I had a long talk with my neighbor yesterday, who is a clinical psychologist & statistician.

She pointed out — I'd forgotten this — that Gambill doesn't even look at students' homework if they pass the test.

In our math class, kids are docked points if they don't turn in their homework. The teacher doesn't make them re-do it, and doesn't assess them to find out if they know how to do it.

Until very recently, Christopher was handing in all of his homework, because we sat with him, helped him do it if he couldn't, then checked the answers & made him re-do it if his answers were wrong — WHICH THEY INVARIABLY WERE.

The teacher graded strictly on whether he showed up with the homework.

She had no idea — none — that he didn't know how to do the problems he was turning in.

My neighbor pointed out the obvious: the focus should be on the student's knowledge, not on the clerical fact of Homework Turned In/Homework Not Turned In.

-- CatherineJohnson - 11 Feb 2006