Greetings,
I am a high
school teacher. I have read many things, in many locations about the
inability of public school students, as old as 17-21 years.
Unfortunately, all of those allegations are correct. I am not an English
teacher. I don't blame English teachers. When I give an assignment,
and students can't spell the word "Minute" or "Social" I'm
not sure if I should laugh or cry. We are talking about kindergarten
level writing. They can't even calculate and average using two
numbers. Again, not the fault of the teacher. There is zero work
ethic and zero will to do anything. How about not showing up to school
with a pen, pencil or paper? What disturbs me even more than their
inability, is that staff and Administration has to push those
students through. It is that time of year where I will sit at graduation
and hear how much the students have accomplished and how hard they have
worked. In reality, they all got 65 because I had no choice. What a joke...
-A
graduating senior who can't write a coherent sentence?
-How about
the whole senior class being unable to write a sentence?
-How about
staff being held accountable, grading policies that all of a sudden don't apply
because a given principal wants all of his/her students to graduate so he/she
can float a fraud about how successful the school is?
-I can now
accept work from 5 months ago?
-How about
the staff being bullied all year?
-How about
no-show students completing a few minutes of make-up work so a teacher can go
back and give them credit for all the classes they missed?
-What
happened to seat time?
-What
happened to standards?
-What
happened to academic rigor?
-Congrats to
my school for having a fake graduation rate...
-If everyone
is doing so well, why was the average SAT score in the 800 area?
-I am
embarrassed...
-I am a
liar...
-I am being
abused...
-Four years
of doing no work, walking in an hour late, eating breakfast in class, missing
assignment after assignment, years below grade level in real terms, but has
never failed a class...
-How exactly
does a student get a 55 in the 1st MP, 55 in the 2nd MP, but magically get an
85 in the 3rd MP so we can average the 3 to get a 65?
-It will be
humorous and sad when these students are expected to actually do something,
maybe in college, maybe when they get a job...But at that point they will
all do what they already do, blame someone else. When they pass every
class while doing nothing, what would you expect?
Where is UFT
assistance? President? Vice President? Personnel? I
know I am not the first to call fraud. Teachers get careers wrecked while
students get a free ride? A reply from several of you would be
wonderful. If you would like to see a sample of what I mean, I can gladly
forward student work. This is clearly an epidemic and it is all across
NYC.
This is the second exasperated teacher who has cc'ed the ICEUFT blog on a letter to the Chancellor and UFT President Michael Mulgrew. If anyone else is interested, it is nycchancellor@schools.nyc.gov and mmulgrew@uft.org.
It is interesting as at my last school we were told seat time was a legal responsibility for students to have in order to acquire credit. The DOE gives conflicting guidance saying here:
The City
requires children ages 6 to 17 to attend school on a full time basis. One of
the requirements for passing to the next grade is 90 percent attendance.
However, in another document the DOE states:
Attendance
alone cannot prevent promotion or graduation
Students
cannot fail a class or not be promoted because of their attendance, but
attendance may affect grades. Students who meet class expectations must receive
credit and are not required to make up the exact hours of missed class time.
For tenured teachers, it is up to everyone to stand together if there is massive grade fraud going on. A couple of people writing the Chancellor and UFT President isn't going to change things.
50 comments:
Haha. I was told or asked today to give a slew of make-up work for graduating seniors. I'm talking abotu seniors who are failing by a lot. But they never showed up. So now, maybe, they do a couple hours of work? That is enough?
Get used to it. This is how it will always be going forward. The uft will never say anything because that will be proof that students aren't learning, no matter where the blame lies. Then we will have to admit that certain students are far below where they should be, we will be called racist.
Aren't Kara and Matthew public school students? How come no one writes to tell us about students like them? James and Camille are seem happy with their public school. Are the teachers at that school also miserable? If they are that would affect the kids. Is anyone writing to the chancellor or Mulgrew to tell them they are happy?
12:07, It will be more than enough if the teachers as a group don't raise their collective voice to enforce some standards.
Norm, I don't think grade fraud is a citywide problem but what do any of us know? The system is so big with many different mandates being given in different schools and districts as far as I can tell. One thing I've learned is that generalizations are tough to make in this system however if we deny that this teacher and others are telling the truth, we are missing something too.
You know what, with all the immigration to this country from central america the US has determined that we must just pass this generation of children. Remember these are children who speak very little english, have parents that speak very little english, and in many cases the families and their children have very limited spanish speaking skills.....Another truth is that most kids have usually just one parent and this is the mom.
We would have a barrage of right wing maniacs criticizing heads on our ass if we really gave out the grades these kids truly deserve. Essentially we would have a school systems that reflects all kids failing the classes and the blame would be put on the schools and the teachers.
So, instead of dozens of principals and high priced educators getting reprimanded for no good reason the system has created a system whereby educators say its ok to just pass the morons and tell the world how great our school system is - ala mike bloomberg style...
So its either the truth or not. The truth is too damn ugly right now to be spoken so the lie wins over cause people are ignorant and will never address the true cause of our society problem and that is the family and the home as this new wave of immigrants have limited skills and family values.
James' kids are very young. HS is different.
I spent the whole day today, the last day of classes, bombarded with makeups or getting told I will get work soon. Also, told many times to "Change my grade." This includes no show students who have not handed in a single assignment. So no attendance, no classwork, no HW, no project, no tests, but they made it all up today and will do the rest over the next 2 days.
I was told, give us work, he is failing. What if I said, no, too bad, term is over. Go to summer school.
As an Art teacher excessed 8 times in 16 years I have worked in every borough but Staten Island and it is everywhere. Grades are not real, packets, and BS make up work are though. I have even been told by an admin that whatever they did in the "packet" was acceptable since it showed the effort, after I still failed a student who handed in a packet full of wrong answers. The end is nigh! Anyone with any sense will move to the country before the riots start. I have friends who teach all across the country and in all urban areas and it is happening there too. The 1% doesn't want educated masses checking them so they keep 'em dumb! What do you think will happen when you have all these poor uneducated people crammed into these urban areas? I will tell you, violence. Ask any middle school teacher what these kids laugh at and what they think of fighting. The ignorance is growing exponentially. The riots are coming trust me. Get out of the cities while you can.
430, Then you would get targeted.
That is why people need to stand together.This could be fought if it is a citywide problem, which I am not convinced it is, but it must be done collectively.
Collectively school by school.
Read the comments, I know it is only a few comments, I too was in the ATR Pool, there is nothing going on at 90% of Brooklyn schools. This is it, curse teachers, use cell phone, arrive late, leave early, demand a grade, get a fake grade. And of course, be unable to read and write.
Let's see how many schools there are that read this blog and graduate illiterates.
Here's mine.
Spring Creek Community School.
What diploma mill do you work for?
WATCH at Jefferson Campus.
So what justification would someone have to give a passing grade to a no show OR someone who did absolutely nothing all term? It is unfair to the teacher. Unfair to the few students who actually do work. The student hasn't earned the grade. It is a fraud. It teaches the student nothing while teaching the student he can get away with it. So it must be administrative pressure or being worried about getting targeted.
But graduation rates have never been higher.
This is old news. Teachers have been writing letters like this for years. You know what the DOE does with these letters? They wipe their ass with them. Feel free to complain but nobody at the top is gonna listen.
The entire Erasmus building
Humanities and the Arts HS.
Surprise. I spent the last day of school having seniors telling me I have to go back in and change all their grades. They need make-up work. They need test corrections? Can they do a packet to pass? Huh? So they take the same test a 2nd time and use google to look up the answers s they get a higher grade? And that counts? And these are graduates as of the end of this week. After classes are over I should give them work?
How can a principal just demand that you give a failed student work and then tell you that that is good enough to change the grade?
Its a systemic DOE problem. I think principals are held accountable in such a way that they have to keep graduation rates up because thats what superintendents are looking for.
Also the State will shut down schools based on graduation rates. This is why Superintendents/DOE want to see graduation rates go up.
Still makes it all a fraud that should be investigated and shown as the embarrassment it is.
Bahaha. I can’t believe someone (retired) posted that “packets” must be the exception and not the rule. My friend, this is *every* school! A news team should just pick an arbitrary HS, walk up to it this week, and ask to film the cafeteria. There you will see “boot camp.” Usually about two hundred kids pretending to fill out packets for two (sometimes three) classes they’ve failed. Deans watching over them like prison guards. No academic teachers instructing them; the kids aren’t learning anything. They’re mostly writing gibberish. The packet gets turned in. I have a colleague who still failed a student post-packet (because he wrote nonsense and drew pictures). The Principal told my colleague.to pass the kid, so he did. He changed the grade from a 55 to a 99 just to see if it would raise a red flag at Tweed. True story. Did the academic integrity unit get alarmed? Hell no. Because there is no such unit.
Bottom line, grade fraud is system wide and country wide. Graduation rates are fraudulent, system wide and country wide (in public schools).
My school does not pass everyone. There are a two or three token failures to display our honesty. The two or three who fail are the lowest of the low, pot smoking, drug selling, baby making students who only come to school to do business and make their family dysfunction public. If one of these students were to hand in one piece of work, they would be passed and graduated. But, they hand in nothing and never go to class.
I was sent a project, just now in the middle of the night, after the term is over, by a student, with the name of another student on it. Sounds great.
In my school, we have several who just heg for higher grades all year. 90, 90, 90. Teachers do it just because they are tired if being bothered. Papers have completely screwed up English, the student acts like it is a 90 paper, it is maybe a 65 paper. Where is the merit?
How are students who can't write put into AP English? AP for all? Is that the only answer? When their writing is completely incoherent?
My principal will not tolerate 1 senior failing. Not 1. I went up and down the report card grades, gave every senior a 65 as a final term grade, even though most didnt deserve it. I failed 1, a no show, who handed in nothing. Nope. Give him all the work now. He will do it this week. All our black males graduate on time. Isnt that great?
Another sad part is this electronic grading and communication where students can harass you all day, all night, all weekend. Give me extra credit, change my grade, fix my grade, I gave that to you, im reporting you, you failed me for no reason.
This nonsense is as common as dog crap on the sidewalks of the Bronx and smells just as bad. The UFT knows all about it and won’t say ‘Boo’. Why? There are several reasons - CSA members are protected over the rank and file as per a silent agreement that one union shouldn’t target the members of another, except in the case of egregious incompetence from a teacher - the ludicrous UFT lives up to it. It creates much less work; unfortunately all teachers are seen as grossly incompetent by every principal that wants them out. Also the UFT’s inaction can logically be seen as complicity - they’ve known about this and have done nothing. What does that say? It tells me they don’t care one iota about kids - abjectly repulsive from a union that purports to represent teachers. Then there’s the charter schools - when the public learns of the outrageous fraud committed on students, it will turn against the DOE, UFT, and teachers- it will then warmly embrace charter schools. That in and of itself would be the coup de grace of public school education in NYC.
Sadly, this begins in the elementary level. Students do no work all year. Teachers sent hold over letters, request parent conferences (no shows). The state test come and we don't get the results till September. We get a pass/fail in June. Only 1% fail and go to summer school. The rests get moved on even though the did no work all year. September comes and we discover they failed or scored very low. Nothing happens. Same old story. Forget about referring for services...... too many already waiting. So it is not just a high school problem but sadly it starts in the lower grades as well.
5 High Schools in 22 yrs....... 100 percent true in all of them. 100 percent true in all I have seen in 22 yrs.... no wiggle at all. I have seen no different.
I always thought I had a fairly lenient grading policy compared to some of my colleagues. (I used Engrade so don't give me the electronic excuse.) From what I am reading here, I had very rigorous standards.
I will post on what can be done to stop this but I would have been eaten up and spit out if I didn't stand up for teacher grades being respected at Jamaica (within reason).
So a kid has 3 55s on the 3 report cards and final grade is a 65. I'm not so good in math but that doesnt seem to compute.
No work passes, no shows pass...
Imagine if all the people commenting went to a PEP meeting and signed up to speak for 2 minutes face to face with Caranza? And with the press possibly covering. Won't happen because until we see the whites of their eyes these comments don't mean very much and have no impact. But have the nerve to get up and complain - like James and others have done - and do it month after month - well something might shake loose. Another venue is UFT Ex Bd meetings every two weeks. Get up and say these things. Otherwise it is just keyboard worriers.
And yes James' kids are still young but they will hit high school. The problem is that we know many teachers who don't bring this stuff up. Name names and schools.
I believe credit recovery is widespread but ignoring any standards I am not so certain it is in every school.
Norm, I guess you guys are independently wealthy because personally I can't afford to have a target on my back.
It has to be a collective fight 6:17, school by school.
Why should we have to do anything? Let the UFT do it!
It isnt even credit recovery. A no-show passing. A no-show, missing 80 days of class, doing make-up work for a few hours, and that equals the 80 days. By the way, that is after the principal tortures us all year, demanding unit plans and lesson plans, tests and quizzes and HW and rigor and observations and all that stuff...You cant have it both ways. And then the principal takes credit for the amazing grad rate.
It is hard to stomach how beaten down many are. We have collective power. We have to use it.
Many valid points in this thread. Apex is a way for students to make up work. I also want to encourage new teachers to grade harshly MP1 always. Once a student gets an 80 or above in MP1, they play the game right they already are set for the semester.
Just like parents are being fined for their child bullying I think we should raise taxes or fine families if their child is failing school. Maybe just maybe they will be more involved in their education. Besides that we need to have way more vocational schools and we need to build more public schools because overcrowding will be at its worst in the next decade.
Sadly, the issues of grade fraud are systemic issues. It is prevalent in all 5 boroughs, and even in the surrounding districts. The mere fact that in ALL schools, teachers are being pressured to permit students the ability to submit work that is months late, as if it didn't take you an entire semester to teach everything, and basically providing students the opportunity to "copy" other student(s) work, submit it as their own for "Credit" is the fraud and travesty that is prevalent. But that's not the only manner of fraud that's being enacted, and our union and the CSA has aided in the DOE's ability to implement the rouse. We have something called, "Targeted Credit Recovery" which originated from my understanding through some settlement that took place between UFT and the DOE.The union even posted an article (http://www.uft.org/news-stories/circular-6-arbitration-settlement-creates-new-opportunity-teachers) touting how wonderful it is. The union has been made (abundantly) aware how many of the schools are still using the fraudulent iLearn program for "Targeted Credit Recovery" illegally. Some schools even use this as almost the sole recovery for Saturday and Summer School classes, rather than actually having a teacher "teach" the students. They can get kids to gain more credits, faster, this way. They/UFT have been informed that the following are being violated: the specific guidelines/parameters set forth to be deemed as "eligible" (students must demonstrate "Mastery of the majority of the content" (this suggests a 60-64, and not numbers that are drastically below, as administrators are programming in their schools) AND students must have been present "66% of the time for the CLASS, not attendance for the school day. All of the information is from page 36 of the HS Academic Policy. For that matter, eligible students are those who "previously failed a course" and not students who had never even taken the course. The union has even been informed of the creative ways that students are "cheating" to get the credits, through the use of this program. Some of the many are as follows: Across the boroughs, teachers have learned that students have: paid off their friends to log on and do the work for them, kids know that a certain amount of "seat-time" is required with their computer running, on, so they have used oscillating fans and attached them to their mouse so it would move to log the time/hours required, some reported that kids have actually downloaded automatic "mice-clicking" programs to log the hours. Kids have managed to do a 50+ hour of coursework, in less than 3-days, and although educators have questioned the practices to both the union and administration, it is permitted to continue. Lastly, it's time to ask: Why in a million years are teachers ridden so hard, through the evaluation system, i.e. Danielson, and about what and how they educate in a classroom, being subjected to perform ridiculous "dog-and-pony" shows, when programs like iLearn, exist and are used rampantly, and when students can submit work from months ago? Why are teachers evaluated when the clear goal is: Keep the Mayoral Control/Politicians happy, let them continue to lie to the public with our union support, as to how great the inflated graduation rates are, and don't actually hold students accountable for learning, but see how many teachers you can abuse, and how many seasoned veterans who remember how and what it was once-like to teach, to be targeted through the fake 3020-a process? All are a miscarriage of justice.
I basically get it but organizing to stop the fraud is not on anyone's agenda.
James
You keep pleading for people to organize instead of just bitching. You provide the perfect forum for people - they just want to bitch, not actually do anything about it.They actually think that by commenting here they are doing something. And how can people who want to be anonymous actually organize?
We have an email address. People email, text and call. One even showed up at my house this week. Anonymous comments are just frustrated people venting.
From a teacher in a NYC high school,
Forced to Fail
Our school’s current grading policy states “if the student failed two marking periods and if the mathematical average is a 62 (anything below 65)...the student must fail for the semester....the grade should not be rounded to a 65.”
Seriously, I want to round this up, but I’m not allowed to do so. As a parent, can you imagine your child having a 64.67 rounded down to a 55 which is what has to happen in this case.
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