A Better System of Evaluation

My two children have finally finished school for the year. It was pure torture on both fronts. My 7th grader has a reading disability. While it does not completely cripple him, it is a significant issue in his life. He had more than one teacher who told him he needed to "read faster." His grades suffered. You might wonder if his test grades were bad. No! He probably had an "A" average for his tests. He did everything all of the other students did. He just had teachers who gave him zeroes if he didn't finish something on time or forgot to turn something in. Frequently, he had done the assignment. He had just forgotten to get it in. I'm afraid he is disorganized. Needless to say, this was not a banner year for him. But he did get promoted. Only one year left in middle school.

That sounds a bit like I am looking forward to high school. For my rising 8th grader, I am, to some extent. He will be taking one less course each year. It will take him one extra year to graduate high school, but it will be less of an academic strain. Sadly, it costs us extra for him to attend summer school, and it really wrecks his summer. I would have loved to help him keep up other ways other than attending summer school. Georgia does not offer virtual high school in Georgia. Of course, that is to be expected. After all, it is only the 21st century. Therefore, he will not really belong to a class. I hope it will not be a negative experience.

My 9th grader failed two courses the first semester. He barely passed, but he passed everything second semester. His failures and poor showing are the result of a poor attitude in school, at least toward school work. The strange thing is, school is the only real negative issue in his life. He is a volunteer firefighter (Explorer), volunteers at a local museum and works with animals, is a promising musician (trumpet), and has landed his first job at the age of 15. Wherever he goes, he is respected and liked. So what's the problem? Whatever it is, his teachers certainly don't care.

I am a teacher. I would never (and never did) give a student zeroes on assignments that were not done. I would call the family, I would hound the student, I would stand on my head, but I would not fail a student because of problems that had nothing to do with academic achievement.

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