fair but it happens in all aspects of life, especially small environments.

This is ridiculous. No, we don’t “revel in this power.” We didn’t go into this profession to battle points with teenagers (or their parents).

Sometimes children earned the lower grade. Period. I’m guessing that’s what happened in OP’s case, and she is struggling to accept it.

By all means, take this up the ladder and aggravate all levels of leadership over a point the child may not have earned. You do have that right as a parent and nobody is stopping you. It’s not what I would do as a parent, but we all make our own choices.

Oh of course, we teachers do love this power. At Friday Happy Hour, we all go around the circle and revel in how we can hurt children. Then we laugh and laugh and dance and sing. It's like Mardi Gras all year long! *This* is why we all became teachers.
/s

[Anonymous]

Did you try to teach your child to respect authority throughout the semester or just allow him to be outwardly rude? Seems like you allowed it to happen and are now surprised that there’s a consequence. Use this to teach your child a lesson.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Look, I never said my kid was "constantly rude." I could add much more backstory that would make my kid seem much more sympathetic in terms of their overall relationship with the teacher, but I will concede my kid didn't act perfectly, and to the extent they made mistakes, I've addressed it with them. Ultimately, how my kid acted or didn't act is mostly irrelevant to my question, which was (to put it more succinctly): There is an irregularity in the input of one assignment grade that has no obvious explanation other than error and that I am 95% sure the teacher would change on their own if alerted to it in time. Because my kid was on the borderline between grades, it turns out to make a big difference to their overall grade in the class. We tried to communicate with the teacher but suspect the teacher is no longer checking e-mail. Should we let it go as a life lesson or take further action? I appreciate everyone who's weighed in on both sides of that question and will consider what you have to say. I really don't want to end up IDing anyone involved so don't plan to elaborate any further.

[Anonymous]

Don’t let it go. Truly. If she’s wrong, she needs to change it. You aren’t asking for special treatment.