"Is Our Kids Learning"?

[acroyear]

Fairfax County Drops Grading Penalty for Absences - washingtonpost.com:

For years Fairfax County public schools have had one of the strictest attendance policies in the region: Miss three classes in a quarter without a legitimate excuse, get an automatic "F."

But the three-strikes policy made it nearly impossible for students who skipped class a few times to change their ways -- they had little motivation to show up for class because they had already failed.

"There's no hope for that grade at that point," said Teresa Zutter, director of intervention and prevention services. "The student says: 'Why should I try? I can't undo this mistake.'"

So schools officials decided to get rid of the policy starting this fall.

That's all good and well, but it was Stafford's policy, seemingly better than Fairfax's, but with an implication  that struck me as pointless...

Fairfax County Drops Grading Penalty for Absences - washingtonpost.com:

Stafford County does not have any punitive actions tied to student attendance, although a committee was just formed to review the policy, said spokeswoman Valerie S. Cottongim. High school students who have not missed more than two days of school and have at least a C+ average in a class do not have to take the spring final.

So read that right: if you show up and have an ok grade, it is perfectly acceptable to effectively forget everything you ever got taught by the end of the year.

Attendance shouldn't be tied to grades directly, but it shouldn't be assumed that mere attendance and short-term recollection and homework results in actual retention of knowledge over the long term.

No wonder colleges have to keep re-teaching the basics from high school over the first two years...

Comments

[mareska.livejournal.com]

My one year teaching at the secondary level was enough to convince me that exam exemptions are not a good idea. Particularly in certain types of classes (I was teaching Spanish) it encouraged the "cram before the test then forget it" style of "learning". I also had kids that graduated without ever having taken a final. They had a rude awakening freshman year in college, which is a rough enough time for many kids.

However, I agree that tying attendance so closely to grades is pointless.