A Fairfax County mother has been telling me about her bewilderment at her bright but school­hating daughter’s
passing English even though her second­quarter and third­quarter grades were F’s and she skipped the final exam.
Having encountered earlier report card mysteries, the parent e­mailed all of her daughter’s teachers June 10, asking
that she be given the marks she deserved. That didn’t happen, but at least the English teacher on July 9 sent her an
honest explanation of why the frequently absent student got an A for the fourth quarter and scraped by with a final
course grade of D.
The teacher confessed that the student did not earn that fourth quarter A but
participated in several class discussions and demonstrated that she understood the
bulk of the material throughout the year. Her problems, the teacher concluded,
were lack of effort and attendance, not comprehension.
It was breathtaking to the Fairfax parent, as it would be to other mothers and
fathers, to learn that the teacher could have justified a final grade of F but didn’t
think there would be an academic benefit to failing the student. The daughter knew the material better than most of
the students, said the teacher, who let her pass despite her misbehavior.
Astonishingly, the English teacher had a policy that the final exam score, no matter what it was, counted only if it
maintained or raised the student’s overall grade. So blowing off the exam had no consequences.
I complained recently about D.C. schools’ giving D’s for no work to get as many uncooperative students as possible
graduated so the schools wouldn’t have to deal with them anymore. I should have noted this also is a problem in
some of our most affluent and well­regarded suburban schools, as the Fairfax parent’s experience makes clear.
Fairfax County schools spokesman John Torre said in that system “final grades may be based on trends in and
mastery of learning rather than based solely on numerical averaging of quarterly grades for the year. A teacher may
By Jay Mathews Columnist August 2 at 12:06 PM
Jay Mathews is an education
columnist and blogger for the
Washington Post, his
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decide to limit the impact of a final exam grade if they feel it does not represent a student’s mastery of the content.
Limiting the impact of a final exam grade does not mean the final exam score only counts if it maintains or raises a
student’s overall grade. That’s not the district’s policy.”
The Fairfax student was delighted with the results, telling her parents she might hold the world record for getting
passing grades despite doing nothing. Her parents want her to grow up. They wonder why the school system won’t
help.
“If she still hasn’t mastered the skills or tackled the assumed requirements for a high school diploma — such as
writing a paper, exploring historical periods, reading the classics and presenting a project — she will never succeed in
college,” the mother said.
The student didn’t really pass geometry this year, either, even though she got a passing grade, but her parents
decided not to press that issue because another of their children would be in geometry next year and they thought
that would demoralize her. She passed another English course despite having F’s for the second, third and fourth
quarters, which the parents also did not like. Despite their efforts to get the school to take her class­cutting seriously,
it took at least 23 unexcused absences before a truancy officer was alerted.
Torre said the school system is examining its policies “in an effort to establish more consistent and equitable grading
practices throughout middle and high schools.”
It is difficult to know what schools do nationally because there is little research on grading, but my impression is that
policies are wildly inconsistent and that individual teachers often can do whatever they want.
I have long been sympathetic with high schools that think it is better to give diplomas to students who resist school
rather than forcing them to sit in class, resentful, and then drop out with even less of a chance of getting a job. But
couldn’t they help parents trying to motivate difficult teenagers by giving their grading standards a little backbone,
just to see whether some students might find a spark of motivation to come to class and take the final exam?

So...the parents can't get their daughter to school, can't get her to do her work, and can't get her to take school seriously. And that's the teachers' fault? Classic.

The county has made it clear that grades are supposed to be reflective of academic ability, not work habits and attendance. If the child knows the material then she knows the material. Good for her for demonstrating that and passing the class while doing the bare minimum amount of work.

For every parent that complains that they want their kid to fail to teach them a lesson on not working hard enough, there's another one that complains that their kid should pass.

We can't flunk kids. There's a social contract between the teachers and students.

The teachers shake hands with the students. Copies of the social contract are on the classroom walls.

"Flip" Flippen tells horse stories. He also has, or had, privileges at psychiatric hospitals. How can MVHS go wrong?

I'm sure her future employer (if any) will love those work habits. I don't think college is in her future, because they (at least I HOPE!) don't grade like FCPS.

If the fast food customer facing part automates, at least all she'll have to worry about is the cooking part.

teachers can not win! I don't think A D is really giving her a gift and she knew the work.

Gruntled Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm sure her future employer (if any) will love
> those work habits. I don't think college is in her
> future, because they (at least I HOPE!) don't
> grade like FCPS.

Think again.

"Astonishingly, the English teacher had a policy that the final exam score, no matter what it was, counted only if it maintained or raised the student’s overall grade. So blowing off the exam had no consequences."

That's effectively how most of my son's courses in college worked. Generally, only three out of four (let's say) exams counted towards the final grade. So my kid - like most - put his effort into the first few exams so he could blow off the final. That never happened when I was in school. You almost can't blame the kids when the school system makes it so easy. And these kids aren't stupid - they know that the reason the schools do this is to increase the pass rate, not help the kids. We're raising a generation of players.

The system is done with her and is getting her out. Staying because she flunked so she might learn something the next time around is futile. Go fill out that Walmart application.

And that's how the world is populated by people like Eesh, Lizzie, and Meghan.

Someone has to answer the phone for the guys making the pizzas.

Fairfax County policy is that you are entitled to education through 12th grade. Do-overs cost money, which is why you pay for summer school.

There are plenty of classes where you have to work for your grades. But not Gen Ed.

The average adult nigger has an IQ around 86, a whole standard deviation off the total population's average. This is on par with your avearge white/Asian 12-yr old. Why can't we all accept the facts and admit that niggers are genetically dumber than every other race?

I'll bet if she had one of those free laptops, she wouldn't have flunked.

MVHS hired Flip Flippen. Part of the Flippen method is to have teachers and students enter into social contracts. This has to be breach of contract. Let's get those contracts, see what the penalty is.