Here's a story I can sure identify with. And sadly, it exposes the sort of thing that happens all too often in education today -- minimum grades even for students who do no work at all.

Several weeks into his first year of teaching math at the High School of Arts and Technology in Manhattan, Austin Lampros received a copy of the schoolÂ’s grading policy. He took particular note of the stipulation that a student who attended class even once during a semester, who did absolutely nothing else, was to be given 45 points on the 100-point scale, just 20 short of a passing mark.

Now I can identify with this -- my district decrees no grade lower than a 50 with a state-mandated 70 as teh minimum passing grade. Of course, we are not permitted to assign a grade of 68 or 69, so we then have to decide which way to manipulate a student's average to determine whether or not the kid passes or fails -- and I've listened to more than one principal offer the not-so-subtle guidance that "if a kid is that close, I don't know how you can really argue he deserves to fail."

Now what this means, of course, is that under our grading system (we have three terms per semester) a student can get an 80 for each of the first two marking periods and then do nothing during the final one and end with a 70 before taking the final. Then if the kid hits even a 60 on the final, there is that subtle pressure to pass the student on the theory that "one test shouldn't be the difference between passing and failing."

This leads me to the case of a student some years ago who did well during the first two marking periods of her final semester of senior year, and then "checked out" because she figured that she had a 73 average going into the final once she averaged in that gift of a 50. She literally did nothing for six weeks -- and then scored a 38 on her final exam, earning her a 67 for the semester. Despite all the pressure brought to bear on me by the administration and the athletic department, I stuck to my guns -- and the girl had to take summer school to graduate so that she could take her volleyball scholarship. Fortunately, state law forbids anyone other than me to change teh grade, so it did stick.

I don't know what I would have done if something like this happened.

Mr. LamprosÂ’s introduction to the high schoolÂ’s academic standards proved a fitting preamble to a disastrous year. It reached its low point in late June, when Arts and TechnologyÂ’s principal, Anne Geiger, overruled Mr. Lampros and passed a senior whom he had failed in a required math course.

That student, Indira Fernandez, had missed dozens of class sessions and failed to turn in numerous homework assignments, according to Mr. LamprosÂ’s meticulous records, which he provided to The New York Times. She had not even shown up to take the final exam. She did, however, attend the senior prom.

Through the intercession of Ms. Geiger, Miss Fernandez was permitted to retake the final after receiving two days of personal tutoring from another math teacher. Even though her score of 66 still left her with a failing grade for the course as a whole by Mr. LamprosÂ’s calculations, Ms. Geiger gave the student a passing mark, which allowed her to graduate.

Ms. Geiger declined to be interviewed for this column and said that federal law forbade her to speak about a specific student’s performance. But in a written reply to questions, she characterized her actions as part of a “standard procedure” of “encouraging teachers to support students’ efforts to achieve academic success.”

Frankly, such a decision by a principal is outrageous -- and any policy that allows for it is immoral and unethical. I won't even get into this frightening response by the parent in this case.

Samantha Fernandez, Indira’s mother, spoke on her behalf. “My daughter earned everything she got,” she said. Of Mr. Lampros, she said, “He needs to grow up and be a man.”

Three thoughts.

1) No, she didn't.

2) He is the only one acting like an adult and a professional in this situation.

3) It's a pity you didn't see fit to act like a parent during either of your daughter's two senior years.

Indeed, this sort of situation is precisely why every state should have a law making the classroom teacher the final arbiter of grades, unless there is substantiated proof of a calculation error or a violation of district grading policy. Allowing administrative grade changes under any other circumstances constitutes academic fraud.

I am, however, troubled by one aspect of this story. There is information disclosed here, connected with the name of a student, that I don't believe should ordinarily ever be released to the public. Where, exactly, did the new York Times get the grade and attendance information? Was permission granted for the paper to obtain that information? Depending on where this information came from, I believe that there may be grounds for both legal action and sanctions against the professional licenses of those involved.

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Posted by: Greg at 12:02 AM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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