Plan: No Student Fails During Pandemic

A very thoughtful solution to a thorny problem. Distance learning only underscores the inequality in our society, and students should not be punished for dealing with more difficult circumstances in these unprecedented times.

Thank you, NHPS educators, for your hard work on behalf of our young people!

What a shame that we aim so low. If a child has no internet access I get it, but most do. Let's not use that as a blanket excuse, or stress, which is a bigger joke. How many kids have access and choose not to participate? Most of not all of the work is assignments, not class time via the internet. What this highlights is the lack of parental guidance and discipline and the continued cover up by the NHPS.

Reminds me of the quote:

"The soft bigotry of low expectations"

Fact finder,

You couldn't be more wrong with your assessment. What kids and families are going through right now in terms of job loss, lack of technological resources, caring for siblings and other family members, and other stressors is real and acute. Understanding and empathy are in order, not a regurgitation of worn-out phrases.

FACT FINDER I agree 100%. As many students as there are who have voluntarily chosen not to put in the work there are twice as many who have given more under theses circumstances than in traditional environments and there is no reward for them. For all the parents who don't show up to parent teacher when their child is barely passing they have now given their child yet another opportunity to just get by. The system wont hold itself accountable to keep a standard...for the number of students without service it is easy for admin to identify why should everyone else who has worked under the worst of circumstances not be graded as such. Teachers KNOW who is who and what they do can do or don't do. This isn't first marking period or even second in which you are just getting to know. Heck third marking period was a week short of being over when this all started...All those achieving A's and B's screw you how does pass or pass with distinction calculate in a GPA..It doesn't! Your college before college classes and programs depend on GPA to be a part there of ..oh well you weren't the majority so take what we give you. For all the parents who worked with their children to keep them going..you could have just been mediocre because your children's results aren't really relevant they showed up... the lets give a trophy for participation syndrome is ruining a generation of kids socially and now academically

mom247,

I find that claim that a 'pass/pass with distinction' will have a negative impact on GPA and college admittance to be dubious. Colleges and Universities understand what is happening at this time and will adjust their enrollment metrics accordingly. Students who are working hard and performing well will likely not be unduly impacted. Alternatively, a traditional approach to grading would have an unfair negative impact on those many students who have been forced to take on additional duties of childcare or making up for lost family revenue while still receiving a heavy school workload.

Furthermore, I am taken aback by your claim that there are 'no rewards' for those who continue to work hard, and that parents 'could have just been mediocre' because of changes to grading policy. Are grades the only value you see in intellectual development and exploration? Is a change in GPA calculation all it would take for you to divest in your child's education?

Participation trophy's arrive to the classroom. If I was 10 to 14 years old and was told I would be passed through math classes I'd say great. Of course eventually it catches up with you doesn't it? Only a bloated buarocratic school system could come up with and announce (With a straight face) Pass/Pass. If we can be scolded for using a double negative are double positives ok? Are all Passes equal or are some passes greater than others?

George Polk,

Why are folks so caught up with grading right now when our main focus should be on health and well-being and addressing the inequalities that have been laid bare by this pandemic?

But as long as we're on the subject, if I were grading your comment for grammar and spelling, you'd get a solid C-.

This is not something that only NHPS is doing. Yale and other Ivies have moved to a universal pass policy for this semester. This is happening everywhere across the US and beyond as schools recognize that this is an unprecedented time.

This school district sells out its students and families at every turn. The teachers are grievance queens who always need to pat themselves on the back.

Here is the truth. I have spoken to a number of parents and they all say the same thing. Maybe one of their kids' teachers are doing an admirable job. Most of the teachers have simply packed it in and are cashing checks at New Haven's expense.

Here is what is going to happen. Suburban parents, who are talking a lot about the failure of the district's administrators and teachers, are going to leave the district in large numbers and the financial shortfall will be wide. The district will whine and moan as it always does, but this time they will need to lay off teachers.

And it will all be their own fault for selling out city kids from their little suburban enclaves.

It will be hard to self congratulate when the parents will vote on teacher performance with their feet.

Do a legitimate superintendent search. We need some standards,

@06511 I'll admit typing on a phone is a problem. But of course you did not answer the question. What is Pass/Pass? No Fail would be more accurate.

Couldn't there be a grade that says, "Saved by COVID-19"?

If students are not able to complete their work due to circumstances beyond their control, they should be allowed to withdraw from a course and have a "W" on their transcript. In schools, I have attended, withdrawals have always been the solution in such cases (Such as a student getting mononucleosis). Granted credit for work not accomplished and knowledge not gained is NHPS's way of saying learning doesn't matter.
As for Yale, grading is a joke anyway, as most folks get "A"s for everything anyway. (It has gotten worse since 2013, but:
https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2013/04/11/up-close-defining-the-yale-college-a/.
Note, also, while Yale College has eliminated grades, it has retained a fail option. https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2020/04/07/yale-college-adopts-pass-fail/)
The only meaningful way to control grade inflation is using a curve, and limiting the number of "A"s and "B"s a teacher can give out.

George Polk,

I'm not sure why you are confused on this point. The article clearly states that students can pass, or pass with distinction, which means that students who have been able to complete all or most of their work during this time can be recognized for their diligence (a fact which most people on this thread seem to be ignoring).

At first I was confused: Why do all these grown-ass adults care so much about the grades that elementary, middle, and high school kids are receiving when there is so much else of dire consequence going on in the world right now? If nothing else, the older I've gotten, the more I realize that the grades I earned as a kid have little bearing on who I am as a person and how I value knowledge and learning. I'm 40 years old and I still read books, I still listen to on-line college classes, and I still engage in public discourse, and somehow I do it all without getting graded for it.

Then I landed upon the idea that this is yet another example of people claiming that 'I earned X, so others should have to earn it in the same way' without examining the privilege and luck that went into earning said X. No matter that kids are being asked to complete heavy workloads without real-time feedback and meaningful social interaction in the midst of a pandemic and what is shaping up to be the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression; no matter than often when I call students to remotely tutor them I find that they are simultaneously taking care of younger siblings or asking me questions about how bank accounts work because they are now responsible for paying the utility bills. I ask you: is this knowledge and learning being graded?

When this whole thing started, 'we are all in this together' was a common refrain. It's becoming abundantly clear how hollow that refrain really is.

@06511

Clearly, you don't care if children are being educated or that taxpayers are paying teachers and administrators to do little. But to criticize those of us who have standards? Yeah, you are a special case. No one cares about your personal history. Parents care about the education of their children.

Being all in this together doesn't magically mean that there are no expectations of students or those paid to teach them.

isn't it crazy how us students are getting stressed out by the google classroom notifications? These are so unorganized on top of that, teachers send about 5 notifications a day, Not even thinking what the other teachers send us. I go to Esums, I have 8 classes every 2 days but online schools, i have 8 classes every day each teacher send us 5 notifications, so do the math. 5 x 8 = 40 notifications from google classroom. you parents or teachers need to look at this from a student POV. stop say we are "lazy" we are making up "excuses to not do work" This is stressful and we are worrying about not dying from COVID-19 and you teachers still send us notifications to do school work when we are worried about not getting sick. This is so sickening, Now please don't go against my word unless you are agreeing with me therefore, Stop sending us students google classroom notifications.

Checking,

If you would like to know how hard teachers and administrators are working right now while also caring for their own children at home every day, I would be happy to provide you with a dozen or so local contacts who can enlighten you on this matter.

It's almost not worth addressing your straw-man argument that there are 'no expectations' of students and teachers at this time. On the contrary there are clear expectations with standards of assessment that have shifted to meet the times. I don't know how many times I or the above article can make this clear, but students who are able to get significant amounts of work and learning done WILL STILL BE RECOGNIZED.

And again, it's not that you have standards and I don't - it's just that your standards aren't expansive enough to recognize the non-academic work and emotional care that students are being asked to take on right now, or the fortitude required to deal with situations such as those described by student112. I could tell you stories about five kids having to share one chromebook, or students who arrived in New Haven around the same time as coronavirus, speak very little English, and have been thrown headlong into this new dispensation without ever having met their teachers. Your base and seemingly uninformed take on the situation is disrespectful and small.

Checking, 06511


I understand you teachers have to assign work but you can still explain to your boss or the border of ed that you have a life too, you aren't just stressing us out your stressing yourself out over this job your trying to keep, no need to overload us with messages and notifications, the only reason you still go back on forth on this is because you want the paycheck and you don't want to get paid $500 or less a week, you care about the money more than your health, your children health and your students health. Just understand from a student POV, We are so stressed out about this we have teachers sending us notifications off of different apps and we have to go back n forth throughout the day just to complete your work, the border of ed is making sure you send us work but they are not looking for you to overload us without recognizing other teachers work they are assigning us. your still going back n forth because, of the $$$$$$. That is so sad and sickening. we have life. have a wonderful day 06511.

@06511

I am sure you could find a bunch of teachers who will pat themselves on the back. They do it all the time without evidence that they have been successful. In fact, their unwarranted confidence has done generational harm in this city.

@Student112

Time to toughen up a bit.

Student112,

I feel your pain. I've been working with many students who are in the same situation as you are and understand what you are dealing with. From working with teachers, I also know that it hasn't been easy for them to collaborate with one another to help students manage workloads, and that unfortunately some of the things you mention about google classroom that are stress-inducing - the messages and notifications and late work warnings - are hard to deactivate. Some teacher are less familiar with this technology and need some time to catch up as well.

My advice is to keep doing the hard work you are doing. Prioritize the work and classes you enjoy the most and let teachers know that you are trying your best. If you feel that you are being unfairly penalized for some of the work you are not able to complete, reach out to a teacher or adult at ESUMS that you have a good relationship with (there are lots of great educators in that building). You are going through a lot right now, so take time to enjoy things that bring you joy. You are going to get through this with a lot of valuable experience and character - hang in there.

I know several teachers who are trying their best to teach their k-12 students as best they can considering they are not all technology/online learning experts. They have their own kids at home that they have to make sure are getting an online education as well. They have to figure out how they and their kids in different grade levels all share 1 computer to accomplish this. They have to figure out how to get food for their families because they can't work their second jobs that they usually work at that they need to make ends meet on the pay they get. They have to also shop for their elderly relatives medicine and food who can't leave their homes. They have to take care of sick household members. So not only do they have to teach their students, and grade their work, and keep in contact with their students patents, they have to do all the other things that their students families are doing as well on top of that. For any of you who are struggling at home with your kids online learning, working from home for your job if you're lucky enough to be able to do so, or struggling to feed your family if you lost your job, imagine adding teaching and grading the work of 20-24 children for k-5 grades for 4-6 hours of instruction on different subjects, and 20-24 children PER classroom multiplied by how ever many units of classes of your teaching subject you normally teach during the day (4-5?) for middle school and high school students who switch classrooms and subjects every hour. Plus they have to take classes themselves every so often to keep their teaching certificate up to date, and they usually work a summer job or 2, and instead they'll probably be teaching summer online school to help the students who need it. So instead of criticizing the teachers who got this distance learning dumped on them with no warning or preparation, in the middle of a pandemic with all its economic and social stressors, we should be applauding them for whatever they have been able to do!

I like how we can all comment all this, do you think there should be online schooling or not?

@Student112

I'm sorry you're so overwhelmed. This is a crazy time right now. Even the lucky kids- those don't have to worry about a sick family member, take care of their younger siblings, struggle w/ internet access issues, etc., etc., etc.- are living in a very stressful time. None of us has ever dealt with anything like this before.

We shouldn't be treating students as if this is just an extended break and expect the same progress/work output as if they were still in school. I am really worried my students' academic progress and I'm doing everything I can do to help them; but I put their overall well-being first. Thankfully Dr. Tracey and my administrators do too.

If you haven't already, please consider reaching out to one or more of your teachers to let them know how you're feeling. They may be able effect some change in administrators'/district expectations.

Regarding the google classroom notifications- just in case you didn't know- you can turn off some or all of your notifications. Then you could set aside time to go into your classes and manually check to see what you you need to do so you don't miss anything.

Here's a link to the instructions: https://support.google.com/edu/classroom/answer/6141557?co=GENIE.Platform=Desktop&hl=en

Checking,

How many years have you spent in the classroom? What books have you read or classes have you taken about educational policies and practices? Which New Haven schools are you most engaged with? How many students and teachers are you working with directly at this time?

I'd also wager that there are many other local educators who would like to share their opinions, but they are too busy working with students and taking care of their families to do so.
Have a blessed day.

I see my comments are being edited, which I don't have a huge problem with, except to say that checking's comment that I am a 'special case' and that 'no one cares about my personal history' (neither of which greatly offended me) are at least as discourteous, through arguable less well articulated, as what I sought to communicate.

Having said that, I do not envy the job of the person responsible for editing and approving these comments.

[Paul: Thanks for understanding! Trying to lower the volume of the personal back and forth while still enabling people to discuss important issues. I know we don't always get it right.]

@Heather

You seem to be admitting that MANY teachers, because of issues at home, couldn't do the job that they have been paid to do for the last two months.

If they had an ounce of character and honor, they should return their ill-gotten gains and apologize to taxpayers.

06511 while you sound extremely compassionate I must admit student112 nailed it . I dont know if it is the standards of the school or what but one of my boys averages 6 to 9 hours six days per week from teachers at ESUM highschool cant comment on middle school. My middle schooler goes to private school and she has class from 9 to 1 with no home work they work as a group during classes.Eldest son goes to another maganet school and he too says THANK GOOD NESSnot at ESUMS the teachers there arent cutting any slack about anything .
Google alerts go off all day and as late as 9 in the evening adding assignments, warning of penalties for late assignments etc. The assignments are business as usual there is NO consideration for the fact that they are self motivating, guiding and in some cases out right teaching . Many assignments are program generated with an expectation of them figuring it out. You would think with AP exams starting they would ease up but its just the opposite. The students are saying they do more work now than when in school because the teachers act as though they are only taking a single class. Just like ther eis an expectation of sympathy and compassion that teachers are getting full pay to be home and teach while they take care of their own children and households. They may not be computer savy but where is the consideration for the students that this is not NORMAL...they arent used to being on a computer ,receiving all of theri work and socialization on a computer either all while being home with their families....I have to wonder if ESUMS admin are aware of the difficulties going on??????