Tuesday, September 30, 2008

A great moment in public education

This makes me happy that the BHG family doesn't live in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh public schools are following a policy where students can no longer get an "F" if they get below 50% on an assignment. Instead, they get something called an "E", which is equivalent to a 50%: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08266/914029-298.stm. This is asinine. In other words, if you have a test where you get only one out of ten questions right, you still automatically get credit for getting five out of the ten right.

Here's a suggestion: How about grades that actually reflect a student's knowledge? I know that it's a radical concept but work with me on this. We could have schools that are not institutions focussed on building up a student's self-esteem but are instead oriented towards TEACHING children! Imagine that! We could even (I know that this is shocking, so I hope that you're all sitting down) reward students based on their knowledge!

I know, I know, too much to hope for.........

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