Don't worry if you fail, we'll pass you!
 

Don't worry if you fail, we'll pass you! :rolleyes:


New York School's Rules Give Failing Kids Credits Toward Graduation

Published October 09, 2011
New York Post

A low-performing Manhattan high school that was granted up to $6 million in extra funds to undergo a “transformation” has found the secret formula for success: Dumb down the requirements for students to pass.

At Washington Irving HS, near Union Square, administrators have approved new grading policies that give failing kids credits toward graduation.

The policies -- which one expert blasted as “approved cheating” -- are spelled out in documents obtained by The Post, including the 2011-12 staff handbook and minutes of a meeting last October between Principal Bernardo Ascona and assistant principals who make up the school’s Panel for Academic Success.

Under the rules:

* Students who get failing scores of 50 to 55 in class will “automatically” get 15 points for a passing 65 to 70 grade if they pass a Regents exam. Kids who score a minimum 65 on the Regents “should receive a passing grade” in the class. The same practice forced a Bronx principal to resign.

* A final grade of 60 to 64 “will be changed automatically” to a passing 65.

* Students who fail a class “will be assigned ... a work product not to exceed five pages” or “alternative project.” Livid teachers say pupils who cut class or blew off studying get a “packet” of work or take an online multiple-choice “credit recovery” program.

“The message is loud and clear: Don’t worry if you don’t attend school -- we’ll just give you an easy way to make up the credit,” a staffer said. “What does that say to the kids who actually do the class work, tests, projects and homework?”

David Bloomfield, an education professor at Brooklyn College, said such policies make a mockery of “real learning and subject mastery.”

“This is simply a phony process for getting kids undeserved credits,” he said.

Ascona would not answer questions about the policies.

The city Department of Education said officials will review the school’s grading practices. The DOE is auditing 60 unnamed schools to look for lax scoring and credit-granting.

Well duh, where else are they gonna get all those incredibly ignorant and unintelligent protesters to occupy the major cities?
It's allot harder to indoctrinate and brainwash those mush-heads if they actually have any real knowledge of how things work.

Just remember, these kids will be "adults" in 2-3 years, voting, drinking and having loads of babies.

Policies like this are one of the major reasons our country is sliding backwards these days...

I have never been able to understand the rational behind these 'leave no one behind' style initiatives. Rewarding someone for non-achievement is doing a dis-service to both the person who needs to learn and all those who actually worked and learned.

No wonder my wife, a veteran teacher of 33 years is counting the days to retirement.

As the old fellow said: "If you hold a match near the thermometer, it reads warmer, but the room is still cold,

I used to wonder why the Roman Empire fell apart. I am able to understand that now.

Les

Do they still get a trophy for "Participation"?

Everybody needs a trophy now and then!

Idiocracy awaits us.

It has already happened.

It is frustrating to me, as I worked very hard when I was in high school, and I continue to work hard being in college. I suppose the people that benefit from these programs know deep down inside they don't deserve their grades, but they probably do not care.

The sad part is they probably do think they deserve a passing grade.

Every time I think to myself I'm so lucky to have demanding parents who made sacrifices to send me to a super private school, I then think I'd be just as well off to have been a total bum. This country and culture only reward people who do the wrong thing, while the ones who do the right thing are constantly swimming upstream. And for what?

To get f*cked by Goldman Sachs of course. Don't feel bad, the sacrifices you make in years of hard work are making some banker very happy with his bonus. And of course you can take solace in knowing that your taxes are paying for at least three or four illegals to get "free healthcare". You're being a good contributor and performing your duty.

The new world order needs plenty of burger flippers and ditch diggers. Think of this as their prep for real life. The kids that do the work are not treated unfairly as they'll actually know something and will continue on with more success.

That is a good point. The part that is unfair, though, is how these "slacker" people are often given a large amount of attention in class, which can take some away from the people that care, and would benefit from it.

Sounds like they're finally going to get a work force that compete with Mumbai....

What do you mean by "swimming upstream?" Is it that you aren't getting what you want out of life?
I like work, I like challenges, I like accomplishment. I've never had long-term goals, but the pleasure I get out of doing challenging things has turned out to serve me well financially.

It's a brave new world...

SACRAMENTO (Reuters) - California Governor Jerry Brown on Saturday signed a bill giving illegal immigrant college students access to state-funded financial aid, the second half of two-part legislation known as the "Dream Act."

Good luck with that! SmileWavy
You're already 17th in literacy, 30th in math and 23rd in science, according to PISA (2009).
This dumbing down is a knee-jerk reaction to even menial jobs requiring a grade 12 diploma. Also this is primarily aimed at insuring that every child must have college education and subsequent debt load.

In Ontario we have a no-fail policy, where as long as you're in class X amount of days you get your diploma. Although graduation rates are up from 68% to 82% we still have a 18% dropout rate. The grade 12 diploma is a worthless piece of paper with employers administering their own standards tests and/or requiring a college degree. 1st year college/university is now remedial studies for a large percentage of students.

Canada is 6th in literacy, 10th in math and 8th in science, according to PISA (2009). Our PS standards are, in our opinion, laughable and are the main reason we homeschool.

On the up side, at least the public school kids have their self-esteem. :rolleyes:

School adminstrators would sell their souls to the devil to look good. Nothing is out of bounds.

Unfortunately it's not that simple. The system as a whole is failing the grade.

Passing students through school even if they are getting F's. I used to think that was crazy, but in the real world, I'm not sure what the alternative is.

Here's a real life example, duplicated thousands (maybe millions) of times each year:

Student is in 8th Grade. The kid shows up for school, but will not pay attention in class, will not do homework, and will not study. Parents don't give a ***** and student doesn't either.

So, he gets pretty much gets all D's and F's.

What should the school system do about it?

Hold him back in 8th Grade because the didn't pass his classes? What good would that do? He won't pass them again the next year, either. Or the year after that. I don't think it would do any good to have a 17 year old 8th grader.

It seems like there are only 2 realistic alternatives for kids like that:

(1) Pass them through the system (in which case they at least get some socialization skills, if not any academic skill).
(2) Kick them out.

If you adopt a policy of kicking out those who don't get passing grades, there are going to be a lot of 13-14 year olds on the street.

And, there is simply nothing the school system can do about it. If the parents don't care, and the student doesn't care, nobody can force the student to learn. No matter how much money you throw at the school, it makes no difference.

So, oddly, I don't find the original post that outrageous.

One of the quotes says:

"“The message is loud and clear: Don’t worry if you don’t attend school -- we’ll just give you an easy way to make up the credit,” a staffer said. “What does that say to the kids who actually do the class work, tests, projects and homework?”

I don't think that is really a concern to any good student. A and B students are not going to be competing after high school with the "passed through D" students. Good students know they need to get good grades for college, and to prepare for the SAT/ACT. That's the reason they work hard in school.

I don't think any of them are going to say "What?? I can do nothing and get all D's, learn nothing and still get an awesome high school diploma! Great, I'll just stop studying right now!"

I sure knew a lot of kids who had to repeat grades when I was in public school. I don't know that any of them had to do it twice. Most of them don't like it, miss their friends and don't want it to happen a second time. I think it would also get the parents' attention. I can't imagine a kid is held back a grade without plenty of calls to the parents beforehand.

The problem with passing failing students and continuing to lower standards for everyone is that it's eventually considered an honors or AP class when it's just barely keeping up with where you should be at that grade level. And that translates into the freshman year of college consisting of remedial math and English that should have been covered in high school.

At my prep school teachers gave out A's in English like they were manhole covers. I managed to get one in AP English my senior year and I almost still hold a grudge against that teacher because I got a 2 on the AP, which didn't count for college credit. Had he be a tougher grader and let me know my work was not going to cut it, I'd have taken steps to improve before the AP exam. Instead I went through the course, did all the work and figured I was doing just fine. What good is a good GPA when you're already accepted to a few colleges, but know you'll be taking freshman English with 200 kids in an auditorium? Luckily, I tested out of it when I took placement tests for the university the summer before college started.

Believe me, there are hundreds of thousands of kids for which holding back a grade will do not a whit of good. They simply do not give a **** and their parents don't, either. They are not going to start studying because they fear they are going to miss their school chums.

So, assume for argument's sake that is true. What should a school system do with kids like that?

Mark, yes the whole system is failiing. I've seen first hand the effects of admin. egos, cronyism, favoritism, improper use of funds, etc, etc. People climb the ladder in education mostly through cooking the books to look good, outright lying, curryiing favor with those higher up, and so on. Of course the political picture in terms of government doesn't help either, and you're right the picture is very complicated - and complicated by the fact most up and down the ladder don't do what is right because it's out of step with the culture.
McLovin, passing kids through the system doesn't accomplish anything but produce disfunctional people at the end point. Kicking them out doesn't help either. In many foreign countries they hold students back until they either demonstrate progress or evenually are too old for school. Either way they end up mostly in the same place. They fit in where they can and do what they can do. Some European contries, at least in the past, gave students tests at benchmark points in the educational process. Those who demonstrated lower academic abilities/aptitudes/interests were put into vocational programs. Some on here have said trades can lead to a great life, and it's true that not everyone is supposed to be groomed for university. I've had the chance to experience both worlds and enjoy working with my hands and mind. There are other ways to do it.
Anyway I won't say anymore since I don't want to turn this into a debate of the system. That's already been done here many times.

That's why we need a system like Germany's, where you decide around age 14 if you're going to trade school or will do your "Abitur" and finish grade 13 and then go to college. Not everyone belongs in college or even community college. And there's no shame at all in learning a trade, working with your hands and producing something. And that could lead to a properous small business, while not working for the man. Of course, you should also be welcome to be a bum for the few years it takes you figure out it's not a good longterm "strategery." If people had to face the real consequences of their decisions and behavior anymore, a lot of our problems would be solved within a generation.

Some kids are simply going to be dysfunctional, no matter what the school system does.

The kids are that way largely because of very poor parenting. Parents who don't give a **** about their kids or school, who are out doing their own things, drugs, alcoholics, committing their own crimes, etc.

Unfortunately, no matter how much money is dumped into a school system, a school is always going to be primarily a place where an opportunity to learn is presented. It's never going to be a system for raising children.

I'm aware that some countries have systems where they take "non academic" kids off an academic track at around 14 or so, and put them in an apprentice type program to learn a trade. I suppose some kind of system like that may do some good here. But that's outside of the scope of what a school system administrator (like NY in the original post) can do. He needs to work in the real world, with what he has to work with.

In that real world, given the alternatives, I can certainly see a reasonable argument for passing students through, like they are doing.

I wish they would extend this program to include 24 year-old German sports cars and local smog laws.

I think it is important that kids get grades they do not deserve, which will empower them to borrow money for a higher education they should not qualify for. Then they will get a degree that makes them believe they are entitled to a job they cannot get. And they will get a mortgage for a house they cannot afford. See how the enslavement of people is done?