Thursday, August 8, 2013

No-zero plan: CMS will keep talking

Don't look for a districtwide mandate this year on the controversial question of whether Charlotte-Mecklenburg teachers should hand out grades lower than 50 percent.

Questions and concerns about "no zero" grading systems have been simmering here and nationwide.  I talked to Superintendent Heath Morrison about the issue last fall,  a few months after he started in CMS.  He said then that the debate had started well before he arrived and he wanted a consistent practice at all schools.  But first,  he said,  he wanted to hear from students,  teachers and parents.  (Grading was not among the 22 topics flagged for task force studies.)

Controversy bubbled up again this spring,  when Mallard Creek High piloted an approach calling for students to get at least a 50,  as long as they made an effort.  Deputy Superintendent Ann Clark said in May that the district was still gathering feedback,  with no final recommendation sent to Morrison.

Clark

I thought the start of a new school year might be a logical time to get all schools on the same system.  But Clark told me recently that this year will be spent on professional development,  talking to principals and teachers about  "mastery learning."

"What we felt like we needed to do was back up and have a conversation about grades:  What are the purpose of grades?"  she said.

Here's my unofficial take:  Many of us grew up with a sense that grades were used for sorting students.  If you worked hard for top grades,  you got into good colleges.  If you didn't do well,  too bad.  There were always manufacturing jobs that paid a decent wage without requiring much formal education.

Mastery is more about supporting students.  The thinking is that we can no longer consign big groups of students to failure if we want to have a healthy economy.  So teachers are now encouraged to keep working with students  --  allowing them to retake tests or try again on homework,  for instance  --  if that's what they need to master essential academics.

Clark says the conversation about grades,  involving parent leaders as well as employees,  will take place this fall.  I'm sure CMS officials will do a better job of explaining the approach than I have.  Any districtwide mandates would come out after that,  Clark said.

But just because there's no official decision doesn't mean teachers aren't getting marching orders.  Right after I spoke with Clark,  a CMS high school teacher who requested anonymity sent me a detailed email about mixed signals on grades.

"CMS is concerned about grade inflation and is going to hold teachers accountable when a student has an A in a class, but gets a C on a state assessment,"  this teacher wrote.  "Of course, teacher are not permitted to look at the tests and have no input into how the tests are designed.  ...  In direct contradiction to CMS's concern for grade inflation, it will be encouraged that no assignment ever be scored lower than a 50%.  While not required, 'encouraged' in CMS means required."

This teacher says he's also been told that students must not get a semester grade lower than 60 percent,  to ensure that the student can pull the grade up and pass by year's end.  And any test grade lower than 80 percent  (which is generally considered the  "mastery"  mark)  requires reteaching and retesting,  he said.

"I don't even know where to begin to laugh at this,"  the teacher wrote.  "My class sizes last year ranged from 40-43 students per class.  I don't see how this kind of policy is possible to implement without holding most of my students back while I reteach material."

It looks like CMS has some challenging conversations ahead.

48 comments:

havermeyer said...

Well, there's always Burger King.

Anonymous said...

Heaven forbid we teach the value of hard work. OK kid, just put your name on the paper, you tried. We'll give you a 50 grade. Go ahead and teach them that can get something for nothing - continue to contribute to the big problem in America; entitlement program moochers.

Anonymous said...

Same story CMS, different day. Follow the Happy Path.

Wiley Coyote said...

More and more children are given everything for free each year so it's no surprise that bleeding heart liberals demand they be given free grades without earning them.

"What we felt like we needed to do was back up and have a conversation about grades: What are the purpose of grades?" she said.

The purpose of grades is to show what you have learned during whatever suject matter has been presented.

Why should there even be a discussion?

Why do you - again - have to "talk to parents, students and teachers about grading?

I might add that when these kids hit the real world, a job performance evaluation will not come with an automatic "50".

CMS continues to show us why public education is flushing itself down the toilet on a daily basis.

Anonymous said...

Fine--you want students who aren't or can't do the work to be "supported"--sounds nice and equitable, doesn't it. Go ahead and support them, just don't do it in my kids' classroom. Put them in "support classrooms" and ignore any media or activists' PC criticism you receive, including the notions of "sorting" and segregating. I suspect that parents who care about their children's educations, no matter what their ethnicity or socioeconomic status, would prefer a classroom where high standards and real effort are rewarded. And who knows, in a separate "support" classroom maybe some of the slackers might actually start to thrive.

Anonymous said...

I suggest they follow a zero tolerance plan.

Shamash said...

I think scores below 50 have value in a classroom.

When I was a HS Freshman decades ago, I was the lucky fellow who got to read History tests to the basketball players (yes, they were semi-literate and in the 9th grade...).

Our teacher, desperate to find a way to give people an easy good grade, gave us a 20 question T/F test with HALF the answers true and HALF false.

She also told us that this was the case when handing out the test.

Even someone who had absolutely no clue to the answers could put down ALL TRUE or ALL FALSE and get a 50%on that test.

And the teacher made a big point out of practically telling us how to make sure we at least got a 50 even if we didn't know the answer.

However, even under this scheme, one basketball player managed to score a 40% on his test.

When I told him that he could just put all T or F and get a higher score he just gave me a really dumb look.

He could not understand that concept at all.

So, we need those low scores.

Even if no one will do anything with that information.

Anonymous said...

And when they grow up, they can get half their paycheck for not doing any work, too.

Because that's the way we do it...

Anonymous said...

Whew--hard to believe that teachers are actually being told not to give a score lower than 50. When in the world is someone in authority going to say "This craziness has got to stop!" As for the upcoming "conversations about grades" perhaps CMS should include employers in the conversations. See what they think about employing students who have learned that doing next to nothing still lets them "succeed" at school.

Anonymous said...

Test them til the wheels fall off! Public education is in a fast free fall and CMS is a prime example. Stop writing articles about this crap.

Anonymous said...

This obviously means that SOME kids are failing horribly and someone wants to just avoid exposing that fact.

If they weren't failing horribly, then getting a 50% wouldn't be a problem.

Since it is a problem, though, someone not only ACCEPTS it, but is trying their best to cover it up so things "look" better than they actually are.

Any child who consistently scores below 50% on tests where other children are performing well probably shouldn't be in that class.

And definitely should not be promoted.

They need separate help to keep them from falling even further behind.

And maybe (just "maybe"...), a separate class room for stragglers who need extra help.

They do not need a cover-up, even under the guise of "supporting" the failing student.

This idea smacks of the same stupidity that's behind making "exceptions" for bad behavior among certain demographics known for their bad behavior.

Yeah, let's bend the rules for EVERYONE who can't cut it in society.

Then when they become adults, they'll be ready for the real world.

Of prison.

Anonymous said...

Many of you must keep in mind that CMS students are all on a college track. Even the exceptional students with low IQ's are required to take the standardized tests. In my algebra 2 class, I have had to color code the quadratic formula to help students input the values (not a higher order function) and consider they still have one more math class above alg 2 to take. If parents are surveyed on "no zero" 50% would agree to it. Parents don't want their child to fail!

Anonymous said...

Convert to a 40 point grading scale and the problem will be solved. 40=A, 30=B, 20=C, 10=D, 0=F.

Adults who want children to get zeros will be satisfied, students won't be unduly punished for missing/failed work.

On the current 100 point scale with 0=F, it takes 4 A's to bring a single 0 up to a C.

Anonymous said...

Anon 9:37.

I guess it's a miracle we learned Algebra on a blackboard using white chalk.

Just think of the possibilities with an iPad...

Wiley Coyote said...

Interesting that the number of credits required to graduate was lowered to 24 and a new story on the Observer is hailing the new graduation rate at 81% - YET - we're still discussing whether students should get a 50 for just writing their name on a piece of paper and turning it in.

If anyone out there believes the true CMS graduation rate to be 81%, an increase of 15 percentage points over 5 years is accurate, I have some prime bottom land I'd love to sell you.

Also, IF that number is accurate, then all of the layoffs of teachers, assistants, bell schedule adjustments, closing half-filled and old schools, salary freezes, testing , testing and more testing, all started under Gorman, have been a great success!

Anonymous said...

Just to make a counterpoint to those comments against this CMS policy regarding grades:
At the large independent JK-12 schools in south Charlotte, I have heard of teachers being encouraged by administrators to not to give report card grades below Bs to students. I have heard of students and/or parents complaining to teachers about grades, asking what they can do to get their grades changed, etc.
This mentality is a sign of the times and not indicative of one school system or another.

Anonymous said...

Why is Mallard Creek using this? I guess keeping the football players eligible is important.

Anonymous said...

Teachers have been complaining about the 50% rule for years! At my school we've even had teachers who have refused to give 50% when no work was turned in, only to have an administrator order them to change the grade or have the administrator change it!
Don't blame us! We hate it!
Also, the teacher you quoted has it right....why should be slow the rest of a class of 40 or more students down by re-teaching? And folks, don't think there aren't classes that big. Last year I had a class of 45. Middle school, not high school.

Wiley Coyote said...

Ann.........

Do you have the individual high school graduation rates by year from 2008 to present?

Will be interesting to see how West Charlotte has done pre-LIFT.

Anonymous said...

"What we felt like we needed to do was back up and have a conversation about grades: What are the purpose of grades?"

-Ann Clark

No, what we really need to have a conversation on is the purpose of having an administrator who makes $190,000 per year.

Anonymous said...

Would someone please tell me why there are so many central office administrators with bloated salaries????

Anonymous said...

This says it all. If you haven't complained to CMS about this, it's time. If you haven't taken your child out of CMS because of craziness like this, it's time.

Anonymous said...

I find it ironic that the same day this article comes out, a story that CMS has an 81% graduation rate comes out. What a total sham. Who is buying this BS?

Anonymous said...

Well, as I tell my children, you either accept the situation as it is, try to change the situation, or move away from the situation.

Anonymous said...

Ok let's get the story straight -- They are not given a 50 just for showing up. They must show effort. Also if you know the standards within CMS - there are retakes available too. Sadly some students no matter the support will not do well testing. It is in those cases that the teacher can choose to award additional points to a 50. However in the weighting of grades if a student has a 50 average on tests there is NO WAY for them to get a passing grade in the class since tests are weighted at 70 percent of the final grade. As one teacher put it we are just differentiating the failures but no one can pass with a 50 average on tests.

Anonymous said...

Well, if these graduation rates truly are accurate whose policies deserve the credit? Certainly not Heath's--students start miraculously graduating in just one year's time unless someone is monkeying with the credits or the numbers or the grading system (oh--that's right someone has changed the number of credits needed and they are working on the grading system). If all you Gorman haters are celebrating increased graduation rates some credit has to go to his long term policies (and of course hard working teachers).

Anonymous said...

Oops--students DON'T start graduating in just one year's time unless someone is monkeying....

Anonymous said...

unmonitored online recovery is a wonderful thing for CMS. Anyone can log in and complete a course...anyone...

Anonymous said...

Part of the problem is that there is no consistency in grades or quality of work assigned by teachers. Assignments earning an "A" in one class may be given a "C" by another teacher. This conversation is long over due...

Anonymous said...

"Mastery is more about supporting students. The thinking is that we can no longer consign big groups of students to failure if we want to have a healthy economy. So teachers are now encouraged to keep working with students -- allowing them to retake tests or try again on homework, for instance -- if that's what they need to master essential academics."

With all due respect, DUH. I've never met a competent teacher who wanted any of their students to fail. Good teachers have always allowed their students to redeem themselves and try again complete with supportive encouragement. It's what good teachers do.

Good teachers also hold students accountable which means giving them a zero (a big fat 0) sometimes when they deserve it which serves as a motivational tool for students to get their act together. In 5th grade, my son received a slew of zeros for not turning in his homework at all, not turning it in on time, or not turning it in completed because in the real world repeatedly falling short of doing something your boss expects you to do has consequences - like getting fired - which is a form of failure. My son is now a junior in college majoring in business and finance.

Alicia

Anonymous said...

Alicia, you forget that Clark has been lobotomized by her Broad training classes. The classic thinking these days is that it is always the teacher's fault.

Anonymous said...

Alicia, let me add to, for more background read the 8/7 1:31 PM posting under the Burger King manager story.

Anonymous said...

Don't drink the Morrison Kool Aid folks. This is typical CMS PR and if you call them on the data they won't be able to produce any. Sam old song and dance kids. For folks looking for LIFT data story they don't keep any and NEVER will that a racist thought to even go their shame on you.

Anonymous said...

"Mastery is more about supporting students. The thinking is that we can no longer consign big groups of students to failure if we want to have a healthy economy. So teachers are now encouraged to keep working with students -- allowing them to retake tests or try again on homework, for instance -- if that's what they need to master essential academics."

It's this kind of thing that beautifully demonstrates why I will be carefully choosing where I want to teach upon completion of a second B.A. in Elementary Education (May, 2014). I'm keeping all options open including traditional public schools, magnet schools, charter schools, parochial schools and private schools. My professional and philosophical beliefs don't encompass giving every student a grade they don't deserve. I also find it highly insulting to suggest "my thinking" is such that I would want to consign big groups of students in my classroom to failure. Remember the line from Casablanca? "I guess you'll just have to do the thinking for both of us?" Well, CMS ain't my Humphrey Bogart.

Alicia

Anonymous said...

So basically the teachers don't have to teach and the students don't have to learn. So can someone please tell me why we have a public education system?

Anonymous said...

On the subject of Burger King:

In high school, I worked at Dairy Queen flipping burgers, sweeping floors, wiping off tables, and perfecting the "Q" on top of every ice cream cone. I also had to calculate change in "my thinking" head without the benefit of a computerized cash register. Dairy Queen didn't pay me 50% of minimum wage for just showing up and being a Diva.

Alicia

Wiley Coyote said...

Alicia,

The name Diva Q is already taken...

http://divaq.ca/

We'll just call you "Deeve"...

Anonymous said...

Here is a thought about grades. I give a quiz every day in my classes. After every 5th quiz, I give an optional quiz so that my students can replace their lowest grade at that time in the semester. In addition, students would make up any missing quizzes on the optional quiz day. My students worked hard in order to be able to skip a quiz on the optional day.

Anonymous said...

Ann should have saved this story for Apri 1st.
Hey, every kid gets a trophy in rec league sports. Why not give 50% for doing NOTHING in school.

Anonymous said...

Iredel County Independent Schools got the Baldrige award at least in part by increasing grad rates - by lowering the number of required credits and not counting students they decided had "moved".

Anonymous said...

Graduation rates--- We have learned how easy it is for this measurement to be manipulated by schools administrators. Look back at Garinger High School 2 or 3 years ago at that fiasco. The true measure comes when most of these students apply to CPCC this fall semester and take the entrance tests. 2 years ago, of the 1600 who applied, 1200 were required to take remedial classes before they could earn the first college credit. Luckily most choose to do this at CPCC or other like community colleges and do not incur the heavier debt of a full 4 year college making that debt accumulate over 5 to 6 years before they can graduate if they do.

Still the business community will not invest in just a high school graduate for more than minimum wage because they bring very little skill set, work ethic, maturity, communication skills, etc. into the job.

Anonymous said...

Subgroup Percent
All Students 81.1
Male 76.2
Female 84.1
American Indian *
Asian >95
Black 80.1
Hispanic *
Multi-Racial *
White 83.3
Economically Disadvantaged 81.8
Limited English Proficient *
Students With Disabilities 46.2

Sorry this may not format right.

Graduating rate of 2002-03 entering freshmen at West Charlotte was 81.1%. Now they have gotten back to 71.1% after an uncanny 15% increase in one year? Yes I believe LIFT bonus money to the counselors, teachers, etc. have made a difference. And I believe the reduction in graduation requirements have made a difference as was stated at the board meeting when the change was voted on. I do believe a small number of students took this challenge seriously to improve their plight but it was not due to their personal initiative. The true test will be in 2 to 3 years. Go find these kids that made up that 15% increase and see where they are.

Anonymous said...

Ann, I just watched the video of the "pep rally" at Hopewell High School. It has been said that we, the teachers, have to attend a "district wide" meeting at Bojangles Arena on the 22nd.
With all due respect to our superintendent, if he's putting us in the arena to say we are appreciated, thank, send an email. If we are expected to get in there and clap and cheer, I'm sorry, but my time would be much better spent at my school and in my classroom preparing to do the best job I can for the students who arrive on the 26th.

Anonymous said...

Ann:
The article should be how the heck Frank Barnes can get away with saying he doesn't know how much the lowered credit hours affected the grad %. He'll probably also not know how much the number of students who "moved" affected the number.

Anonymous said...

BURGER KING


Did you not read the story about the award winning teacher who now makes less salary than if he worked at BURGER KING ?

Pay the Teachers and bring back their benefits!


COMMON GOAL for a COMMON CORE

Shamash said...

Maybe they should count the graduation percentages the same way we count the unemployment rate.

If you don't return to school in a year, you get dropped from the pool of "students".

Anonymous said...

Barnes should be fired if he wasn't prepared to answer Ann's question before the % was released. Another example of bloated incompetent CMS bureaucrats.

Anonymous said...

Wiley,
I think even Diva Q would question the pork barrel politics behind this "pitt"-iful idea for the purpose of promoting a "healthy economy".

Alicia