Reply to Why aren’t art classes pass/fail?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Art, PE and Music elective classes should be pass/fail in high school. There is no reason to grade those classes. Students are required to take them as electives to graduate. Some kids are lucky because they have a natural talent or affinity for one or more of those areas, but for the rest of us, it really sucks to be graded. Better for kids to have exposure to these subjects than resent them because they get graded. However, AP Music Theory, AP Art History etc., are truly academic classes and of course should be graded. [/quote]

Baloney.  My kids are both extremely talented artists.  But they didn't just naturally become talented.  They worked incredibly hard and have put in hundreds and hundreds of hours, have taken classes, etc.  Art should absolutely be graded.  Kids who are good in math aren't just naturally good.  They work dang hard at it.  I'm not saying there isn't some natural gifting in any of these areas.  But it's what you do with it that matters.  PE, music, electives are all the same.  The kids who stand out, who really stand out and earn the A's, they earned those A's.  It's not like they were naturally bestowed with ability that came easy.  They worked hard.  In fact, my daughter has worked so hard in art, as well as many other classes, that she's been offered a spot in Yale's art program.  [/quote]

NP. Some kids are definitely naturally gifted at art, math, whatever. Kids shouldn’t be graded in art for just talent, they should be graded on metrics like applying the concepts they’ve learned, technique, following the assignment, etc.

When I hear arguments like OP’s, it reminds me of kids complaining about learning math. “When will I ever use this?” Art, music, math, history, language: all of it comes together to create a fully-formed, educated adult. It’s all important.[/quote]

I don't know. I hear what you're saying, but at the same time, we put *so* much pressure on high school kids already. They're stress out and they don't even get recess. Can't they just have a class that is fun? Do they need to perform all the time? Having to be on and doing and performing all the time doesn't make for a fully-formed adult either. It makes for a burned out adult.

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Then request the option for a study hall , not that classes you deem unimportant become Pass/Fail.  High School students get the option of choosing which art or music class to take.  They can choose one they think will be of interest to them and put in the appropriate effort to get the grade they seek.  If pressure is your concern, then maybe you should look elsewhere from where its coming.  [/quote]

Weird response.

1. Can’t request study hall for a freshman who needs to take a certain number of art credits.

2. Baffled why you would snarkily assume pressure is coming from the parents. As I said earlier, I have one in college who didn’t take high very seriously. I’m a hands off parent when it comes to grades. Sink or swim/life with your consequences. My kid works hard in all classes. FTR, they aren’t flipping out about it. They realize the teacher is a jerk who apparently is tougher on boys (that tracks with feedback some other kids we know have provided).

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No one assumed it was coming from parents the advice was seek out where it was coming from and you not assume Art is super stressful for all kids.[/quote]

Who assumed art was super stressful? It shouldn’t be. It should be fun…and pass/fail. [/quote]

Art isn’t all fun. As an artist I can tell you that each time I learn a new technique, I have to learn the names of new tools and how they work. I have to learn how heat affects the medium I’m using so I can program a kiln to do what I want. I have to actually learn the technique which can be really difficult and not at  all fun during the learning process.

Kids have so many options for getting their fine arts credit. Art, such as ceramics is one of so many things a kid can take. Art is definitely not required in order to fulfill graduation requirements in MCPS.

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