How have U dealt w/ wrong grades in HS?

Parents Forum
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<p>Occasionally, we have had to STRUGGLE to get grades changed that had been wrongly given in report cards. We've had teachers claim that an assignment was never turned in, only to present those teachers with the graded assignments that often have comments written in their writing. (In each case the teachers INSISTED that the assignments were not turned in BUT did not apologize when the proof was shown to them).</p>

<p>Last 2nd quarter, my son's physics teacher told him (on the day that teachers had to submit grades) that he had received an F on his folder since he had never turned it in --- the folder grade was worth one test grade). My son KNEW that he turned it in and said so. The teacher VERY RUDELY insisted that he hadn't. My son ran to his locker and grabbed his folder. On it was a grade of A with a comment on it from the teacher. The teacher just mumbled and didn't apologize. And...What if he hadn't been able to find it!!!!</p>

<p>But what about papers that were never returned (the teacher lost them). Some of the teachers at our kids' school are bad about returning papers in a timely manner so I student doesn't know until quite late that there is a problem. (Just last week my son received his research paper back which he turned in before XMAS!!! -- and that was only after I emailed the teacher and asked what grade my son had gotten on it. She emailed me his grade and said that she "kept forgetting" to return them!) Soooo.... in cases where the teachers are bad about returning assignments, what can be done when a teacher claims that she never received one? </p>

<p>Do schools/teachers need to set up some kind of "receipt" policy so that I kid can have some kind of proof that he turned in an assignment.</p>

<p>Over two weeks ago, 3rd qtr report cards came out and my son received a 90 in one class. We immediately knew that this wasn't right since he hadn't received a 90 or below on ANYTHING in the class. WE immediately contacted the teacher and she agreed to look into it. It took her two weeks to get back to us -- by email -- she simply said that a homework assignment was missing & that it was probably from a day that my son was absent. No mention of WHICH assignment was missing. We knew that our sone does ALL of his homework. Soooooooo, we had to contact her AGAIN and ask which one it was. When she FINALLY told us, we quickly found the assignment and it had her unique little stamp on it -- proof again!!!!</p>

<p>Now, I don't expect anyone to be perfect. But obviously there is no "checks and balances". If this most recent "so called missed" assignment had not be returned, my son would have had to keep the 90 on his report card. At his school, a 90 is an A- and doesn't get a 4.0 -- it gets something like a 3.8.</p>

<p>What can be done to protect the students? I am serious about this. I am sick of having my kids prove to their teachers that they did an assignment when the teachers say that they didn't </p>

<p>(AND don't you think it's silly for teachers to argue with students who ALWAYS do their homework!!!!????) Why can't a teacher just say, "I'm missing a grade for such and such & I know that you always do your homework. I may have not recorded the grade. Please check your folder and see you have it. Why can't a teacher say that to a student who always does his homework!!???</p>

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<p>It sounds like the best defense is a good offense -- you are doing the right thing to keep all of the returned homework and I would suggest that your son might want to keep a log as well -- he can log the day that the homework was turned in, the day that it was returned, and the grade. If he wants to be really pro-active, he can give a photocopy of his log to the teacher the week before the grading period ends -- just to make sure the records correlate.</p>

<p>Which brings me to the next point: the need for your son to be pro-active and take responsibility for this on his own. I know that my kids had similar problems from time to time -- but I also know that they handled all communications with the teacher at least since the 6th grade, which is the earliest I can remember my son reporting an issue like this to me. I know that my kids have always talked to the teachers on their own, near the end of the grading period, to find out where they stood and what their grade would be. </p>

<p>I understand that in the end this is really the teachers' fault, not your kid -- but it is also a problem that can now be anticipated. I also think that if a kid is a little bit of a nag with the teacher, the teacher might just be a little more careful about the way the work is handled. </p>

<p>My daughter has gone one step better at times - she volunteers to help some of her teachers enter the grades into their grade book or computer.</p>

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<p>You are not alone....we've had this same problem many times at our school too. It seems like your son is doing the right thing by saving all his returned assignments.
I would also add that it's a good idea to save all papers/projects done on the computer in a file. This past quarter my son got a 50 on a project because his Spanish teacher said he had only turned half of it in. Of course he had turned it in but she had lost it somehow. Luckily, he had saved the whole project on his computer and was able to come home and print out another copy and turn it in. His grade was changed to 100.</p>

<p>I also agree with calmom that it's a good idea to make your student responsible for these things. Both of my boys have handled teacher "negotiations" throughout high school. I think it gives them a sense of empowerment and holds them responsible for the outcome.</p>

<p>Wow..90 is A- (3.8) at your school? In our district 90 is a B (3.0).</p>

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<p>My S did have a wrong grade. I found out about it as it was going to go on the transcript to be sent to colleges. The teacher apologized and fixed it right away.<br>
In your case, t sounds like a fairly endemic problem and involving more than one teacher. I would be very surprised if it also affected only your child. In that case, a more systemic approach is needed to solving it. Is there a PTA? Can you approach the principal? the superintendent? the school board?
When submitting homework, you might consider asking for a policy of recording it. Failing that, you could send an email informing the teacher that the homework has been/will be submitted. This will give you a paper trail that can be used to argue your son's case later on.
Your son was wise to keep all homeworks. You never know when they will be needed again.</p>

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<p>My short answer to your thread title question is: By banging my head against the wall. (It's about as effective as anything else.)</p>

<p>We haven't had too much trouble, but when we have, we've usually lost the argument. My D's 5th grade teacher was extremely bad. We saved all we could, but when she really did lose things, and said she never had them, what could we do? We had a few instances when we did have the returned, graded paper, but also some when we didn't. My D ended up getting a B in math that year due to this. Her first B ever, and the only B to that point that any of my kids had ever gotten (and she is the youngest) so it was hard on her. But good, too, because she found out that she could survive a B. :) </p>

<p>However, D ended up developing a tic that year from the stress, and the teacher about destroyed her confidence, because everything was always D's fault. We had to seek medical help. At the end of the year, I requested a conference with the principal, took a ton of papers as proof, and the teacher was moved to a lower grade the following year. Not that ineffective teachers in lower grades is always better, but this as the last year before MS was not good. Two kids ended up being pulled out and home-schooled that year.</p>

<p>The thing I hate about HS grades is that the final grades are mailed home long after the teachers have abandoned the school, so there's no one to challenge. My S got a 90 in German his senior year. Like the OP, he never even scored a 90 or below on anything. But it was too late to do anything, and didn't matter anyway in terms of future anything. But it bugged him.</p>

<p>And, in terms of students helping, we have had several instances where the students were given jobs of figuring averages, and bungling their division badly. Those are fairly easy to prove, when given the opportunity (but I wonder if that's what happened to S's German grade.)</p>

<p>PackMom - our district's grades were adjusted when Georgia started the HOPE scholarship program - to make them consistent with the state. It used to be that an A was 93 and up. Now it's 90 and up. But our school doesn't use a 4.0 scale so it doesn't matter what the letter grade is; they use a 100 point -- QPA (quality point average).</p>

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<p><<< Which brings me to the next point: the need for your son to be pro-active and take responsibility for this on his own. >>></p>

<p>My son IS pro-active (see the above examples). However, it is AMAZING to me how many times he has had teachers who REFUSE to deal with this issue when it is brought forth by the kid. THese teachers have adopted a "sit down and shut up" approach. THAT is when we (the parents) get involved - the teachers don't dare tell us to shut up. </p>

<p>In the most recent situation, every time my son tries to talk to his teacher about the problem, she changes the subject and tells him that he is "too worried about grades". That is her way of not having to go thru the hassle of changing his grade. At this point, WE will step in again and force the issue.</p>

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<p>calmom: </p>

<p>Having a student enter grades into the gradebook is a violation of the privacy of other students. I am surprised that your D's teachers allow her to do that.</p>

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<p>PackMom: a 90 in an honors class or an AP class is a 3.8 or A-.</p>

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<p>PackMom: at S's school, a 90 is a 3.8 or A-. Nearly all the private schools do this here and in California (high school level) because the publics do it. If we didn't follow the same 90=A- and 70=c-, then some kids wouldn't be eligible for their sports teams (which require all grades to be over a D). Private schools usually don't want their own kids to be ineligible to play just because they have stronger rules about what a C is.</p>

<p>Believe me.... we are letting our kids try to get the grades changed first. But when it drags on for weeks and the teacher is obviously not going to change the grades, we get involved.</p>

<p>My son was able to handle the Physics teacher and the folder issue right away, because he had the graded folder in his locker and the teacher was on her way to enter the quarter grades to the office.</p>

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<p>marite:</p>

<p>this is a private school. I have talked to the principal about it and he was VERY sympathetic -- especially since he knows our two boys are his top boy performers in the school and ALWAYS do their homework. He was saddened to hear about the rudeness and the lack of apologies when graded homework was presented. However, he is a "nice" principal and won't confront those few teachers about it. Only a few teachers have done this (others happily fix a wrong grade), but the rude ones leave a bad taste in our (and others') mouths --- others have complained too.</p>

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<p>BUT.... what about papers that are never returned? In those cases my kids don't have "proof" that the papers were turned in and graded.</p>

<p>We do keep various files on their computers for them to put each assignment type but some assignments are on hand-outs so they are hand-written.</p>

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<p><<< The thing I hate about HS grades is that the final grades are mailed home long after the teachers have abandoned the school, so there's no one to challenge.>>></p>

<p>I do like it that some of my sons' teachers do tell the kids what their grades are on the days that they have to give the grades to the office. </p>

<p>Unfortunately, final exam grades are not usually graded by the last day of school. I am glad that the school does list the final exam grades next to the 4th quarter gradse so you can see if that is what brought up (or down) your 4th quarter grades.</p>

<p>Frankly, I wish that all grade could be accessed online (by password) so that you can immediately know if a grade wasn't recorded.</p>

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<p>Just another similar story to throw in the mix:</p>

<p>My d. received a "D" on one test, in a class she always receives "A's". She didn't even know about it until it showed up one day on the computer system. Evidently the tests were never returned to the student. She is not pro-active, so we stepped in (slightly), by demanding that SHE ask the teacher to verify the grade. He did -- by giving her back her computer answer sheet. (No questions, only bubbled answers for scan grading). We told her again, that this meant nothing. How could she even tell what she got wrong, or if an answer was skipped, etc. So...we told her to ask for the question sheet. The teacher would not return those without him being present, and they could never find a mutual time to meet. (Evidently he re-uses the tests, and does not trust the students to look at them alone, for fear they will copy them and distribute to future classes). Then we finally stepped in, wrote an email, explained that the test grade took us all by surprise given her typical performance in that class, and asked him to share the questions with her so that she could both verify what went wrong, and also LEARN from her mistakes. By that time, it was near the end of the quarter, he left on sick leave, and "nothing could be done", because he would not arrange for her to view the test. </p>

<p>What a waste! Her final grade averaged to a B, and that was the end of it. So much for learning!</p>

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<p><<<< By that time, it was near the end of the quarter, he left on sick leave, and "nothing could be done", because he would not arrange for her to view the test. >>></p>

<p>This is what drives us CRAZY. The teachers who won't deal with this problem immediately and let it drag on for weeks AND then make you or your child "feel bad" because you or your kids keeps "bugging them" about it!!!!!</p>

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<p>jlauer:</p>

<p>About paper that were never returned and graded: this is why I suggest sending an email informing that the paper is on its way or has been submitted. Emails carry dates. Even better, attach a copy of the paper to the document even when also submitting a hard copy as usual. If the hard copy gets misplaced by the teacher, is never returned, you can keep on resending the original email with attachment--and use it to lodge a complaint with higher-ups, too.</p>

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<p>marite:</p>

<p>I agree that this is a great idea. I wonder if I can get my sons to agree to the extra hassle. </p>

<p>Last December, One of these teachers that always loses stuff wanted the kids to send their research papers to her home -- due after school got out for Xmas. We went to the post office and had it sent with a signature/receipt so that she couldn't later claim that she never received it or claim that it was never sent.</p>

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<p>Maybe tell them that the hassle of dealing with potential problems before they occur is going to be less bothersome than the hassle after they have taken place--i.e., the teacher lost the paper, failed to return it, records the grade wrongly, etc.... Prevention is far better than the cure. :)</p>

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<p>jlauer:
Sorry if I misunderstood your grading system.
Ours is like this:
93-100=A
85-92=B
77-84=C
70-76=D
AP classes: A=6.0, B=5.0,C=4.0,D=3.0
Honors classes: A=5.0,B=4.0,C=3.0,D=2.0
Regular classes: A=4.0,B=3.0,C=2.0,D=1.0</p>

<p>There are no +'s and -'s. Our report cards just list letter grades with all grades averaged together and divided by 8 (our sch. does 8 classes all year long).
Our athletes must have a 2.0 to be eligible to play sports. Wanna hear something funny..Only Juniors and Seniors are allowed to drive to school (due to overcrowding) and must have a GPA of 3.0. So you have to be a much better student to drive than to play a sport!</p>

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<p>My older D used a system where she cleaned out her binder weekly and put all graded work in a file folder. She then had it all in one place if a dispute took place. She passed this advice on to her brother.
My junior son on his own has taken to checking in with most of his teachers every few weeks and having a printout made of his grades. He then has a clear picture of how he is doing and if any assignments are missing. With his math class the teacher bumps your grade up a half grade if you have turned in all your assignments. My son was being a bit lazy and had a B+ going into the final grading period but was confident he had turned in all his work and would get an A. When he checked he found one missing homework, he was able to go back to his file folder and bring the graded assignment in. If he had waited till he saw his final grade it would have been to late.
It is a sign for me that he is growing up. After me telling him for years don't wait till the last minute, it has finally sunk in.</p>

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<p>Gee.. We just always took the teacher's word for it, and assumed our son was just saving face (or conveniently forgetting that he had forgotten). With my s's history, that was MUCH more likely.
Now had it been my daughter...</p>