Effort based grading

It's been years since I have been in school so when I read this article, I was in disbelief. Schools in Dallas plan to ease up on grading standards.

"Dallas public school students who flunk tests, blow off homework and miss assignment deadlines can make up the work without penalty...For example, the new rules require teachers to accept late work and prevent them from penalizing students for missed deadlines. Homework grades that would drag down a student's overall average will be thrown out"

"The purpose behind it is to ensure fair and credible evaluation of learning – from grade to grade and school to school,"

"District records state that the changes are part of a switch to "effort-based" grading and are designed to give students multiple opportunities to demonstrate that they've mastered class material. "

Effort-based grading?? I believe grading should measure results, mastery of a course not effort. Effort based grading sounds like charity. Worse, grading on effort can mask incompetence. Would you rather be operated by a Doctor who mastered their classes in medical school or by someone who got a passing grade merely by "effort".

Here are some of the key points in the new grading policy.

• Homework grades should be given only when the grades will "raise a student's average, not lower it."
  
  
• Teachers must accept overdue assignments, and their principal will decide whether students are to be penalized for missing deadlines.
  
  
• Students who flunk tests can retake the exam and keep the higher grade.
  
  
• Teachers cannot give a zero on an assignment unless they call parents and make "efforts to assist students in completing the work."
  

Gone are the days when I went to school and we had the three track system (A-B-C) where we strived to be in the A track. We've now gone to No Child Left Behind and now to "Effort Based" grading. I am not in the public education field but I think this is wrong.

Can anyone tell me how this will benefit the child? If I know I can have as many chances as I can to take an exam over again, why would I bother wasting my time in studying? I can just keep guessing until I get it right. Did it make me master the course? No!! Why are they lowering the standards? These kids will not be able to succeed in college nor in their careers because who gets these sort of chances in the real world?

Mandating Habits...

Interesting article by Stephen Moore. He was visiting SF when he read the front page Chronicle: "S.F. Mayor Proposes Fines for Unsorted Trash"

"Garbage collectors would inspect San Francisco residents' trash to make sure pizza crusts aren't mixed in with chip bags or wine bottles under a proposal by Mayor Gavin Newsom."

"And if residents or businesses don't separate the coffee grounds from the newspapers, they would face fines of up to $1,000 and eventually could have their garbage service stopped." - San Francisco Chronicle

"When you're the one guy on the block with the little tag on your garbage can, everyone knows you screwed up," he said. "There's a little bit of shame, a 'Scarlet Letter' effect, to this program that seems to work with people." - San Francisco Chronicle

Does pressuring people into comformity really work? Will you stop talking to your neighbor because they didn't separate the coffee grounds from the newspaper?

Stephen Moore brings up some frightening ways the government could snoop on us:

• California is considering a plan to police the temperature settings on residents' thermostats.
  
  
• The feds are checking on the flush capacity of our toilets and the kinds of light bulbs we use.
  
  
• A new game called Climate Crime Cards urges kids to spy on and keep an online record of their family's environmental faux pas -- noting when their parents fail to turn off the TV, plug in too many appliances or use the clothes dryer on a sunny day.
  
  
• Barack Obama believes that properly inflating the tires on our cars is the solution to our energy woes. Is the government going to start giving tickets for failure to inflate?
  
  

I'm outraged!

According to this article on Fox: 3-Year-Old Boy Tried to Save Himself Before Dying in Hot Truck, a mother had forgotten that her 3 year old son was in the back seat of the truck when she locked the truck and went to work. The boy freed himself from the car seat in the back and climbed into the front before losing consciousness and dying.

First, is it that easy to forget that you have a child in the back seat? When you are driving around, aren't you suppose to look in the rear view mirror for other cars? In doing so, you would see that there is a child in the back seat?

I have read so many articles of mothers leaving their child locked in the car either because they have forgotten or they only meant to be away a short time. That short time has proven fatal over and over again!

Maybe we need cars that automatically detects a life form in the car when parked and opens the door or window?? Then you risk the chance of the child leaving the car and getting abducted.

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Terms of sex cult leader's release anger community Another article from Fox News reports that a leader, George Feigley, of religious group that preyed on young childred and who was convicted of statutory rape, indecent assault and corrupting the morals of minors was released today but he won't be required to register as a sex offender because he was convicted before the passage of Megan's Law.

I find this outrageous!! A sex offender released back unto the public has to be required to register as a sex offender regardless if they committed the act before Megan's Law.

Pedophiles and sex offenders have way too many rights in the United States! I believe any one convicted of having repeated sex with children under 12 should be castrated or executed. How can such a person bring any sort of value to society other than harming our kids?

"There is nothing injurious to sexuality. It's good and pleasant, not an evil. Children exposed to it are simply not injured." - George Feigley

Macho love

I didn't grow up with pets other than gold fishes, so it's hard for me cozy up to a dog or cat. I get squeamish that they will scratch or bite me. Kevin, on the other hand, grew up with animals and simply adores them.

Getting inspired ...

Sometimes, the daily duldrum of life can be very uninspiring. I need a lift every once in a while to get me back on path. Last week, I listened to the "Last Lecture" on youtube by Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch. He died last month of pancreatic cancer. It was very inspiring and it made me rediscover some of my goals/dreams:

1) play more guitar
2) paint more portraits
3) write a novel
4) learn how to swim

I am keeping these goals short for now and hoping that this time next year, I would have accomplished all of them. They are realistic enough goals, nothing that I couldn't accomplish if I set my mind to it.

What are some of your immediate goals?