grade deflation in the suburbs, part 2

Ed got the scoop on the distinguished historian who got a C- on her middle school paper.

Turns out she didn't get a C-.

She got a C.

Also, the reason she wrote her daughter's paper was the same reason I put so much time into Christopher's C paper: her daughter was overwhelmed with projects due the next day and there was no possible way she could do it all. So her mother wrote the paper, and the daughter did the rest.





this is rigor in suburbia

At least, this is rigor in my neck of the woods. Overwhelm the children with work they can't possibly manage in the allotted time, then give them Cs and Ds on the work they do complete, and tell the parents, 'He's going to get it. Don't worry. The wheels are spinning. He's thinking.' I heard these exact words last week, from Christopher's English teacher. I don't know exactly what she meant, but judging by her tone she seemed to be saying, 'He's brighter than I thought. With hard work, I think he can learn to read and write at a middle school level.'

The message Ed and I get from our middle school — the tone of the message — is sympathetic and concerned. Don't worry, he's capable of learning, it will take time, why are you thinking about grades so much?

He's an ordinary boy, and ordinary boys are ordinary.

Everyone knows boys do worse in middle school than girls. Direct quote.

You can't compare American schools to European schools. Direct quote.

Given what I'm hearing from other parents, this is the Middle School Message in any number of schools.

I've mentioned this before, but I'll repeat myself:

Three different families have told me their 6th grade children came home not long after the beginning of the year saying that a teacher had 'come into' their classroom, had drawn something that sounds like a bell curve on the board, had told the children that they were 'average,' that 'average' is 'normal,' and that 'average' means a grade of 'C.' The children were not to be upset about getting 'Cs.' They should expect to get 'Cs.' Because they're average.

From where I sit, Irvington Middle School has a formal or informal grading policy that stresses giving Cs to 6th grade students, and perhaps to 7th and 8th grade students as well.

Why else would Mrs. R tell us, on Back to School night, that she would not be assigning 15 minutes of daily reading because middle school is so emotionally painful for children that asking them to read every day would be asking too much?

"That first D is devastating," she said. "Devastating."

I took notes. That is a direct quote. The word she used was devastating. She was telling us our children would be devastated by 6th grade.

And sure enough, my child was devastated by 6th grade — by Mrs. R herself, in fact.

Of course, I don't know that IMS has a formal or informal policy of giving Cs for average work regardless of its quality.

I don't know anything at all about the formal or informal policies governing grading at the Irvington Middle School.

I know a great deal about the appropriate way to communicate with the Irvington Middle School when I have a problem. I am not to go directly to the principal. I am to speak to the teacher first. I am to be cordial when I do.

I don't know anything about curriculum, grading policy, educational philosophy, or the results of any schoolwide testing of my child or how much of the curriculum he has mastered and how well he has mastered it.

the best defense is a good offense

"Middle schools are the place where achievement goes to die."

All middle school administrators have heard this line.

So say you're a middle shool principal who firmly believes that 'you can't expect American schools to do what European schools do' (how many times have I heard our principal and assistant principal say this?)

And say you're getting heat from parents who think that, at $18,000 per pupil spending, this particular American school should do what European schools do.

What's your move?

My move might be to institute a harsh and arbitrary grading policy.

The kids are doing badly, the parents are working around the clock to help their kids 'bring their grades up,' and nobody's got the time or energy to complain about international standing.


no grade inflation in the suburbs
grade deflation in Irvington
grade deflation in the suburbs, part 2
is there a dangerous myth of grade inflation?

bellcurve
gradedeflation

-- CatherineJohnson - 09 Apr 2006

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