Failure Impossible

[SprintsFTW19]

http://shine.yahoo.com/event/moments...eally-2410739/

What would school have been like if you never had to worry about getting an F? Students at West Potomac High School in Alexandria, Va., are about to find out, the Washington Post reports. Earlier this year, the school all but eradicated the standard mark for “failure”, instead supplying wayward students with the letter “I” for incomplete. So what does an “I” give you that an “F” doesn’t? Time to redeem yourself, for starters. Students with an “I” on their report card can (literally) learn their lesson and catch up over the year, at which point they will be given a grade for their mastery of the material, just like any other student.

I find it ridiculous. Year after year I keep hearing about schools that get rid of failing grades, or don't pick a valedictorian, or other fluffy bull**** meant to coddle dumb kids. People wonder why our high schools don't stack up against those of many other top nations as we lower the bar even further for what we consider adequate. Why would anyone try to excel academically when we make it so all you have to do to pass is have a heartbeat?

[eh000]

Originally Posted by SprintsFTW19

http://shine.yahoo.com/event/moments...eally-2410739/



I find it ridiculous. Year after year I keep hearing about schools that get rid of failing grades, or don't pick a valedictorian, or other fluffy bull**** meant to coddle dumb kids. People wonder why our high schools don't stack up against those of many other top nations as we lower the bar even further for what we consider adequate. Why would anyone try to excel academically when we make it so all you have to do to pass is have a heartbeat?

My high school didn't pick a valedictorian, and that's a damn good thing.

[jbf]

If things like this keep happening, I'll homeschool my kids, and it'll be way harder than anything in the school system now.

[Demon Runner]

medical schools nowadays are doing things even simpler. pass/fail. you trust your doctor right? a grade letter is kind of meaningless because not every kid can be your model student that comes to class with a smile, goes home to a wonderful white suburban family, and studies while watching TV

if anything, making a kid repeat what he failed is better because now he can see it again, which not only aids in learning, but also helps the kid integrate the knowledge so it isn't forgotten about over the weekend

[flyingscotsman10]

Bullsh!t. Enough said...

This is just another example of a rich high school trying to cater to the desires of over-achieving parents who want their children to have the appearance of success at all costs. Having spent two years at a school like this I saw how kids feel entitled to a good grade. My peers would hand papers in two months late and still get B's. At my previous high school, it would've been an F after only a matter of days.

We are really moving away from accountability in both our government and our education system.

[SprintsFTW19]

Originally Posted by eh000

My high school didn't pick a valedictorian, and that's a damn good thing.

I don't know what the reasoning for your school was, but in current events my junior year we read about several schools who did not pick Valedictorians because they felt it was harmful to the self-esteem of less accomplished students.

Originally Posted by Demon Runner

medical schools nowadays are doing things even simpler. pass/fail. you trust your doctor right? a grade letter is kind of meaningless because not every kid can be your model student that comes to class with a smile, goes home to a wonderful white suburban family, and studies while watching TV

if anything, making a kid repeat what he failed is better because now he can see it again, which not only aids in learning, but also helps the kid integrate the knowledge so it isn't forgotten about over the weekend

Sure, it's a good thing they get a second chance, because sometimes there are extenuating circumstances that can lead to failing grades. However, a blanket policy where a kid can totally blow everything off and know he has a safety net/second chance? Life doesn't work that way, and I don't think it's a good idea to send young people into the world thinking that they'll always get a second chance or be rescued.

At my high school if you failed a degree-required class or didn't have enough credits for graduation, you could take the required classes on nights and weekends or over the summer to make up the credit, but the failing grade was still recorded. Basically, the school provided ways for them to make up the failed classes, but the kids didn't get to erase that 27 they got in sophomore English as if it never happened.



Our school it was actually rather easy to not get the full credit for a class you needed to graduate, which was probably worse than making it too easy to graduate (probably why we had a 40% drop-out rate from Frosh-Senior year). They graded by semester in half-credits, not by your year-long GPA (I actually thought this policy was dumb as hell, because a student could totally turn things around and work harder and still be ****ed) Basically if a kid got a 68 the first semester and an 80 the second, it wouldn't matter that their average for the year was a passing 74, they only get half a credit because they only passed one semester, so if it's a graduation requirement they have to take a semester of the class through night classes or summer classes or graduate late.

I just feel like in public education today there are SO many things that award mediocrity and dress it up as something more while either totally ignoring or even hindering those who work hard and accomplish something.

[jbf]

Originally Posted by Demon Runner

medical schools nowadays are doing things even simpler. pass/fail. you trust your doctor right?

Not completely accurate, but I'm leaving so I don't have time to go on.

End useful post.

[eh000]

Originally Posted by SprintsFTW19

I don't know what the reasoning for your school was, but in current events my junior year we read about several schools who did not pick Valedictorians because they felt it was harmful to the self-esteem of less accomplished students.

We didn't pick a valedictorian because it would have been a cluster****. I went to a very difficult magnet school; if it didn't exist, people from my school would have been valedictorian of every high school in northern Virginia (including the one in this story). There was enough ridiculous competition without naming one person a "winner."

We also didn't rank the class by GPA (even to the nearest 10% or anything), which is also a good thing.

[Demon Runner]

Sure, it's a good thing they get a second chance, because sometimes there are extenuating circumstances that can lead to failing grades. However, a blanket policy where a kid can totally blow everything off and know he has a safety net/second chance? Life doesn't work that way, and I don't think it's a good idea to send young people into the world thinking that they'll always get a second chance or be rescued.

The way I see it, the bright kid is going to turn **** it, learn quicker with less effort, and get an A the first time around no matter how the system is set up. It could be pass/fail, strict A-F, or this incomplete business. It won't matter to the bright kid because well, that kid is bright.

on the other hand, the kids who either can't get it or for whatever reason don't care and are fine being mediocre are either a) getting another chance or b) being told to do it over again (more work, encourages to kid to avoid being mediocre to avoid repeating the behavior that got him there)

in every school, there will be the excellent, the good, and the poor performers. that's just statistics. i think the point is to shift the curve to the right, and just saying you have an F go work as a day laborer isn't effective. the point is to get those kids to learn and integrate material - the bright kids will do fine either way and will be rewarded regardless

[Demon Runner]

Originally Posted by jbf

Not completely accurate, but I'm leaving so I don't have time to go on.

End useful post.

yea i know it's only for the first couple years (and not every institution does it yet), and the step exams are still king, but the point i was trying to make is that even medical schools which train the best and the brightest are trying to lessen the intense competition experienced in schooling.

Frankly, I think it's great. ease the "workaholic" mindset out of this country and people will just be happier