<p>Ya know how NPR does an annual April Fools Day story? They do it straight but it is so ridiculous that the listener finally figures out that it’s an April Fool’s joke? Well, when I head this on the news, I was sure it was a joke. But it’s not. It’s real.</p>
<p>The Dallas Independent School District has just issued new grading standards:</p>
<p>*Teachers must accept late work and the principal is the one to decide whether a student can be penalized for missing a deadline.</p>
<p>*Homework only counts if it raises the average (not lowers it.)</p>
<p>*Students who fail a test can retake the test and keep the higher grade.</p>
<p>*Teachers cannot give a zero on an assignmnet unless they call the parents and make “efforts to assist students in completing the work.”</p>
<p>The new policy is supposed to make students more successful in school.</p>
<p>The whole time we lived in Dallas people would ask, “Why don’t your kids go to public school?” (not asked by anyone who actually LIVED in Dallas, I might add)</p>
<p>I find it interesting that the worse public education gets overall, the more competitive college admissions are (or the few overachieving kids overachieve even more than in the past).</p>
<p>Thankfully our standards here in HPISD (our bubble in the middle of Dallas) are much much higher. I’m truly disgusted at the DISD board for even considering such measures.</p>
<p>And to think that over 75% of our property taxes get taken away to subsidize this sort of nonsense.</p>
<p>Before getting a tad too negative on Dallas ISD, it might be good to remember that this is the same ISD that gets extremely high marks for two of its magnet schools because of their stellar performance on AP tests. </p>
<p>From the top 100 High Schools in 2008
1 BASIS Charter Tucson Ariz. 17.167
2 Talented and Gifted Dallas Texas 15.953
3 Suncoast Community ** Riviera Beach Fla. 10.387<br>
4 Science/Engineering Magnet Dallas Texas 10.245
5 Stanton College Prep ** Jacksonville Fla. 9.893 </p>
<p>It would be a GROSS mistake to believe that the situation in YOUR public schools is much better. For instance, several large urban school districts present worse graduation statistics than Dallas:</p>
<p>Los Angeles Los Angeles Unified 45.3<br>
New York New York City Public Schools 45.2
**Dallas Dallas ISD 44.4 **
Minneapolis Minneapolis Public Schools 43.7
Columbus Columbus Public Schools 40.9
Baltimore Baltimore City Public School System 34.6
Cleveland Cleveland Municipal City School District 34.1
Indianapolis Indianapolis Public Schools 30.5
Detroit Detroit City School District 24.9</p>
<p>The abysmal standards of US public high schools is a lot more widespread than most would believe it to be possible.</p>
<p>Why is offering a different comparative point disingenuous? It this less disingenuous than comparing the DISD to a district restricted to the 75205, 75209, or 75219 zip codes? </p>
<p>There isn’t a single public school district in North Texas that is immune to criticism for gross underperformance. Some are simply lulled in believing that their relative greatness is real. It is a lot easier to produce great results when selecting candidates through academic performance or wealth.</p>
<p>I’m sure the people of Dallas benefit greatly when children disappear (note, I didn’t say “dropout”, I said “disappear”) from local high schools because of “high standards”.</p>
<p>Look at that part about teachers having to “make efforts to assist students in completing the work”. Such an affrontery! What an outrage! How could anyone think that’s a good idea?</p>
<p>These policies are a response to the massive underachievement already occurring in the school. The problem is with the parents (or lack of them).</p>
<p>I think what makes it disingenuous to point to those two particular schools in defense of the Dallas School District is that both obviously have student populations that are “different” from the students at other schools in the district.</p>
<p>“Look at that part about teachers having to “make efforts to assist students in completing the work”. Such an affrontery! What an outrage! How could anyone think that’s a good idea?”</p>
<p>I think to say that teachers need to make efforts to assist students is insulting to the teachers because it implies that they are not already doing so. How is a teacher supposed to assist a student who has blown off their homework, not because they’re not capable of completing it, but because they don’t care? If their parents don’t care enough to make them do their assignments or if their parents have so little influence with their children that they can’t make them do their homework, please tell me how a teacher is supposed to achieve that result?</p>
<p>This is just going to lead to teacher giving up on assigning homework. </p>
<p>And come test time, if they fail…well, at least they can keep on retaking it until they pass. I guess eventually the answers will be available from somebody.</p>
<p>I took an honors geometry course in 9th grade that was for the most part self-taught. Homework was assigned in the beginning of class, then reviewed the next day for about 10-15 minutes. Homework was just a review for the tests, you could either do the work or not, your choice. However, the course was graded on 10 quizzes, a midterm, and a final. That is essentially what it’s going to come down to in the DISD. The only scores will be on tests, because the logistics of handling hundreds of homework reassignments every day will become too demanding. And even if a student fails, they will have plenty of tries to pass. I wish I could have had that same security when I spent hours working problem sets at home every night.</p>
<p>I am in a school and I say if it isn’t working then try something else until you find something that does.</p>
<p>I all my years in education I can say with all sincerity that good grades and scores does not success make. Intervention, small schools, lots of one on one, and many more things can make that difference. I also know that students who are close to failure can and will turn it around as they grow up.</p>
<p>I have always been against societies that track students at an early age (and I consider 18 an early age when folks are now living to 90 and beyond): toss 'em out they say. If you toss 'em out what in the world will they do? That is absolute foolishness on the part of any group, political or otherwise.</p>