[etni] Re: Fw: yearly grades
- From: Linda Dayan <lindadayan7@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <ask@xxxxxxxx>, <etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 23 May 2010 11:21:49 +0300
Regarding the teacher's grade as 50% of the Bagrut grade, I can't do without
it. From the beginning of the year my kids know how this grade will be
determined. At the end of the year, I have almost no arguments from anyone
when I give the grades. The kids that argue - those who never bothered to show
up for "All My Sons", do any of the work or even any test on the play deserve
to get the 10% less for the school grade. My answer to "But it's not on the
Bagrut" is that they write a letter of complaint (which they've been
practicing) to the Ministry of Education. If I didn't have this lever, the
kids who make the effort to learn what I teach would feel cheated. Those who
do the work usually find it adds to the grade I give them.
> From: ask@xxxxxxxx
> To: etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [etni] Fw: yearly grades
> Date: Sat, 22 May 2010 21:50:24 +0300
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: sbshai - sbshai@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: yearly grades
>
>
> Hi Michele,
> In answer to your question about what would be accomplished by eliminating
> the school grade for the Bagrut, I'd like to first explain why many teachers
> find this to be a useless ordeal:
>
> First, it's an ordeal because we take great pains to be both considerate and
> fair -- i.e., we want to (realistically) reward students who have attended
> class (both physically and mentally!), prepared their assignments and
> generally shown an effort to progress in their language proficiency. At
> least, this is what we understand the purpose of the tziun shnati to be; it
> should serve as a magen for deserving students, especially those who never
> quite become 'mavens' at Bagrut stategy (all their practice
> notwithstanding).
>
> The useless part figures in this way: No matter how hard we work at these
> grades, we are inevitably deprived of a sense of satisfaction: Principals
> may be disappointed that our averages aren't higher, parents are upset and
> students claim we've ruined their lives -- regardless of how generous we've
> actually been!
> The sad result is that the best hagglers may win in the end simply by
> wearing us down, which is clearly an unjust situation. Why should we be
> subjected to such demeaning behavior?
>
> To top all this, there is no standardization throughout the country in the
> way these grades are given. For example, in some schools English speakers
> automatically get 100%, even if this is unwarranted according to their work
> record.
> There are many schools who start with a bonus of 10 points for their
> students, also without regard for any meaningful criteria.
>
> The bottom line is this -- and it's reiterated by principals, parents and
> students: If the student can achieve a higher score on his Bagrut than we've
> given as a yearly grade (which can indeed happen as there's bound to be any
> easy enough exam among all the ones he's allowed to take, and he receives
> THAT mark -- not an average of all his tests), then we do look stingy!
>
> So when all is said and done -- regardless of what we're told -- the yearly
> grade is not what it's cracked up to be! It's just an unnecessary hassle
> for us, and the way the system works now, our students get enough chances to
> succeed on the Bagrut. (Hence, our ordeal is rather useless.)
>
> I believe I've represented the position of many teachers, and I hope this
> answers your question.
>
> Shavua tov,
> Batya
>
>
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