I understand why so many kids are failing now

[Anonymous]

DD just barely averted failing two classes after consistently having straight As. She has ADHD and executive functioning problems. The combination of how teachers enter grades into the platform and disproportionate weighting on some assignments almost killed her grades.

In one class she had an A the morning of the final and then got an A on the final but two hours later her entire grade dropped to an F. The teacher had updated the course and decided to count only one small 20 point assignment for a section that was worth 40% of the entire grade. DD had only been missing two assignments and of course this was one of them. She had turned it in but turned it in late a month ago. The teacher had not graded it and it was still a zero so it dropped her entire grade by 40%.This teacher is one that never responds to emails. If I had not caught this when it happened, DD would not have known and been able to go into her last office hours to get it changed.

In another class, the final was actually a writing project that pre-DL was done in class over a few weeks. The teacher decided to split it 2 parts and just put in comments on which parts should be done for the final this semester and which parts not to do. It was a complicated 8 pages of instructions -which would have been appropriate for project but not really a final. DD had an A on all assignments before this one. This assignment was unlike anything that they had done before and included reading 7 documents on new content. She got confused on the instructions and realized at the end that she did the wrong sections. She was in tears and sent the teacher an email. He was nice enough to let her submit the next day. Its unlikely that she is the only one that messed this up on the first attempt and she was lucky that we made her go back and check her work while we read off the instructions.

We fight with her constantly to get her to turn things in and not trust that she did it or the teacher just didn't grade it yet because often its done but sitting in her drive not submitted in the way whichever teacher wants it submitted.

There are so many assignments and its difficult to understand which ones are worth the most. Combine this with assignments that are weighted so heavily that forgetting to do it , turn it in or follow the instructions means an automatic F even if the student has an A on 50 previous assignments, tests and quizzes has got to be contributing to the high failure rate

[Anonymous]

Get the AP on the case and fight it. It’s thy teacher’s fault if he/she didn’t explain the grade breakdown and what worth each piece has. If they did inform about it then you’re in trouble.

-HS teacher

[Anonymous]

I agree with you OP.

Similar thing happening to my MSer. We are always on her back to check her grade and missing assignments. Half the time, it's because the teacher hasn't uploaded the grade or the teacher didn't "see" the submitted assignment. We check grades often because last quarter, she got a bad grade in a foreign language class even though last year she got an A in that class. The teacher is a hot mess with missing assignments and late grading.

My HSer is super organized so this one is on the ball and has gotten straight As (as usual).

DL is fine for kids who are *super* organized, but for the rest.. oiy.

[Anonymous]

I think parents are now seeing how much handholding is done in a normal school year. Remove that crutch and you see what your kid can really do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think parents are now seeing how much handholding is done in a normal school year. Remove that crutch and you see what your kid can really do.

I think they’re seeing just how disorganized some teachers are and how terribly worded some assignments are. It shouldn’t be hard to post a syllabus with all due dates and the relative weight of assignments, quizzes and tests- most college professors manage to do that just fine

[Anonymous]

I think they’re seeing just how disorganized some teachers are and how terribly worded some assignments are. It shouldn’t be hard to post a syllabus with all due dates and the relative weight of assignments, quizzes and tests- most college professors manage to do that just fine

This X100.

DL can work well for an organized kid and an organized teacher.
DL is a nightmare but achievable with a disorganized kid and organized kid IF there is a parent or special ed case worker staying constantly on the watch.
DL is a nightmare and not workable with a disorganized kid and disorganized teacher.

I think teachers should be reviewed based on their relative failure rates of different groups.

[Anonymous]

I'm a teacher and I post my syllabus every year. I've had to change it twice in the last 3 months due to my district grading regulations changing. My friends who teach in other districts around the country have told me that their districts have reweighted everything too. I don't post all due dates in the syllabus. I teach in high school, not college. We sometimes have to adjust test dates and assignments. If students struggle with something, I'll push back the test. If I just published everything in September and didn't respond to my student's needs, parents would complain about that. We can't win.

[Anonymous]

Get the AP on the case and fight it. It’s thy teacher’s fault if he/she didn’t explain the grade breakdown and what worth each piece has. If they did inform about it then you’re in trouble.

-HS teacher

OP here. DD was able to get into her office hours because I saw it when it changed and show the teacher that she had turned it in. She is back to an A.

What is so screwy about this is that the teacher never changed the weight% of the different categories but she went in and changed which assignments were in which category. She removed all the quizzes that were originally in this category and placed them in academic work. She then took one of the assignments out of the homework category which was only worth 10% of the grade and put it into the assessment category worth 40%. So basically a missing assignment that had a minor impact on DD's grade all of a sudden became a grade defining assignment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a teacher and I post my syllabus every year. I've had to change it twice in the last 3 months due to my district grading regulations changing. My friends who teach in other districts around the country have told me that their districts have reweighted everything too. I don't post all due dates in the syllabus. I teach in high school, not college. We sometimes have to adjust test dates and assignments. If students struggle with something, I'll push back the test. If I just published everything in September and didn't respond to my student's needs, parents would complain about that. We can't win.

The lack of publishing due dates means that kids no longer have a central location to find them

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think parents are now seeing how much handholding is done in a normal school year. Remove that crutch and you see what your kid can really do.

I think they’re seeing just how disorganized some teachers are and how terribly worded some assignments are. It shouldn’t be hard to post a syllabus with all due dates and the relative weight of assignments, quizzes and tests- most college professors manage to do that just fine

You want all the due dates, assignments, and assessments for the entire school year posted in a syllabus at the beginning of the year? K-12 is not the same as a college course.

1) College courses are generally a semester, not an entire year.

2) College courses usually have 2-4 assessments for the entire semester, while K-12 courses generally have 6-20 assignments and assessments per quarter.

3) College professors don't care if their students aren't "ready" for an assessment.; they give it anyway, and it is on the student to do additional reading and studying to prepare. That would never fly in K-12.

4) College professors don't usually grade "homework," while K-12 teachers do so they can evaluate understanding and support those who are struggling. They also change assignments as needed to help students.

5) College professors don't have to worry if there are assemblies, snow days, etc. that change schedules without warning. They proceed and just change the assessment date to "next class" if there is foul weather. K-12 teachers have schedules switched on them all the time.


Posting ahead of time the weight of assignments and assessments is reasonable, but to ask K-12 teachers to provide a syllabus with an entire year's curriculum already planned day-by-day is ludicrous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a teacher and I post my syllabus every year. I've had to change it twice in the last 3 months due to my district grading regulations changing. My friends who teach in other districts around the country have told me that their districts have reweighted everything too. I don't post all due dates in the syllabus. I teach in high school, not college. We sometimes have to adjust test dates and assignments. If students struggle with something, I'll push back the test. If I just published everything in September and didn't respond to my student's needs, parents would complain about that. We can't win.

The lack of publishing due dates means that kids no longer have a central location to find them

I update the syllabus throughout the year. I give at least 10 days (minimum) notice prior to the test. It's all in the syllabus which is pinned to the top of all of my classes' notices. When I make changes to it, it automatically sends an email to each student. Plus I verbally tell students in class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a teacher and I post my syllabus every year. I've had to change it twice in the last 3 months due to my district grading regulations changing. My friends who teach in other districts around the country have told me that their districts have reweighted everything too. I don't post all due dates in the syllabus. I teach in high school, not college. We sometimes have to adjust test dates and assignments. If students struggle with something, I'll push back the test. If I just published everything in September and didn't respond to my student's needs, parents would complain about that. We can't win.

The lack of publishing due dates means that kids no longer have a central location to find them

I update the syllabus throughout the year. I give at least 10 days (minimum) notice prior to the test. It's all in the syllabus which is pinned to the top of all of my classes' notices. When I make changes to it, it automatically sends an email to each student. Plus I verbally tell students in class.

I would assume your kids are doing fine. DD has assignment dates buried in e-mails (with no heads up in the subject line)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I think they’re seeing just how disorganized some teachers are and how terribly worded some assignments are. It shouldn’t be hard to post a syllabus with all due dates and the relative weight of assignments, quizzes and tests- most college professors manage to do that just fine

This X100.

DL can work well for an organized kid and an organized teacher.
DL is a nightmare but achievable with a disorganized kid and organized kid IF there is a parent or special ed case worker staying constantly on the watch.
DL is a nightmare and not workable with a disorganized kid and disorganized teacher.

I think teachers should be reviewed based on their relative failure rates of different groups.

+1 I stated up thread about my MSer. We have told DC to take a snapshot when they submit the assignment to prove that the assignment was completed and turned in in a timely manner.

Some teachers have been really good; others,not so much. It's really only in this particular class that DC is struggling. It's not just DC; it's the teacher who is completely disorganized AND technologically challenged. DC's friend who is a straight A student is also struggling with this teacher.

Normally, we are fairly hands off with schooling. We check grades every once in a while, but that's about it. Kids are responsible for their grades, but with DL, and for this one particular teacher, there has been so much angst all around. We've had to email the teacher numerous times, and barely get a response back. DC used to like this class. Not anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a teacher and I post my syllabus every year. I've had to change it twice in the last 3 months due to my district grading regulations changing. My friends who teach in other districts around the country have told me that their districts have reweighted everything too. I don't post all due dates in the syllabus. I teach in high school, not college. We sometimes have to adjust test dates and assignments. If students struggle with something, I'll push back the test. If I just published everything in September and didn't respond to my student's needs, parents would complain about that. We can't win.

The lack of publishing due dates means that kids no longer have a central location to find them

I update the syllabus throughout the year. I give at least 10 days (minimum) notice prior to the test. It's all in the syllabus which is pinned to the top of all of my classes' notices. When I make changes to it, it automatically sends an email to each student. Plus I verbally tell students in class.

My students also get a lot of notice regarding assessments and major projects, usually at least 10 school days, but often several weeks.

** I post a Week at a Glance document every week that has all assignments for the week and a section for reminders about upcoming assessments and other due dates. The list of upcoming due dates usually includes items for that week and the following two or three weeks.

** My slide deck each day has reminders about upcoming assessments and other due dates.

** I update the Google calendar with assessment dates and other due dates.

** I post assignments and assessments in the grade book ahead of time so students and families can see point values and dates.

** I give verbal reminders.

** Part of our agenda every day is discussing dates and assignments and giving students time to record their assignments and assessments in their assignment book or personal calendar.


Yet I still have a number of students who seem confused by assessment and due dates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a teacher and I post my syllabus every year. I've had to change it twice in the last 3 months due to my district grading regulations changing. My friends who teach in other districts around the country have told me that their districts have reweighted everything too. I don't post all due dates in the syllabus. I teach in high school, not college. We sometimes have to adjust test dates and assignments. If students struggle with something, I'll push back the test. If I just published everything in September and didn't respond to my student's needs, parents would complain about that. We can't win.

The lack of publishing due dates means that kids no longer have a central location to find them

I update the syllabus throughout the year. I give at least 10 days (minimum) notice prior to the test. It's all in the syllabus which is pinned to the top of all of my classes' notices. When I make changes to it, it automatically sends an email to each student. Plus I verbally tell students in class.

I would assume your kids are doing fine. DD has assignment dates buried in e-mails (with no heads up in the subject line)

Not all of them. It doesn't matter how organized the teacher is. There are always students who don't know what's going on. Their parents don't either and are usually the ones who freak out when their kids get low grades. Thankfully our admin team is great. I have learned to take screenshots of everything I do to show when I update the syllabus, the sent emails to students, etc. I've had parents rant and rave at me in meetings and it turns out that their child hasn't read his/her emails in months so they don't know what's going on. I always give 5-8 minutes of homeroom time to "check you email now." But I cannot make them do it. If they choose to ignore me instead, that's on them. I teach 10th-11th grades.