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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]He won't "repeat" the grade.  They will just move heaven and earth to make sure he passes the minimum state test requirements/credits to graduate.  [/quote]

Sometimes students still need five credits to pass 9th grade. A student might earn mostly C’s and D’s and technically pass classes, but without all five credits, they’re considered a freshman again. Many make up these credits through summer school or credit recovery and still graduate on time.

I’ve been teaching since 2010, but I also graduated from Mount Vernon in 2006. Back then, things were different. Attendance mattered—three unexcused absences or nine tardies in a marking period meant a 63, which was failing. Teachers made sure we knew it, and we took it seriously. Effort mattered.

Before the grading policy changed in 2014–2015, failure rates were real. About 30 freshmen each year repeated the year for insufficient credits, and a dozen or two seniors needed summer school to graduate. From 2010 to 2014, an average of 60 to 100 students failed biology each year. Students were held accountable, but they were also supported.

After 2014–2015, graduation rates went up, but expectations dropped. With a minimum grade of 53, failing became almost impossible. Credit recovery programs let students complete a year’s work in a fraction of the time. On paper, this looked good—but students often advanced without truly learning the material. In 2015–2016, only about 20 students failed biology, and administration called it an improvement. In reality, we were forcing students to pass.

Now a 60 is a D. Students can miss days and still pass. I see the same pattern at PWCS today—students moving forward without fully engaging in learning. Graduation rates may look better, but real skills and understanding aren’t always there.

This isn’t about kids not caring. Many want to do well. But the system often makes it too easy to get by without fully trying. We need to support students, yes—but we also need to hold them accountable. That’s how we ensure they’re truly prepared for what comes next[/quote]

Worse, they graduate from HS and arrive in the work place or college and discover they were not adequately educated. They land up having to take more classes in college — and these are the kids who have higher grades than those you’re discussing. The lower threshold has some of the A/B kids believing they are doing better than they really are. [/quote]

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