In Mount Olive, New Jersey a new policy has been put in place: no student can have the grade of a D. Superintendent Larrie Reynolds proclaimed, “The number of failing grades for Mount Olive middle and high school students dropped 42.5 percent in the first quarter of the school year.” So is this new policy a success?
Who Are They Kidding?
According to the Daily Record, some teachers feel it is way too early to determine if the policy is good or bad. I agree – who can make such a determination based on one quarter of a school year? Most things appear to work – until the novelty wears off. It also needs to be noted that students can retake exams and redo assignments following a “bad” grade. So what does the data really show? Anything?
Statistics Lie
Oh how I love statistics! They can truly show whatever someone wants them to show. While at first glance it seems we should all do away with the letter D on report cards, it’s obvious that is not the case once you read the details of the policy. How many times can a student stake the exam over or redo an assignment? We all know things get easier with practice. Is it a new version of the test each time? How are the teachers balancing all of these “redos” with moving forward and covering the curriculum appropriately?
The Superintendent was concerned (rightly so) that students were “getting credit for not learning.” I’m not sure if this new policy should count as a fix for his concern though. Maybe time will prove me wrong – hopefully it is successful. But for now I have to recommend holding the applause and taking the wait and see approach instead!