For the month of February I am alternating days between gripes and grins. Today is an odd day, so today will be a gripe.
We are a district that has switched to standards based grading, and like most districts we follow pacing guides.
Let me know if I have this straight.
In the "old days," teachers would teach, assign homework, and give tests. They would then grade those assignments and tests and determine if the material had been learned, or if more time was needed to understand the material.
With pacing guides, the thought is if kids don't grasp the concept this time, they will get it when the material cycles back around.
Then, with Standards Based Grading, the most important thing is mastery of the standards. Turning in homework on time is no longer necessary, because responsibility cannot be part of the grade.
So, a child could wait until the last day of the trimester and turn in homework due 12 weeks earlier. These same kids can retake the assessments given to them-- as many times as they like-- to "prove" they have "mastered" the standards. And whether they have or not, the pacing guide dictates the class move on.
Teachers are judged and their pay and job security is tied to the students passing one super test based on what they should have learned.
To whom does this make any sense what-so-ever?
No comments:
Post a Comment