But here is the GREAT part...the test that the district gives over the internet will be given next week:
In order for [us] to have the student data it needs for its analysis, administer the exam to your students during exam week next week. The online portion of it won't be available for preview, because we need to tighten up security for it if the item analysis is to be valid.
So I have no access to the questions and it won't be put online until next week. This gives me every reason to write to the superintendent, principal, and district math leadership to tell me what to do. Should I:
- lower my standards regarding attendance, or
- expect high standards and give them zeros for missing the exams?
14 comments:
I hope you post the replies. This is fascinating to me. At my school, the IB (granted, it's MYP) show up for the exams, but regular students aren't as likely to care.
If the exam is not taken on the date and time posted then it is an automatic zero.
No vacation/sports excuses.
I loved reading this. I can't wait to read your update!
Good luck. I really do want to hear how this turns out.
Guess how many exams I was instructed to give early because kids were going to the Caribbean????
As both a former teacher and principal, I have had many, many parents tell me directly, "It doesn't matter if my kids are at school for the first week or the last week of school. The first week is just review and getting organized, and the last week is just busy work." These were not the parents who were alienated from education, but often were those we might describe as helicopter parents. I think we do not do a very good job of letting the public know what school is really like or what it is all about.
roek said: "I think we do not do a very good job of letting the public know what school is really like or what it is all about."
It is just possible that some parents are right on target about some schools. I recall the year that a new superintendent call a big come to Jesus meeting just before school started to announce to administrators that this year they weren't to send any kids home because they didn't have schedules for them. Say what?
It is equally hard to detect precisely when school ends, particularly in the upper grades. First off, the last day of school before any break is shortened by half and hour to an hour. I don't know why. Second, there is the last day for teachers, and the last day for students, and then there is the last day for grades--each a day or two before the others. During some of these days there might be finals--or not. So there might be class--or not. So--is there anything going on during the first and last weeks of school? Hmmm.
then there's the whole
mandated-early-grades-for-graduates
thing--i've encountered this
at several colleges; looks like
some sort of industry standard.
obviously the bosses don't take
classroom work very seriously ...
why should students (or parents)?
Please tell us what happened!
Hi IB a Math Teacher,
I wish your experience shocked me. During my student teaching last semester I had a girl whose family repeatedly went to Hawaii for a week or more during the semester!! They had family there, so that made it okay...
I also wanted to let you know that I picked your blog as one of only four on my blogroll, at my blog about being a new math teacher http://sinesoflearning.blogspot.com/
I've read your entire blog from May 2005 on, and I've learned a lot from your experiences. Thanks for blogging!
I responded to the Teacher Magazine feature on zeros before I dug in and read this post.
My comments about zeros aside, your district has put all your teachers in a tough spot if you don't have guidelines about how to deal with students whose families pull them out a week early.
I'd definitely put your principal on the spot for direction, and he can kick the question up the line if he or she can't deal with it.
Maybe it's too late for this year, but don't let it slide. Put the responsibility where it belongs...on admin.
If our students take the exam on a different date, they have to have a special exam written for them, and with over 3,000 students a semester, that isn't feasible. So for actual emergencies, we will give exams on different dates, but not for vacation, parents or not. We tell students this the first day of class and it's in the syllabus, at the top in the policies section, in bold. Students who won't be there and aren't willing to change their plants can drop the class. Students who say nothing and don't show up get zeroes.
I never heard back from anyone, but being the end of the school year, maybe I should have expected this response.
I could ask for a policy at the beginning of the year, but I'll be told that it isn't really a pressing problem at the beginning of the year, then be told later that nothing can be done because parents didn't have enough notice....
Nevertheless, do what you must to cover your rear, and do it in a timely fashion so no administrator can find fault.
To bad you just can't give an "incomplete" and let the student figure out how to complete the credit with some help from the admin! :D
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