Cyn

Posted on 11/03/09

This is how we did it for years at Coweta County and somewhat
similar in Troup County. I was a high school teacher, 9
through 12.

At the beginning of the school year, before there is a
problem, call each student in your class and contact parent
or guardian and introduce yourself. Do this the first two
weeks of school. Good PR never hurts.

Then, when there is a problem the RTI is so much easier.
They know of you and tend to want to keep their student on
task. Yes, parent contact is required for failures; verbal
or written documentation is vital. The only difference was
the face-to-face meeting. Once you made the suggestion for a
meeting, it was up to the parent to take advantage of the
opportunity to meet with you and/ or a
counselor/administrator. You can do some folder keeping
during the grading period or school year/semester you teach
John Doe and take the file with you. Documentation includes
student work, not just your grade book.

Most parents were appreciative, and even the student saw how
serious work really is. Some of my colleagues tell me that
now only certain work counts in the grade book, so I would
take only what the system tells you will count. For example,
daily work, homework, little tests, etc, can be assigned,
but do not figure in the overall grade. The only grades that
count in Troup are major projects and tests, so teachers can
only count that work toward a final grade. Standardized
tests count 15/20 percent of the students grade. EOCT used
to count 20% of freshman, sophomore, junior students and the
graduation test counted 20% of the final grade for seniors;
at that time not all classes had an EOCT; I think all
courses now have an EOCT so that has to count, too, toward
the final grade. Systems have 8 weeks' Tests on the semester
system and a final which for many was the end of course test,
and the teacher final was like any othger test. Confused?

Usually computer programs are set up in systems to credit
students with the right percentages, so teachers merely
submit the numbers. Interesting, isn't it? I really think
standardized testing has become much too important in the
grading system, but we do what we have to do.

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