Litigation graduationWhen an Arizona senior failed a class and realized she wouldn't graduate, her parents threatened to sue the teacher. Their
lawyer wrote that "a young lady's life has now been ruined forever" and "she will be scarred for life." He threatened to investigate the teacher's background and career history, go through all her class records, etc.
The teacher replied, noting that the student had earned a 57 percent average, plagiarized one assignment, cut class and failed to show up for a help session.
The student would be a very capable student if she would apply herself, study and get her assignments in on time. Instead of being scarred for life, perhaps she will learn these lessons now, rather than when she is in college or in the work force.
As far as your threat to litigate this case, do what you must. .. I think your clients would be better off investing their money in summer school tuition for the student rather than wasting their money on attorney fees, litigating a case with little likelihood of success.
The administration caved on graduation day, letting the student retake a test and receive her diploma. For the student, "F" stands for failure to take responsibility; for the district, "F" is for funk.
6/12/2002
The original VodkaPundit
Dostoevsky was a proto-blogger, says this New Republic book review:
Dostoevsky was most famous for his Diary of a Writer, a monthly publication of sixteen pages, in which he gathered together stories, polemics, replies to his critics, and journalistic commentary on Russian news items such as the latest sensational court case. -- 6/10
Official state book of California
Chicagoans were asked to read "To Kill a Mockingbird," New Yorkers to tackle Chang-Rae Lee's "Native Speaker." Texans read "Lonesome Dove." The idea is that everyone will be able to discuss the One Book. The California Council for the Humanities wants the whole state to read John Steinbeck's "Grapes of Wrath," so modern-day Vietnamese refugees, Mexican immigrants and ex-Midwesterners can bond with the Okies.
I have a feeling that a state the size of California is too big for a book group. Will anyone pay attention? A San Jose Mercury News report was discouraging. People browsing at a bookstore said they'd never heard of Steinbeck or "Grapes of Wrath." Never heard of Steinbeck? And they didn't think the plight of Dust Bowl farmers sounded like a fun summer read.
At the Borders bookstore in Milpitas, many shoppers browsing the aisles had not even heard of Steinbeck, much less ``The Grapes of Wrath'', and a brief summary did not grab them.
``I never read it, never heard of it,'' said John Nguyen, 23, an Ohlone College student from San Jose flipping through a book written by master of the macabre Edgar Allen Poe. ``It doesn't sound like my cup of tea.''
I guess poor people are a downer. They should have asked Oprah for ideas. -- 6/10
Broken promises
Harvard has no right to complain if students lie about being gay, e-mails Bob Hawkins. Harvard has decided to accept students who signed binding early admissions decisions with other schools, but changed their minds. "Launch your Harvard career by breaking your word to another educational institution!"
For students, early admissions relieves the pressure. If you're admitted to your top choice, you don't need to fill out a stack of applications. The whole agonizing process can be over by Christmas of senior year.
For colleges, early admissions locks in part of the enrollment early with students who've made that school their top choice. And students can't bargain effectively for financial aid if they're committed to one college.
Harvard's move erodes the value of early admissions to all its competitors. If they take Alberta Einstein in December and she says "yes" in January, they can't count on her showing up in September. -- 6/10
Where honor is due
I'm getting tons of mail from Fox readers in response to this week's column on the declining respect for academic merit in education.
Angelika Harder:
This "class-less" society our so called academians/activists are leading us towards will destroy us all. . . . Our great thinkers will help us keep our self-esteem up by creating this fake environment -- as if our kids did not know it when they did not earn their "A." Mediocrity should not be the goal.
Richard Morton:
We, the American People, need to understand that challenges are healthy for us, and working hard produces more balanced, adaptable adults. Education is a privilege, and to those who work hard and dedicate themselves to the pursuit of it, honor is due.
Aron Spencer:
One of the problems is that schools are mandated by law to provide programs for "challenged" students, or special education. There is no such mandate for advanced students, who are often left to sit through material far below their ability level. Similarly, while athletic scholarships abound, a full-ride academic scholarship (at the undergrad level) is a rare bird indeed
Chet Chapman:
As a former teacher, I have seen the constant degradation of anyone (other than an athlete) who tries to achieve. I used to teach math, and had high standards for the algebra and geometry classes I taught. But then when school integration programs came into vogue, I was told that I had to drop my standards because I was failing too many students, or not giving enough A's or B's.
In addition, Robert Railey wrote to challenge the idea that rent-a-coders from India will replace U.S. programmers:
If you want some dinky small project, then a rent-a-coder my be your best value, but for large scale projects with many programmers working as a team, email and phone just won't cut it for proper communication, and productivity goes down fast. There is also a need of testing the application, and most QA testers and analysts need to work with the programmer to resolve problems. --6/9
Knight of the Rolling Stone
Sir Mick Jagger? -- 6/9
Charters in churches
Tennessee will let church groups start publicly funded charter schools, as long as teaching is strictly secular. Even the ACLU thinks it's OK, with monitoring to make sure the rules are followed. -- 6/8
Isn't that special?
"Everyone's Special'' -- blog highlights on merit and mediocrity -- are up on FoxNews.com. -- 6/8
The $108,730 graduate
The cost of producing a high school graduate averaged $108,730 in 1998, writes Herbert J. Walberg, a University of Illinois-Chicago professor. It varies, though. Cleveland, with a huge drop-out rate, spent nearly $300,000 for each student who actually earned a diploma, while a similarly sized Utah district produced "finished graduates" for $59,199. Walberg multiplied annual school spending for 13 years, then factored in the graduation rate.
Productivity -- brains for the buck -- improves when school districts face competition, Walberg argues. -- 6/7
Truant cops
If Mom can't get her kid to get up and go to school, a San Jose police officer will show up and escort the truant to class. This Mercury News story mentions a girl who's missed 114 days of class, and another who's missed 40 days. They complain that school is boring. So is ignorance, girls. So is poverty. So is daytime TV! -- 6/7
No weight to excellence
Grading is tougher in tough classes, so an A in Advanced Placement and honors courses is usually worth 5 points to a student's grade point average; an honors B is worth 4, the same as an A in a regular class. But a committee working on a master education plan for California wants to eliminate extra grade points for more rigorous classes. Every A would be worth the same as every other A, whether the student is taking Slacker Science or honors physics.
Charles Ratliff, consultant for the legislative committee working on the master plan, says weighting grades is unfair because some high schools -- about 15 percent -- don't offer any AP classes while other schools have dozens of AP options.
Critics of college admissions tests, such as the SATs, invariably say that high school grades are the most accurate predictor of students' college success. But GPAs will be much less predictive if easy As and self-esteem Bs are worth the same as honors As and Bs. Inevitably, students will shy away from challenging courses that risk lowering their GPAs.
University of California regents, who are tinkering with college admissions tests, don't want to give up weighted grades too.
In 1999, the Education Policy Committee discussed dropping the AP bonus from one grade point down to half a grade point.
"A number of regents voted down this change because they believe students ... should have the motivation and the incentive to try to do better in their courses," (regent Velma) Montoya said.
State universities take into account students' access to AP courses in analyzing transcripts. And, because grades are weighted, high schools are being pushed to expand access to advanced classes by partnering with community colleges or using technology or coming up with the money to hire a teacher for the 10 kids who qualify for AP calculus. Taking the weight off honors grades takes the pressure off schools to challenge students. It is a dangerously stupid idea. -- 6/6
Putting the pro back in profile
Fingerprintingand photographing non-citizens from terror-friendly countries is OK with James Lileks. He thinks it's OK with most American Muslims. And if it's not . . .
I don’t care. I am way past caring. I have not a jot of the care-sauce left in my bones. The care tank is empty. There’s no one home in Careville. The dog ate my care. The Care Crop didn’t come up this year. Self.com/care comes up as a 404.
Would I raise an eyebrow if the government quarantined everyone with a Koran, kept them in holding cells for a week, tagged them with a microchip and sprayed them with a dye that shows up on orbiting satellites? Yes, I would. I’m raising an eyebrow right now, just for practice’s sake. But when these people get hysterical about co-religionist non- citizens being photographed and fingerprinted, I not only disregard what they say now but whatever they say in the future, as well as whoever cites them as an authority.
Lileks now has permalinks, by the way. And I am getting permalinks too. Maybe today, maybe tomorrow. Soon. -- 6/6
I-n-e-f-f-e-c-t-i-ve
Reading researchers say Reading Recovery, a popular one-on-one tutoring program for elementary students, doesn't work very well considering how much it costs. -- 6/6
Merit under fire
State-funded merit scholarship programs, such as Georgia's Hope Scholarships, are facing complaints and lawsuits because middle-class students are more likely to have good grades and test scores than low-income students (via Confidence Man).
A few years ago, a study found that a "C" at an affluent, suburban high school was the equivalent of an "A" at an inner-city school. That suggests that Hope Scholarships, which require a B average in high school, favor students who attended high-poverty schools. Of course, these kids can' t use the scholarship for long because they lack the academic preparation to succeed in college. -- 6/6
Coming out for Harvard
Elite colleges like applicants to take advanced courses, compete in sports and chalk up extra-curriculars. So they do. Elite colleges like to see community service. So every student who ever smiled at a homeless man presents himself as a dedicated volunteer. Now, according to Josh Marshall, CNN is working on a story saying that Harvard and other universities are favoring students who've come out as gay -- or say they have on their applications. Marshall quotes a CNN memo:
Forget winning the science fair or being an all-state pole vaulter or, well, getting straight A's -- not being straight's now worth a lot too, when it comes to looking good to the college of your choice. Harvard and other universities around the country now are factoring in gayness as an enhancement to a college application...thinking having confronted one's sexual orientation at a young age shows independence - and builds character and leadership potential -
This doesn't mean honor students will have to go gay to go to Harvard. They'll lie. Is Harvard going to check?
One of my daughter's classmates clinched a a perfect 800 on the SAT II composition exam with an essay about the courage it took for him to declare his homosexuality. He wasn't gay. He was ahead of the curve.
A pro-gay policy in admissions will fill the Ivies with deceitful heterosexuals. -- 6/5
6/11/2002 
