<p>1) DD#2 missed several days of school for observance of Jewish holidays. She let every teacher know ahead of time. Hon Physics teacher told her she could hand labs in as they were completed. Interim marking period is just about up. Hon Phys teacher told DD#2 that he couldn’t put anything other than a zero inbto the Excel spreadsheet for grades, for the 2 missing labs, so her average went from high 80’s to high 60’s (each lab counts as a test). I called GC, who said that’s against school policy; he went to Hon Phys teacher, then called me to say that Hon Phys teacher told GC he always puts zeroes into spreadsheet in anticipation of kids not doing the make-up work. GC had a fit (DD had an 88 average absent the missing labs), Hon Phys teacher changed grade to B+, then told DD that he had a hcange of heart regarding grading her. She handed in the labs last week and got 100 on each.
2) DD also has to take business law for her “practical art.” OK, she’s a huge “Law and Order” fan and can pretend she’s a DA every day. Interim report card came, and she got a B in this class, when her average is 100. She went to Bus Law teacher to find out. He said she got a 45 on first quiz. No way, she told him. Produce quiz. He hemmed then said they were at home. She said, bring in tomorrow or I leave class and head for guidance office. he brought in quiz, and mirabile dictu, she got the 100 she remembered. This teacher had an “assistant” write grades in the book for tallying. Teacher didn’t even apologize (and I have to wonder how many other kids were screwed over by the assistant).
3) DD’s AP Chem teacher from previous year, a real winner whom I complained about (screaming, yelling, but not teaching; expected kids to learn Gibbs free energy on their own; counted down days to the AP exam) threw a chair in class yesterday. This is the AP Chem class; it’s only October - I can’t imagine what he’ll do come April.
BTW, teacher salaries where I live are high. Science and math teachers make as much or more than DH and I, and we’re med school faculty; we work longer hours per day and more days per year.</p>
<p>It’s frustrating, especially when it’s an AP teacher. My daughter had a brilliant APUSH teacher last year. This year she has a less than inspiring AP Euro teacher and has come to the realization that she’s going to have to basically treat this like a self-study course. The teacher assigns readings but there’s none of the sparkling in class discussion that took place last year. </p>
<p>Daughter #2 had her PE grade entered incorrectly in the computer system for report cards. Fortunately the teacher acknowledged this error and personally called each family. You do have to check report cards carefully and don’t shy from questioning a grade if it doesn’t add up.</p>
<p>I don’t really think the subject title of teachers hitting a new low applies. I think there are great teachers and some not so great teachers…now, before, and tomorrow. </p>
<p>I can relate to the grading situations you menitoned. I recall many mistakes being made with grading. Some teachers used this online thing they had where every grade was posted and we would find errors that had to be straightened out. Sometimes even transcripts are wrong (always check your transcript before it is sent to colleges). So, sometimes you do have to keep your own records and check on the grading as some teachers do make mistakes. </p>
<p>The first teacher you mentioned wasn’t really being fair but your GC intervened and all is OK, even if it is aggravating, I hear you. At least you have a good GC who will advocate on your D’s behalf (we were blessed with that here as well). </p>
<p>Situation #3 sounds like there may be issues and if there are and if many students and parents feel that way (power in numbers), you could go to the Dept. Head to discuss.</p>
<p>Well, they can’t be fired, so what can the admin do without having a union complaint? My own D had more than one teacher that seemed out to get her, but also had some that bent over backwards to help. And I found it interesting how some teachers loved to be pushed and challenged by students while others were hostile to the same thing. Hopefully this is a wash.</p>
<p>Interestingly, my D’s HS had an interesting approach to teaching assignments. The smallest classes were the lowest level ones. As you went up the scale, by and large classes became larger. And many of the best teachers were teaching unleveled or midlevel and lower level courses. Their reasoning was complex, along the lines that the “best” should not be reserved for the top students. And it helped to control demand for the advanced level courses - if you wanted small classes, maybe you should consider dropping down a level?</p>
<p>If a teacher does not have a grade due to student absence, and the absence is excused, there should be a state make-up policy (type of assignment, how many days given to make up, etc.). If the grading period ends before the make-up work is completed, the grade should be recorded as “I” (incomplete), which is changed later when the make up grades are recorded. To post a poor/failing grade onto a report card in this situation strikes me as alarmist, rude, and mean-spirited.</p>
<p><em>stated</em> not <em>state</em>.</p>
<p>doubleplay…you are right that in scenario #1, the student should have had an incomplete given the agreed upon make up, etc.</p>
<p>NJ: I sent you a PM</p>
<p>My son had a similar situation in 9th grade. He took a required one-quarter studio art class, in which he struggled but generally got B+s on his assignments. Apparently, at the end of the course the teacher’s grade book went missing, and he believed that some students had stolen it. (My son believed that, too. It was general folklore.) So he gave everyone in the class Cs. My son was pretty upset. I told him to talk to the teacher, bring in his completed assignments, etc., but he never did that, in part because he was intimidated, and in part because he objected to anything that looked like grade-grubbing.</p>
<p>Several months later, I called the school, who told me to talk to the teacher. I did. It turned out that the teacher had essentially been offering Bs to any parent who complained.</p>
<p>I still can’t decide which aspect of how the teacher handled this I dislike more.</p>
<p>JHS…wow, that one is a really bad story! Both aspects.</p>
<p>JHS, I know what I’m most upset about with regard to the Hon Phys teacher is the lying: either he was lying about the Excel spreadsheet to her or he was lying about giving the zeroes to the GCs.<br>
The Bus Law teacher is now trying to convince D to be pre-law after she presented a brilliant brief in class (this class is her justification to me to let her watch “Law and Order” on school night, when TV is forbidden!).
I called the science supervisor I was so upset about the chair throwing, even though D is done with AP Chem. I wasn’t alone- supervisor told me she’d gotten lots of calls and was meeting with principal and the district superintendent to decide what to do. For the record, the AFT contract in NJ does allow firing for cause; throwing a chair would be for cause if there’s enough documentation that the teacher was confronted about displaying his temper in class. The school fired a math teacher mid-year last year even though it left 11th grade without an Honors Algebra II teacher.</p>
<p>You sound like a complainer. The first two situations aren’t unreasonable or out of the ordinary. However, the last one is bizarre and troubling. A teacher with anger problems should be confronted.</p>
<p>not a new low. In NJ, teacher salaries are high and accountability is low. Complaining rarely helps, and there’s always the threat of retaliation. Under the best of circumstances, determination of grades is not transparent. So unless your kid gets straight A’s, you’ll always wonder if they’ve been cheated.</p>
<p>My D’s school also posts grades online, so I am closely monitoring what’s going on. There are, at least, 10 occasions a year, when the grades are either missing or were entered incorrectly. </p>
<p>Here what happens pretty often: teacher enters a test into the system -> since he/she has not graded all tests yet, some kids will have blanks instead of a grade -> system calculates blanks as 0s, lowering overall grade -> if this happens to be at the end of the marking period, this lower grade gets reported.</p>
<p>I also notices that not all teachers are comfortable/familiar with online grade posting system, so mistakes do happen. I usually communicate via e-mail with the teacher to straighten all the issues.</p>
<p>Bob.</p>
<p>I guess we can think of this as assertiveness training?</p>
<p>What I can’t understand is why they wouldn’t want everyone checking their grades, in case of mistakes - which are bound to happen. At our school the grades can and often do show up online, so checking ongoing progress in those classes where the teacher participates is easily done.</p>
<p>DD had to ask about a test score that was unusually low recently. The teacher never went over this test with students; she had to ask to see her results. She made some dumb mistakes on the test, but one mark didn’t make any sense and appears to be yet another scantron problem. We’ve had several problems with scantron accuracy. Teacher said she’d look into it.</p>
<p>Maybe we’re just a little more laid back out here, but why does the east coast seem to have everything as an inyour face confrontation? </p>
<p>Everyyear, we simply had our kids keep a file for each class. ALL their graded papers went in there and anything else related to the class. We also kept the course outlines handy and actually read them to make sure we understood. </p>
<p>Yes, several times during the course of their school experience, things didn’t jive. We would bring it to the attiention of the teacher in a friendly way and it would be corrected. Sometimes it is something as simple as transposing a number, recording from a wrong line, etc… We only had one situation where we felt it was personal. A grade was reduced after school was out because the band director found out our S was going to take more AP rather than continue in band. His band A, dropped to a B after a parade.</p>
<p>File in hand, we scheduled an appointment with the teacher and the principal and had a meeting. Coming in with a file folder full of all the materials AND the course outlines works pretty well. Music teacher didn’t have a leg to stand on as he based his reduced grade on marching in a parade (out of step), which turns out wasn’t a criterion for a grade in the class based on the course outline. Also he disclosed he based the reduction on what another student reported. He actually didn’t see my S walking out of time… </p>
<p>A simple request to see the student’s teaching degree killed that. Also creating a grade for something outside the class outline was akin to double secret probation. I stated I work in an industry where a prospectus is used and if those managers decided to “do their own thing” away from the prospectus, prison time usually was the result. </p>
<p>The prinicpal absorbed the information, thanked us and told us she’d call tomorrow. Next day all is fixed. We were prepared going in, kept calm and on point. We respected the principals management skills of doing any corrective actions away from us… That simply is good business practices, you do not disipline employees in front of parents. The teacher left the district by fall. </p>
<p>My advice is simply keep everything for the year, until final grades are posted. Mistakes happen, honest mistakes. Give the person the benefit of the doubt until they show you it’s personal. Even then, if you feel it’s personal, be professional. If you have your facts straight, it will get fixed. Personally, if someone jumped in my face as hard as some here claim to do, I’d apologize while I was picking you up off the ground…</p>
<p>Prolog: Every year after final grades were posted, the kids would have a BBQ and burn the years papers and have fun goofin about the class.</p>
<p>Cavalier, re-read my post. An Hon Phys teacher lied either to my D or to the GC. And that makes me a complainer rather than a responsible parent?
New thread: Should students get zeroes when missing school for religious observance? Or should students only be allowed to observe religion when in private schools?</p>
<p>Opie, your kids got their papers etc back to put in a file. My D’s teachers claim it is school policy to retain everything (in fact, it is NOT). Yes, the teachers do turn every question into a confrontation unfortunately. The administration likewise. Private schools have no oversight in NJ so are not so good either; we took D out of private school for that reason (would you want a 17 year old teaching 6th grade?).</p>
<p>The issue with the physics teacher is irrelevant and you’re overreacting.</p>
<p>Maybe it’s NJ thing? Nothing comes home, ever. They see the grade in class and everything is retained by the teacher. They don’t even return papers.</p>