High school teacher in NoVa. To my knowledge, at my school it’s common for 1/3 of the class to fail. It’s not new, so it’s not due to covid. We’re required by the VDOE to teach at the level of difficulty of the SOL. That level is waaaay beyond the average level of the kids who are placed in my classes. I try desperately to raise my pass rates (regularly working 16 hours/day or more). I feel awful for the children who are being set up to fail. The kids feel stupid… they internalize the message that they’re a failure… but they’re stuck in a dysfunctional system, as are we all.

We need to normalize the idea of taking TIME to lay down a strong pre-algebra foundation in middle school. We rush too many kids into algebra (and beyond) before they’re developmentally ready for the abstract reasoning that is requisite for success in algebra & beyond. We need to accept that it’s OK to study MIDDLE SCHOOL MATH while in middle school. No need to rush to algebra & geometry just to appear (or feel) more prestigious or “advanced.” Do your kid a favor and let them take their time with the middle school curriculum.

Anonymous wrote:

Consider:

“Teacher is failing some students” vs. “Some students are earning poor grades.”

Don't bother, PP. You'll never convince DCUM parents that students earn the grades they get. They will always try to blame the teacher.

Some, maybe, but not most DCUM parents.

Consider:

“Teacher is failing some students” vs. “Some students are earning poor grades.”

Don't bother, PP. You'll never convince DCUM parents that students earn the grades they get. They will always try to blame the teacher.

Anonymous wrote:If you fail a couple of students, they are probably bad students. If you fail over half the class, you are probably a bad teacher

Meh. Probably not with today's snowflakes.

Have you asked your child what is happening and looked at the work that has been graded? Have you talked to the Teacher to see what is happening with your child?

Forget what is happening with the class as a whole, your focus is your child. What can you do to help your child improve their performance? Is your child not turning in work? What is happening with thier work that is turned in? Where is your child struggling and what can be done to help your child?

Because kids exaggerate the number of kids doing poorly so that their struggles, or failure to do the work, looks to be less of the issue.

Because COVID screwed with kids understanding of what was needed in order to pass a class or do well in a class.

Because kids can struggle in areas that they have been strong in before when they move from MS to HS or from Honors to AP. There are kids who are capable of nailing an A in Honors classes that are not ready for AP classes because the type of work is different.

Consider:

“Teacher is failing some students” vs. “Some students are earning poor grades.”

Something tells me this wasn’t an A student before AP bio.

OP, not every kid CAN do well in AP classes. Be honest: was your daughter really prepared for AP bio?

And, do you have a pattern of blaming the teacher when your daughter struggles? Be honest. It is interesting that your response to your daughter’s failing grade is to blame the teacher.

My son is an A student, and we have always emphasized to him that he is responsible for his grades. We don’t listen to excuses about teachers and he knows that if he mentioned his friends’ grades, we would tell him that we are not his friends’ parents and their grades are not relevant to our discussion. As a result, our kid advocates for himself and would have come to us for help (or even a tutor) long before a poor grade at the end of the quarter. There are always some parents griping about teachers on our mom chat group, but my son usually confirms to me that these kids aren’t submitting work or aren’t working at the level their mommies believe them to be, so I stay out of it.

Did you get your daughter a tutor early in the quarter? Did you check her progress regularly to make sure all was well, or is this grade a complete surprise to you? If it is a surprise, that’s most likely on your daughter.

There is a teacher in my department who always has all F’s in the gradebook. There are myriad issues and yes we the department are aware and can’t believe this person is allowed to be a teacher but we can’t do anything about it until official pathways to documentation pull through. In the meantime, PARENT ESCALATION is the only thing that gets it addressed. Raise hell. Bring up other student grades (they’ll technically tell you they can’t discuss but if you know, mention it anyway), your child’s other grades, your child’s previous grades in science. Make admin answer for it, that’s the only way anything actually gets addressed with a bad teacher.