Reply to Madison H.S. Parents - Principal Survey and Skills-Based Grading

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote]He has all A-'s and one B+.[/quote]

Madison did away with + and -.

[quote]I wonder if a portion of those who are strongly against it are parents of kids who ARE very conscientious about doing all the homework and SBG doesn't give them the grade boost for that snymore?[/quote]

First of all, there is very little homework assigned in a general class. What is assigned is optional and not graded (I'm not talking about AP or honors). What Madison is doing is not counting CLASSWORK unless it is an assessment. This is what bothers me. My DC tells me of classes where there used to be an interesting discussion but no longer because how can you discuss something when no one has read the assigned article. I can't imagine teaching a class where the classwork doesn't count - this is the part that hurts poor kids the most, because now we are basically giving up on them. I would never teach in a school with SBG. I know there are teachers at Madison that are thinking about leaving. I have heard that administration does not want to hear what the teachers think about this and frankly, in my own conversations, I came to the conclusion they don't want to hear what parents think either. They survey students on everything (ask your kid about all the surveys they take in Warhawk time) but not about how SBG affects their mental health.

[quote]SBG seems to prioritize what the kid actually knows/shows about the material being taught. [/quote]
I think SBG is going to lead to kids learning less because that's what happens if you don't do the work. My husband and I have science/math backgrounds and you don't learn this material without doing the work. You don't just understand it even though you never practiced, and you can't just look up whatever you want to know. BTW the rest of the world isn't doing this crap. In China & India, do you think they are dumbing everything down so that the students getting Fs will now get a D? Do you think SBG is preparing your kid to compete in a world where people are working really hard?

I have a boy too. He has terrible work habits that started in middle school because of the late policy for assignments. I'm trying to help him change course - he is capable of so much more.This is an AAP kid that always had As before but realized he can do nothing and get a B. By making classwork not count, SBG is going to turn a kid that could have been a stellar student into a lazy student with terrible habits, and he will not be prepared to succeed in college. These colleges are going to have to dumb down what they do if SBG spreads to all schools - or just accept more international students.

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Ummm... clearly Madison did NOT "do away with + and -" for actual grades in the class!  So, you're starting off on a shaking foundation there.

Re:  needing to do the practice work to understand math and science -- I agree that you cannot just "absorb" instruction and then ace the test.  But, somehow, the teachers for Alg. II hons and Chem hons are teaching in a way that practice is built into the course  --- because my kid would not be able to "absorb" those and then just magically perform well enough to get A-minuses in both courses.  So, there is some kind of teaching that involves kid-participation, as well as multiple opportunities to show understanding/mastery (in math particularly).  But, I've seen that Chem has practice sets/grades and then final-skills grades that overtake the practice grades if the final skills grades are better.  My kid isn't just ignoring the work/practice required in those math/science subjects.  So, SBG must be working to some extent.

I do think he takes a more L-A-Z-Y approach in English b/c he knows he can do well in the assessment/project that counts.    And he does the homework in hist honors -- So there must be ways for a teacher to get across to the student that they need to do certain tasks/assignments/prep to do well on written exams.  I don't know -- I can't say that SBG has been horrible.  My kid is still learning and not simply relying on natural talent or prior intelligence.  The teachers are finding a way to move him forward in his education.

There will be time for a kid to get better about deadlines and deliverables.  But, for right now, in high school, the primary purpose is ACADEMIC education --- and that hasn't been a complete disaster under SBG as many on this thread have suggested.  My kid is learning academic subjects.  Still not the best at being a "go-getter" who aces all the assignments... but that "go-getter" attitude and work ethic can still develop b/t now and when he graduates college.... and frankly, I think it's more likely to develop when he is pursuing subjects/major/job that he is really interested in.  He's never going to be a go-getter in English.  So, it is somewhat of a plus that he isn't being dinged for not doing every practice assignment along the way.  And given that he's 98th percentile for Verbal on the PSAT, I don't really believe that he needs to do all the practice stuff.

Mostly, it just drives me crazy to see 0's or D's or F's on SIS --- but, apparently, he is managing what he needs to do pretty well since those grades generally haven't been counted in the cummulative grade.  It's just very different than what we grew up with, and what the expectations were.  But, I was one of those super conscientious female students who would never have missed an assignment on purpose.  Changing times.
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