Middle School Grading

[mitnoslen]

I need a few teachers to weigh in on grading in a Middle School. I was shocked to see in the newpaper that out of 151 students in my sons 8th grade class 143 received honors(3.0) or high honors (3.7). This seems to be the norm since I've been living in this small New England town for 3 years. My knee-jerk reaction here is that the teachers are grading too easy and the students are not being challenged (heck my kids rarely come home with more than 1/2 hour of homework). In as affluent a town as this is, it is not like our academic scores are tops in the state! Granted both my sons have 4.1/4.2 averages, but this worries me about high school will it be the same? Is this something school systems do in middle school to bolster kids confidence, or should I be worried? Thanks for your input.

[seastarmath]

I would ask the teachers for clarification on what they base their grades. Here, every teacher is different. Some teachers are tougher than others. I myself send home a grading policy letter to parents at the beginning of the year.

If you are in an affluent neighborhood, it could be that since most parents value education, students are going to study and turn in work needed for decent grades.

I can only dream about that. (Insert heavy sigh.)

[Spectre]

The downside to teaching in an affluent area (I speak from experience) is that parents in such communities can be very demanding and tend to want to rescue their children from every challenge that life produces.

Sometimes teachers in such areas "give" good grades, rather than insist they be earned, because they fear the wrath of the moneyed and powerful.

I've been in that position and have seen what it can do.:angry:

One of the feeder schools for a middle school i once worked in was infamous for this. That school had a fairly large population of the well-to-do and politically astute. The administration at that school was so intimidated by them that they openly refused to do any discipline at all. They told faculty members that if they had problems with students, to handle it themselves, and NOT bring it to administration. Teachers in the school pretty well "gave" grades that weren't earned because they knew the result if they didn't.

When students from that elementary school arrived at our door, they and their parents were shocked and appalled when our modus operandi was very different. We assigned homework and insisted it be done. Their darling children didn't get A's just for showing up or belonging to the "right" families. :confused2: Grades were earned not merely given to placate "helicopter" parents.

Rage and indignation!:angry2:

What is sad is that parents who insist on high grades without those grade being earned are doing a mighty disservice to their children. Grades don't always indicate the level of learning, particularly if standards are low or nearly non existent.

[wig]

We tightened up our criteria for being on honor and high honor roll and we had parents upset with US!

This is an excellent article about the disappearance of Ds and Fs. http://teachers.net/gazette/DEC08/haskvitz/

[CanukTeacher]

I would say it depends. What has been described can happen. However, we also know a lot more about how to teach things than we did in the past. If teachers are using DI and what we know about A & E the grades can be higher because students are actually learning more with a great teacher!

[SS Rocks!]

Kudos to your kids for having such great grades! :clap:

As far as I know there is no philosophy of grading easy in middle school to boost confidence. As you implied, if the grading at your kids' school were too easy, it certainly would be a disservice to them once they reached high school.

I'm inclined to agree with seastarmath about the fact that you live in an affluent community. Generally, in affluent areas, parents value education and are involved with their students' schooling. Involved parents make a huge difference! My school has a huge variance in socioeconomic status in our community. It's not the rule, but it is amazing how often students from a low income household are the ones lacking parental support and struggling in school while those that are financially comfortable seem to excel.

Good luck to you and your kids in the future.