The Doc Is In

“The time has come,” the Walrus said, “to speak of many things.”

Archive for April 11th, 2008

Class Size

Posted by drpezz on April 11, 2008

Our English classes are slated to be maxed out again next year. In a year when our department was told we were the focus for class size help, we will again have 32 students in every freshman course (our most at-risk students) and in each sophomore course. This does not bode well.

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments »

Gift Wrapped Credits & Diplomas

Posted by drpezz on April 11, 2008

A while back I had a student, Davy, reach the final week of his final semester in high school, and he had a 40% in my senior Mythology course while maintaining an attendance rate of 60% (and I think a blood-alcohol level of 2.0 most of the semester). I wouldn’t budge on giving “extra credit” to Davy as requested by the parents and the principal.

Instead of asking “what can Davy do to pass the course?” I was asked “what extra credit will you give Davy so he can pass?” I didn’t know where to start. I didn’t feel supported, and I definitely didn’t feel that the integrity of the course was being upheld. The principal placed the responsibility of Davy’s success on my shoulders instead of Davy’s. Still, I did offer one option: Davy passes the final with a C or better–showing that he learned the material–and I would pass him with a D-. Davy and his parents declined. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Administration, Diplomas, Extra Credit, Graduation, Online Learning, Parents, Testing, WASL | 3 Comments »