Say Hello to Generation A - As in A for Abandoned
According to the Ontario Ministry of Education policies, if a student misses a test (whether they skip class or are sick) or if they cheat then the evaluation is not valid and they must not be given a zero. The student must have an opportunity to be re-evaluated on the material. Assignments can have a due date but if the student does not hand it in on the due date a zero cannot be assigned. The student must be allowed to hand in the assignment late without being penalized.
Wintery Knight has the details.
These students will have no idea what hit them when they enter the real world.
Why bother trying to teach them to be responsible? If mom and dad at home do not do it or are to lazy to why should we worry if they turn out to be lazy also. The world is full of dishwashing jobs etc. and they will be perfect for them.
Someone on the radio the other day was talking about some poll where a majority of students agreed that one should get a B for just showing up on a regular basis.
A B just for showing up- hmm reminds me of a Nun who taught our grade 8 religion class - she never failed anyone. Mind you this was Quebec;)
Rules and consequences hurt our little babies' self-esteem.
Why it hurts me just to think abut it.
Sounds crazy - but, I really don't think it's as bad as it sounds.
The reason these provisions are there is because the teachers unions are SO strong, schools have no practical way to discipline or get rid of really, really bad teachers. And, while most teachers are good or better (and I respect most of them, and admire some - I'm in classrooms a LOT), there ARE some REALLY bad teachers out there.
This rule is there to protect the students from the few bad teachers... a way to balance things.
The rule does NOT say that teachers have to test over and over - quite the opposite. Their union says they don't have to!
Rather, this rule says that if a student misses a test or an assignment, the mark is calculated without it - as if it did not exist. In practice, many teachers re-test or accept the assignments late. Those are the GOOD teachers. But, thanks to their union, they don't HAVE TO.
A poor way to balance things, I'll grant that - but, seeing this in practice, first hand... it is necessary to protect the students from some nasty teachers out there.
Let me tell you a story: few years ago, my son was sick with anti-biotic resistant pneumonia - medical certificate and all - and missed a bunch of tests.... He had caught up in the material (knew most of it before, anyway...this was grade 3), but because he was not there for the tests, this teacher - according to her union - did not have an obligation to re-test him, and could choose to fail him...which is what she wanted to do. (She only taught his French class...but, he would have lost the whole year, even though he knew the material - and, aside from the tests he had missed, he had an A- average in French....)
So, I was very glad that this rule was there - and I reminded her of it...
Yes, it's a bad rule and is bound to be abused. It's a band-aid solution to a deeper problem... Still, there has to be SOMETHING to protect the kids from teachers like THAT .... one....
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