Home of Today's Common Sense

Submitted 6/23/2004 Published Brownsville Herald
I noted in the June 23 report on the BISD Board meeting in the Herald that the Board now feels that students who do not go to school or sleep through classes deserve a grade of 50 for their non-activity.
As I understand it they are telling me that the student knows 50% of what they need, to be fully knowledgeable in the class, whether they attend or not. Another way of looking at it is that a 50 is now equal to a “0”. So will we need grades of 150 in the future?
This is just another, well intentioned, action that will cause more problems than it will solve.

It will say to students that they don’t have to perform or even attend school and they will get at least a 50. To others who see a 50 on a test for which they actually worked for, they think “why should I even try, I still got a “0”?”
This action is just another thing that broadcasts to everyone that there are no consequences for bad choices or inaction and that the government will give you everything.
As an potential employer of a BISD student or graduate, I would have to subtract 50 from the over all grade, when comparing potential candidates from other schools.
Understanding our litigious society, will someone sue BISD when a student does not get accepted to a college or employed because of the system’s formal inflation of grades? Perhaps the parents will sue the school when, in spite of historical numerical grades that supposedly represent progress, the student never passes the necessary exams for graduation.
Most teachers that I have spoken to indicate that, as a motivational factor, a grade or two may be dropped from each student’s record, at their election, at the end a particular period. This makes more sense.
I understand the feelings of discouragement when the grades are low, I was there and did that! Still, if any action is to be taken it should be the responsibility of the teacher, who knows the student, to use what tools are necessary to encourage learning.
The Board of Trustees should not take the tools and responsibilities away from them and resist the opportunity to micro-manage the process.
Most of all, the message must be clear that there are consequences for all actions.