Esther, I don't understand why. The Matkonot can still be a good 50% of the magen grade. My teaching situation is similar to yours - my students are also very studious - their projects, book reports, and literature tasks are mostly in the 90s+ range - but some of them do very poorly on their Matkonot. Nevertheless, I usually have no problem giving magen / yearly grades according to the NBA. Which bring me to a suggestion for a new poll (although I think that I can already guess the results) - How many teachers give magen / yearly marks according to the percentages allotted by the NBA? (And remember that it's not really a suggestion - as far as I know, it's obligatory. Adele, I agree with you regarding grades and how they affect students' willingness to come to class and learn. Unless the Bagrut starts testing ALL the areas of English teaching which we are supposed to cover (e.g., literature, extensive reading), there has to be some way to impress upon our students that this is something they need. (OK, I admit that in our school, most students would probably study no matter what - but I know that this is not the case in many Israeli classrooms.) All the best, Rivka ----- Original Message ----- From: "Esther Revivo" <estherrv@xxxxxxxxxxx> Subject: RE: present Etni poll results Adele, if I figured out the yearly grades the way the NBA suggests, the Ministry would cancel the magen of ALL my seniors this year in particular!!They are extremely studious, do EVERY task dilligently; read ; did gorgeous projects; etc. But, their three matkonot grades on E were horrendous!!!!!! Had I known that E would be as easy as it was this year, I WOULD have been able to follow the NBA rubrics. However, in 90% of the exams in the past, there would have been a HUGE difference between their true test score and what I SHOULD have given them according to the NBA. The school would have been punished with the magenim being cancelled. P.S. Yes, I know that many pupils do return as "externis" but many of them have shelled out thousands of shekels at Berlitz; Wallstreet; etc. ad nauseum. Here in a development town like Netivot and nearby Ofakim and Sederot, few have ready cash for such a luxury. Esther Revivo --------------------------------- TV dinner still cooling? Check out "Tonight's Picks" on Yahoo! TV.