No more "F" grade in high school

[sluggish]

Are you insane?

Do you realize how many toddlers (who can't read, by the way) would die by eating toxic chemicals?  How would you feel if your 2-year-old kid just happened to OD on aspirin, thinking that it was just another foodstuff?  You are a sick, sick person- go to a psychiatrist and get this sorted out.

-Penguin

How in the world did anyone survive the last century????

[Penguin]

My, you are obtuse.  Thousands had died from cases just like these, but of course we as a species survived.  However, on that note, I guess that hospital sanitation should be thrown out the window, as we got by without that, too.

-Penguin

[phatzo]

and microchip technology

[Saxman]

I'm divided on this.

On the one hand I can see the virtue of this. Rather than telling students, "You fail, you're screwed for life," it reinforces the notion of "If at first you don't succeed, try again. And again. And again. And again. And again..." This can encourage students who genuinely care and try but just can't grasp the concepts to keep trying and not giving up. THAT'S one of the most important things to keep underachieving students from giving up and looking for the easy way out: You're not handing anything to them and they still have to work for it, but you're not giving them one chance and then they're out of luck.

The problem comes in those cases where lazy kids DO abuse the system. However IF it's managed properly I don't see this as being any more open to abuse than the traditional A-F system.

Frankly, I'm kind of surprised by the number of you who automatically assume students who struggle in school are just lazy tulips who don't apply themselves. Oh yes, there ARE kids like that, but there are also students who try their damn hardest but just don't get it.

[guncrasher]

I never understood what the point of giving somebody an F was.  You go to school to learn, not to be told you are dumb.  I got lots of F's in school, but graduated in the middle of the pack.  some things were easy for me, like math, others I couldn't understand like reading and comprehension.  then I found out I have a learning disability.  I figure it out myself when i was in my late 30's.  my kids also have it.  anything that has to do with numbers is easy for me to learn, anything that has to do with reading, it's hard for me.  because i cant seem to comprehend what I read.  took me many years to figure out a way to overcome that.  you guys have seen some of the replies i give to questions posted here on the bb's.  some are completely wrong.  guess why.

Do you guys take your kids to play tball or whatever sport and at the end of the season, everybody gets a trophy, do you give it back, saying my kid's team finished last place, he doesnt deserve it?  finishing other than first, second or third place, is like getting an F.  but you guys dont think about it that way.  try telling your kid who just maybe played his best, but has no skill whatsoever how stupid he is for losing an easy game.  You wont ever do that, would you?

maybe some of you guys think how you give your own kids/family/friends and "I"  all the time for things they do wrong, instead of the "F" they really deserve.

semp

[FiLtH]

Getting softer and weaker everyday.

[Tac]

I never understood what the point of giving somebody an F was.  You go to school to learn, not to be told you are dumb.  I got lots of F's in school, but graduated in the middle of the pack. 

I was a straight C student up until 10th grade (yes even 1 year into the new grading system). By 12th I was an 'A-' student (as was almost everyone else in my class). In my country's SAT -type test (which is insanely harder than the spoon-fed SAT in the US btw) I scored in the top 20 of the country. That test is completely independent from the school's tests and is not multiple choice but fill in the blanks (with no 'fill in the blank using one of the terms on the list provided'..we had no list!).

All im saying is a system like this has a lot of merits and does work if done properly. Grading a kid's performance on rush-learning is not the same as grading what he has learned. Not all teachers are good, not all teachers teach the same way and definetely every kid learns differently and at a different pace.

The 'modern' education methods are geared more towards generalized production of graduates like if it was a factory rather than focusing on having the children learn. 

[Vudak]

You have to try pretty hard to get an F.

[SIK1]

You have to try pretty hard to get an F.

Yes you do.
In fact some school systems are reluctant to fail students because it makes them look bad.

[68ZooM]

wow no more F's for lil johnny, just I for incomplete, like there schooling, rest easy ol'timers our futures lookin so bright i gotta were these shades      ol lord were in trouble 

[ACE]

We here in Tennessee still have F's you can make..

[SPKmes]

We had a change many years ago...no pass or fail... (how it was when I was there...My nephew has just done some mock exams in preparation for the Exams he is about to to do now....in one exam he filled out 2 questions of 15 and got an achieved..this is depicted by the letter...you guessed it  A ....so he's like sweet I got an A..when really he got what would be considered a C-...but now he sits there saying sweet I don't have to do much and I get an A....trying to get through to him that this is not an exceptionally good score or attitude was on deaf ears...he is unable to grasp the fact that this to future employers/university administrators is barely adequate.
Funny thing is he embraces the old school ideals of getting an A but won't look at the reality that this is a new academic scoring system and it is actually a lower achievement.

Our grading now is
 
Achieved with Excellence     E     The candidate has demonstrated in depth understanding of the material tested

Achieved with Merit            M     The candidate has met the criteria of the standard which demonstrates
                                              substantial knowledge of the material tested

Achieved                          A      The candidate met the criteria of the standard to a level which demonstrates
                                              adequate understanding of the material tested

Not Achieved                    N/A   Fail

Now he has big dreams and is a bright kid but with this mentality these kids are going to fall flat.

[Reschke]

Do you guys take your kids to play tball or whatever sport and at the end of the season, everybody gets a trophy, do you give it back, saying my kid's team finished last place, he doesnt deserve it?  finishing other than first, second or third place, is like getting an F.  but you guys dont think about it that way.  try telling your kid who just maybe played his best, but has no skill whatsoever how stupid he is for losing an easy game.  You wont ever do that, would you?

I agreed with everything you said right up to that point here I am quoting. In fact...I am the one coach who gets applauded in our community because I do not allow trophies to be given on a team that I coach unless they win a league championship. There is only a plaque or certificate given out to the kids if they participate but do not win it all. BTW I don't stress winning but rather I stress having fun and learning the sport and if winning is a by product of that then great and it usually is. Kids don't learn that trophies are special and are something that they need to work for when they are given out just for participation.

[Dichotomy]

I agree, but can we take off the warnings on stuff like Preparation H about not taking it orally?

Oh I can think of many people who would benefit from taking that orally

[curry1]

lol why am I not surprised?