SCIENCE:
There are a lot of things that can be talked about under this topic. I'm posting this article that I received just to get the reader started on the mindless educrat logic that transpires daily in our country.
One need not ever be surprised at what they advocate, and mostly what they advocate is of the dumbing down variety. I'm starting to see that some who are in positions of authority are themselves products of the dumbing down efforts. After all, dumbing down has been going on since 1970, so some at the administrative level are true products!
Elementary schools in one (at least) West Virginia county stopped giving grades for science and social studies. Administrator Toole said he only wants schools to succeed. http://dailymail.com/News/statenews/201009071225
Harrison County schools
stop giving grades for science, social studies
System focusing on improving
test scores in reading, math
by
Zack Harold
Daily Mail staff
Starting this year, some
Instead, teachers will incorporate those
subjects into their reading lesson and mark students as "satisfactory,"
"unsatisfactory" or "needs improvement."
The policy has its detractors.
Five
Ron Toole, the county's administrative
assistant over elementary schools, said Nutter Fort Intermediate's staff came up
with the idea for an altered grading policy and Superintendent Susan Collins
asked him to introduce it to other elementary schools.
He said the participating schools liked the
idea because increasing time requirements for reading and math instruction are
making it difficult for teachers to squeeze in social studies and science.
Toole said schools are required to spend an
extra 30 minutes every day providing struggling students with reading
"interventions."
If students aren't grasping subjects in the
regular classroom setting, teachers put them in small groups or give them
individual attention to ensure they learn the material.
Starting this year,
"Where's all this time going to come from?
There's no more time in the school day," he said.
By incorporating science and social studies
into the reading curriculum, Toole said teachers would create more time in their
schedules. But since social studies and science aren't being taught as separate
subjects, teachers can't give students grades for them.
School board member Paul Howe said the new
grading policy would give teachers more freedom in the classroom, where they
often feel "inundated" by constant assessments and educational benchmarking
tests.
"In lieu of giving (students) quizzes and
testing, the teachers are trying to spend more time on teaching," he said.
Queen and Sturn voted against the waivers at a
July meeting.
"Basically we've watered down the curriculum
for science and social studies here in
Queen said he's worried because the grading
policy doesn't have a set definition for "satisfactory," "unsatisfactory"
and "needs improvement." He said parents know where students stand with
traditional A's, B's and C's.
Sturn, who took office in July, said he talked
with current and former educators and administrators about the waiver before
voting. He said none of those experts liked the idea of dropping letter grades.
"Kids, when they don't receive that grade,
parents don't know how to assess how their child's performing," he said. "Any
time you don't give children an opportunity to receive grades, you lose the
opportunity to have the metrics in place to assess their performance."
The board will have an opportunity to review
the waiver's success.
Members asked Toole to keep track of schools'
success under the waiver and report back to the board in six months.
Toole said he only wants schools to succeed and
will stand behind schools if the grade waiver works out.
"If we never try it, then we're never going to
know," he said.
But Toole said he understood Sturn and Queen's
concerns and if the new policy hurts schools' performance, "I'm just going to
say, 'I'm sorry but this isn't working out.' "
Howe said the school system's curriculum
coordinator is currently working to create standard definitions for the three
designations.
West Milford Elementary Principal Wendy
Imperial said Harrison County Schools already had a similar program for first-,
second- and third-graders.
Imperial said those students don't receive
letter grades on their report cards for the first nine-week grading period.
After that grading period is over,
first-graders get letter grades in reading, math, conduct and spelling and
second-graders are graded in reading, English, math and conduct.
Third-graders previously received grades in
math, reading, English, spelling, science, social studies and health after the
first nine weeks.
Imperial said her school also waived grades for
third-grade social studies and science during the final two weeks of school last
spring.
Mounting snow days cut down on students' class
time, limiting their Westest preparation opportunities.
Imperial said her school incorporated science
and social studies into reading and improved standardized test scores in all
three areas.
Contact writer Zack Harold at 304-348-7939 or zack.har...@dailymail.com
http://www.charlestondailymail.com/News/statenews/201009071225?page=2&build=cache