College accommodations are different from secondary school accommodations @2plustrio, but in the case of this private Catholic school that is not relevant. Just wanted to make that distinction since you brought college up.
Do you not have slides for lectures that can be given to a student who has missed classes due to illness?
Most slides given are very open and vague. And in the high school setting, I feel that they may be equally not as helpful without true lecture and discussion. OP said her son was given homework and did the readings assigned, just didn’t score as well as they wanted on quiz/exams. I understand OP wanting to push back test dates for example but again, without supportive instruction in the topic the student may not have done well even if allowed to take at a different date.
Just was trying to say that it is the teacher and schools job to ensure the student has access to the content being learned. It doesn’t mean that the teacher and school are responsible for ensuring the student earns a grade the student is happy with. OPs son got a passing grade overall it sounds like. Yes it totally stinks that her son has been so ill and I truly hope he is doing better healthwise. It is scary when your kid is sick and you aren’t sure what the issue is.
So while I do understand the loss perhaps at the chance of a “dream school”, this happens all the time with recruited athletes and such as well (with injuries). I think OP should focus on her child’s health and moving forward in a way that accepts the medical issue was a hurdle that simply happened and is nobody’s fault. I don’t think being angry at the school or the teachers is mentally healthy (but I also understand its easier to blame them than the kid or the illness). I think the kid needs to hear how awesome they are and review schools that fit their reality versus fixating on the loss of “could have beens.”
As someone who has taught on both the college and secondary school level in the past, I understand your points, but the OP did not say that their child made up the tests and received poor grades --that was a different poster. As I understand it, the OP’s daughter was not allowed to take the quizzes/tests when they returned to school. As in they had no option to take the tests with or without getting extra help or makeup work from the teachers. To me that seems unnecessarily punitive and unwise in that such policies encourage students with contagious illnesses to come to school.
OP wrote:
A similar example is my daughter’s college. They had a COVID policy that stated students must quarantine in the dorm for 5 days but that professors were not required to offer any opportunities to take makeup assessments after the quarantine was over. Instead, students were encouraged individually contact their professors and try to negotiate a plan to complete the assessments at the professors’ discretion, but the professors could refuse. Fine, but that seems like a policy created to wink and nudge at students. The implication is that they should just suck it up and go to class even if they have COVID as long as they are still functional Don’t tell students that to follow some rule and then penalize them for following it.
It makes a lot sense to me that some secondary schools demand that a student withdraw or retake classes the following semester if they have missed too many days of school. Too much absenteeism causes problems for the student, the teacher, and the class as a whole. To me that sort of policy seems clearcut. You have missed 1/3 of classroom hours and therefore you can’t continue without repeating the classes or you have to withdraw for the semester and return the following year. But to say that you can come back to school but you can’t take the tests that you missed afterschool on the day that you return just seems unnecessary. Why? How does that help anyone? I guess it means the teacher won’t have to write a new test, but I would think that is part of a high school teacher’s job. Kids miss school sometimes. And the OP already stated that there is time allotted before and after school for all students to do make up work. When I read that story, I wonder if the school was trying to push the family out for other reasons.
You’d think with our experience with covid, more classrooms could easily turn on Zoom or even have a friend record the lecture. I get why the schools would only want to do this for those who are HOME, ill. Not those at gramma’s house, on athletic trips, on a family vacation. It is a little more work for the teacher, but if there is no guarantee that the zoom feed will be available, no excuses of tech problems, no ability for the student at home to ask questions, wouldn’t it be worth a try to have the ill students who is trying to keep up at least be able to listen in? Colleges might not want to do it because students might be faking illness.
Its not that simple. Truly. Videorecording in class opens up a huge can of worms. What if other kids are recorded without their permission? I urge you to try to do your entire job in a hybrid format talking to people in person while also simultaneously helping people online.
It sounded like the student was allowed to test but perhaps maybe didnt turn in all their homework.
This was not just a flu absence. This was not the result of a single week missed due to the flu (was it truly influenza or just a URI?). Nowhere has OP said her child failed the course. This was a kid who has been warned previously that absences due to migraines who sounds like they were already regularly missing about 4 plus days a month, add in GI illness which lost 10 days, plus then another week for the “flu.” In one semester that is ALOT of absences. OP states her childs absences have been an issue for all of her high school years.
OP says the child got C’s. That is not a failure. She was given the option to withdraw or switch to online school or be told she could see consequences in grades. She chose to stay and in the end, didn’t get the grades she wanted. This isn’t a total school and teacher issue here.
Interesting: Has School Become Optional? In the past few years, chronic absenteeism has nearly doubled. Alec MacGillis on the fight to get students back in classrooms.
I have worked in administration in secondary public and private schools. What your school is doing is common and not against any law (since they are private). It sucks for your kiddo, but in reference to the college admissions process, I would suggest to just move on. Writing a letter explaining your side of the situation can sound like excuses or deflecting blame. Colleges don’t want to hear that. Junior year grades are the most important part of your daughters transcripts. Colleges are looking for strong course rigor and and upward trajectory in her classes.
I will also warn you that many college professors will have the same policy as her current school. My daughter has a few medical issues and went through the disability process with her small college and has certain accommodations. Migraines are part of her package (but honestly the smallest part), but she still is not exempt from missing class.
My advice if your childs medical conditions are not controlled to research the disability office at the various colleges she is applying too. Many schools (even public colleges) are horrible to deal with. That office will make or break your kiddos college experience.
Excused absences and tardiness have been part of accommodations at all the colleges my kids have attended. Along with single room, extensions on papers and projects, make-up tests and exams, exams in a separate room, and reduced course load with extended financial aid. If registered with the disabilities office and with proper medical documentation not only for registration purposes but for each incident.
The problem with accommodations for migraines (and other brain-related issues like epilepsy) is that the brain needs to recover, and sleep is important. If you miss class for a sprained ankle, for instance, you can stay up late and cram and make up work. With migraines the work piles up because you can’t do those things. At some point a medical leave becomes necessary. It is important to have effective treatment. Barring that, and it can be hard to achieve effective treatment, the most effective accommodation in our experience was reduced courseload- to three classes, which still meets the threshold for full- time attendance and financial aid.
Professors have some discretion but a dean or other administrator, can override or, an advisor can strongly recommend accommodations, with medical documentation. The letters provided by the Office of Disabilities do not specify what the disability is. The student has to talk with their professors.
The Office of Disabilities has been called the “watchdog of academia.” Sorry I can’t cite- I saw this years ago. It basically serves as a filter to ensure that no “undue financial or administrative burden” occurs and that academic programs are not affected by accommodations. In our experience, it is doctors, advisors, deans and others who help, not the OofD, but perhaps others have had a different experience.
This is about absences it high school, not college, please move on.
This is why researching the reputation of the schools disabilities office is so important. My daughter had her “intake” interview and was given a single dorm room with temp control, first floor, near laundry, transportation to classes, has to be allowed food and drink as needed in class and always given a place to sit vs standing, and testing accommodations. The office did not allow accommodations for missing class (and believe me my daughters medical records are extensive). Each office and different depending on the person running it. This year with a new Dean things have been better but my point to the OP is that NOTHING is for sure and research for these situations is key.
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