City student passes 3 classes in four years, ranks near top half of class with 0.13 GPA

Hammster

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City student passes 3 classes in four years, ranks near top half of class with 0.13 GPA


France’s son attends Augusta Fells Savage Institute of Visual Arts in west Baltimore. His transcripts show he’s passed just three classes in four years, earning 2.5 credits, placing him in ninth grade. But France says she didn’t know that until February. She has three children and works three jobs. She thought her oldest son was doing well because even though he failed most of his classes, he was being promoted. His transcripts show he failed Spanish I and Algebra I but was promoted to Spanish II and Algebra II. He also failed English II but was passed on to English III.

“I'm just assuming that if you are passing, that you have the proper things to go to the next grade and the right grades, you have the right credits,” said France.

My question is, who failed? Was it the school? The parent? The student?
 

cow451

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City student passes 3 classes in four years, ranks near top half of class with 0.13 GPA


France’s son attends Augusta Fells Savage Institute of Visual Arts in west Baltimore. His transcripts show he’s passed just three classes in four years, earning 2.5 credits, placing him in ninth grade. But France says she didn’t know that until February. She has three children and works three jobs. She thought her oldest son was doing well because even though he failed most of his classes, he was being promoted. His transcripts show he failed Spanish I and Algebra I but was promoted to Spanish II and Algebra II. He also failed English II but was passed on to English III.

“I'm just assuming that if you are passing, that you have the proper things to go to the next grade and the right grades, you have the right credits,” said France.

My question is, who failed? Was it the school? The parent? The student?
The school bears the greatest responsibility. There should be heads rolling and some teaching certificates revoked for those in supervisory positions. Those staff should have been following procedure.

This sounds like total neglect. And, the State of Maryland should be holding itself accountable as well.
 
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Rene Loup

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Not the whole story, but this is A major factor:

external-content.duckduckgo.com.jpg


Professor Jean Twenge[9] has written about this in at least two of her books, such as The Narcissism Epidemic[4] and Generation Me.[5] Parents are increasingly blaming the teachers, especially because of the hyper-competitive culture in recent decades.[6][7] In Generation Me, she talks about the Millennial Generation having a victim mindset in this sort of thing. One example provided is the feeling that it is less about hard work, and more about luck and connections, especially succeeding in today's economy.[6]

The Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:13-26 are, without a doubt, the ONLY option when it comes to any environment. It is better to have self-discipline, integrity, humility, morals, and a strong work ethic than to throw one's hands up into the air, accuse the whole system of being rigged, and then giving up, whether these claims are legitimate or not. If the latter is preferred, then it only leads to an Age of Decadence, as described in 2 Timothy 3 and Sir John Glubb's[10] essay, The Fate of Empires.[8]

One of the reasons why I respect the Jews, is because in spite of their long history as a persecuted minority group, they still have an incredibly impressive resume of contributions towards human progress (Genesis 22:15-18).[1][2][3] Even if legitimately victimized, be like the Jews: Keep making positive contributions, in spite of hardship. Easier said than done, I know, but it is the better option. I am also still learning this, and so far it is proving MUCH more beneficial than the victim mindset I used as a security blanket in the past. For many, MANY people throughout history, getting through life using the victim mindset and label were luxuries they NEVER HAD in the first place.

Victimhood does NOT automatically put anyone on the moral high ground. How one responds to being victimized, however, does. Victimhood was never an accomplishment, it is simply a product of living in a fallen world. Each of us needs to accept responsibility for our own part in human suffering, instead of seeking scapegoats. Seeking scapegoats is a step towards even more human suffering, the most extreme being genocide.[11][12][13]

Which is better, to suffer for doing good, or to suffer for doing evil? (Luke 6:27-36, Matthew 5:43-48, 1 Peter 3:8-22)
  1. Jesus | Facts, Teachings, Miracles, Death, & Doctrines
  2. Judaism - The role of Judaism in Western culture and civilization
  3. Jewish Nobel Prize Laureates
  4. The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement by Jean M. Twenge
  5. Generation Me - Revised and Updated: Why Today's Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled--and More Miserable Than Ever Before by Jean M. Twenge
  6. “Yeah, Right: The Belief That There's No Point In Trying.” Generation Me: Why Today's Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled--and More Miserable than Ever Before, by Jean M. Twenge, Atria Paperback, 2014, pp. 195–203.
  7. “Be a Winner, Not a Lover.” The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement, by Jean M. Twenge and W. Keith Campbell, Atria Paperback, 2013, pp. 85–86.
  8. http://people.uncw.edu/kozloffm/glubb.pdf - XVII The Age of Intellect p.10 to XXXII Decadence is not physical p.20
  9. https://psychology.sdsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Twenge-vita-2017.pdf
  10. Sir John Bagot Glubb | British army officer
  11. Definition of SCAPEGOAT
  12. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hide-and-seek/201312/the-psychology-scapegoating
  13. Stereotypes and Prejudices | The Holocaust History - A People's and Survivor History - Remember.org
 
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bèlla

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All of the above. The school is accountable for passing him when he failed. Most require remedial classes or summer school to move forward.

The parent is responsible for poor guidance and discipline. If she saw his failing grades and knew he was promoted she should have spoken to the principle and teachers to clear things up.

The student is responsible for his poor performance and refusal to seek assistance if needed.

Yours in His Service,

~bella
 
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MehGuy

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My mother went to a majority black school in the south when she was a kid. She said students were passed all the time despite poor attendance and academics all the time. That students who went to school would often just stay in the hallways the whole day fighting and partying.

As a kid I thought my mother's stories were too unbelievable to be true.. but after reading testimonies from former teachers this seems to indeed be the case for some places. These teachers report about being under tremendous pressure to pass students so the school looks better at the end of the year.

Although if I'm reading this article correctly they didn't even bother to do some grading magic to wiggle his grades to at least a D average. Not sure why.
 
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ThatRobGuy

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I think this highlights a major flaw with one of the major underlying mindsets in terms of ranking schools by student performance.

There are a lot of states (not sure if Maryland is one of them), that directly tie funding access to what kinds of grades and test scores students are getting. Which incentivizes schools to artificially "bump up" grades for students.

It becomes a "chicken and the egg" scenario.

A school can't access additional funds until grades and standardized test scores come up, but it's tough to make that happen if you don't have access to additional funds for more up-to-date teaching materials.

Sort of like saying "we can't give you paint to paint this car, until you've already painted this car"


The other flaw in the system is in localities where school funding is tied to property tax revenue. I see a lot of disparities in that regard here in Ohio.

There's a locality about 20 mins away from me that had so much additional money they had to find a way to spend, that they just put in a gourmet coffee shop (which I was surprised by, I guess part of me assumed for some reason that allowing high school kids to buy coffee at school wasn't allowed, but I guess I was wrong...or maybe, it's just for the faculty and staff, but none the less), and then 10 minutes north of that, a high school that literally doesn't have air conditioning yet.
 
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MehGuy

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My mother went to a majority black school in the south when she was a kid. She said students were passed all the time despite poor attendance and academics all the time. That students who went to school would often just stay in the hallways the whole day fighting and partying.

As a kid I thought my mother's stories were too unbelievable to be true.. but after reading testimonies from former teachers this seems to indeed be the case for some places. These teachers report about being under tremendous pressure to pass students so the school looks better at the end of the year.

Although if I'm reading this article correctly they didn't even bother to do some grading magic to wiggle his grades to at least a D average. Not sure why.

I remember my mother telling me that in order to pass one class all you had to do at the end of the semester was open a can of soup with a can opener. Not sure if one got an "A" for the class because of that or not.. but I wouldn't be surprised. I also hope it was at least Home Economics or something..
 
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SummerMadness

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The student is ranked 62 out of 120, are they trying to say he's in the 48% percentile of the class? It's more like ranking at the top of the bottom half of the class, although that demonstrates a failing school system if nearly half the students in the class have a GPA lower than 0.1373. The student and school bear responsibility, but we as a society also bear a responsibility for thinking it's okay that a parent has to work three jobs to support her family.
 
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keith99

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Skiming through the link the School claims to ahve called multiple times and even made a visit to the home.

If that is true then a major part of the blame transfers to the parent.

Do schools still send home report cards which a parent must sign and the chid return to the school? If so the paper trail there might be interesting.

Again back to when I was in school a D was barely passing, so barely that it was NOT enough to advance to the next semester in classes that depended on what came before. That for sure included Math, all the sciences and foreign language. It should include most English classes. That the kid advanced in such classes with F's and also in class standing is very disturbing as that is not something the school would be able to do without at least a major flaw in oversight at the state level.
 
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CRAZY_CAT_WOMAN

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My question is, who failed? Was it the school? The parent? The student?
What failed these kids, is getting pregnant is to easy.
She thought her oldest son was doing well because even though he failed most of his classes.
A report card is sent home. The mother sees these bad grades. The sad thing is she's okay with this. These bad grades are unacceptable. Period !
 
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keith99

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Here is a testimony from a former teacher about how chaotic his teaching experience was.


I found it disturbing that the teacher repeatedly said 'we have a really low graduation rate, especially with seniors'.

Sorry but that pretty much destroys my confidence in him.
 
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MehGuy

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I found it disturbing that the teacher repeatedly said 'we have a really low graduation rate, especially with seniors'.

Sorry but that pretty much destroys my confidence in him.

He is certainly not the most articulate man in the world and he's just a shop teacher. I don't see why that alone needs to destroy any confidence you have in him though.
 
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iluvatar5150

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Not the whole story, but this is A major factor:

View attachment 295708

Professor Jean Twenge[9] has written about this in at least two of her books, such as The Narcissism Epidemic[4] and Generation Me.[5] Parents are increasingly blaming the teachers, especially because of the hyper-competitive culture in recent decades.[6][7] In Generation Me, she talks about the Millennial Generation having a victim mindset in this sort of thing. One example provided is the feeling that it is less about hard work, and more about luck and connections, especially succeeding in today's economy.[6]

The Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:13-26 are, without a doubt, the ONLY option when it comes to any environment. It is better to have self-discipline, integrity, humility, morals, and a strong work ethic than to throw one's hands up into the air, accuse the whole system of being rigged, and then giving up, whether these claims are legitimate or not. If the latter is preferred, then it only leads to an Age of Decadence, as described in 2 Timothy 3 and Sir John Glubb's[10] essay, The Fate of Empires.[8]

One of the reasons why I respect the Jews, is because in spite of their long history as a persecuted minority group, they still have an incredibly impressive resume of contributions towards human progress (Genesis 22:15-18).[1][2][3] Even if legitimately victimized, be like the Jews: Keep making positive contributions, in spite of hardship. Easier said than done, I know, but it is the better option. I am also still learning this, and so far it is proving MUCH more beneficial than the victim mindset I used as a security blanket in the past. For many, MANY people throughout history, getting through life using the victim mindset and label were luxuries they NEVER HAD in the first place.

Victimhood does NOT automatically put anyone on the moral high ground. How one responds to being victimized, however, does. Victimhood was never an accomplishment, it is simply a product of living in a fallen world. Each of us needs to accept responsibility for our own part in human suffering, instead of seeking scapegoats. Seeking scapegoats is a step towards even more human suffering, the most extreme being genocide.[11][12][13]

Which is better, to suffer for doing good, or to suffer for doing evil? (Luke 6:27-36, Matthew 5:43-48, 1 Peter 3:8-22)
  1. Jesus | Facts, Teachings, Miracles, Death, & Doctrines
  2. Judaism - The role of Judaism in Western culture and civilization
  3. Jewish Nobel Prize Laureates
  4. The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement by Jean M. Twenge
  5. Generation Me - Revised and Updated: Why Today's Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled--and More Miserable Than Ever Before by Jean M. Twenge
  6. “Yeah, Right: The Belief That There's No Point In Trying.” Generation Me: Why Today's Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled--and More Miserable than Ever Before, by Jean M. Twenge, Atria Paperback, 2014, pp. 195–203.
  7. “Be a Winner, Not a Lover.” The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement, by Jean M. Twenge and W. Keith Campbell, Atria Paperback, 2013, pp. 85–86.
  8. http://people.uncw.edu/kozloffm/glubb.pdf - XVII The Age of Intellect p.10 to XXXII Decadence is not physical p.20
  9. https://psychology.sdsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Twenge-vita-2017.pdf
  10. Sir John Bagot Glubb | British army officer
  11. Definition of SCAPEGOAT
  12. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hide-and-seek/201312/the-psychology-scapegoating
  13. Stereotypes and Prejudices | The Holocaust History - A People's and Survivor History - Remember.org

What on earth makes you think that these educators are running away from helicopter parents? The mother in question claims to have been working three jobs and unaware that her son was doing so poorly. That's the opposite of a helicopter parent.

The school in question is in one of the worse-off parts of Baltimore (which is saying something). It's about a half-mile from the projects where Freddie Grey was arrested.

Drop into Google Streetview and see the block of mostly-vacant houses directly across the street.
Google Maps

Ooh, here's a good one across a different corner. You can see that some of these vacants don't even have roofs anymore:
Google Maps

You can tool around see that the whole area is like that. There's tons of poverty and tons of dysfunction.
 
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mama2one

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our school district sends 4 report cards/yr and they send emails to parents to let them know they're coming

I know parent in OP is working 3 jobs but one still needs to read report cards

we spend a lot of time helping child with homework esp. math so much so that asked husband to mention it @ conference in 3rd or 4th grade

teacher had no idea child was struggling & put her in a help class which made a huge difference

someone has to be on a child's side & I believe that responsibility falls mostly on parent who can then seek help
 
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MehGuy

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One of the reasons why I respect the Jews, is because in spite of their long history as a persecuted minority group, they still have an incredibly impressive resume of contributions towards human progress

Yeah the Jews are awesome.
 
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Rene Loup

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What on earth makes you think that these educators are running away from helicopter parents? The mother in question claims to have been working three jobs and unaware that her son was doing so poorly. That's the opposite of a helicopter parent.

The school in question is in one of the worse-off parts of Baltimore (which is saying something). It's about a half-mile from the projects where Freddie Grey was arrested.

Drop into Google Streetview and see the block of mostly-vacant houses directly across the street.
Google Maps

Ooh, here's a good one across a different corner. You can see that some of these vacants don't even have roofs anymore:
Google Maps

You can tool around see that the whole area is like that. There's tons of poverty and tons of dysfunction.

Yes, sir, I do understand this reality you have pointed out. As I have stated in the beginning of my post, this is A major factor, NOT the whole story.

While many things are outside our control, we all still need to take personal responsibility in how we respond to the situation. We all need to exchange ideas, learn from them, and come up with practical solutions instead of playing the blame game. Holding one and only one factor responsible for a complex problem is not going to fully solve it.

I have added my two cents on this kind of situation. I do not expect you to agree with them, just use them as food for thought. I understand many people today are very passionate about this social issue, especially given today's economy. However, we all need character development, like the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:13-26), to truly make problem-solving work as a team, not a competition of any kind.

God bless!
 
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Ana the Ist

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City student passes 3 classes in four years, ranks near top half of class with 0.13 GPA


France’s son attends Augusta Fells Savage Institute of Visual Arts in west Baltimore. His transcripts show he’s passed just three classes in four years, earning 2.5 credits, placing him in ninth grade. But France says she didn’t know that until February. She has three children and works three jobs. She thought her oldest son was doing well because even though he failed most of his classes, he was being promoted. His transcripts show he failed Spanish I and Algebra I but was promoted to Spanish II and Algebra II. He also failed English II but was passed on to English III.

“I'm just assuming that if you are passing, that you have the proper things to go to the next grade and the right grades, you have the right credits,” said France.

My question is, who failed? Was it the school? The parent? The student?

Yes...to all three. I can't speak intelligently about the school but they definitely should have contacted her.

Where's the father in this?
 
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