<p>"* Every college handbook I’ve had or reviewed has set it either as any grade above an F or in cases like my LAC when I attended, C- or better."</p>
<p>Cobrat, please stop talking about your LAC. Your LAC’s policies are irrelevant to this situation. And “every college handbook I’ve ever reviewed”? Yet another tall tale. You didn’t actually go review dozens of college handbooks on grading policies.</p>
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<p>Actually, I did compare grading policies/practices of various other colleges/universities with friends/family of a lower-SES HS friend in an effort to support him in a drawn out blatantly unfair grading dispute with a Prof with demonstrated animus against engineering majors and some other issues. </p>
<p>Was ultimately resolved in friend’s favor though considering how blatantly unfair the initial grade was considering the Prof’s syllabus and friends’ documented exam/problem set results, it shouldn’t have happened in the first place.</p>
<p>Since the OP apparently has not named the school or course, this thread probably won’t go very much further beyond speculation based on policies at various other schools that posters are familiar with.</p>
<p>However, the OP’s other posts include several in the IU Bloomington forum, so that is a likely school where there exist courses which are S/F only:</p>
<p><a href=“Indiana University Bloomington”>Indiana University Bloomington;
<p>In such courses, there is no letter grade equivalent to an S, since no students take the course for a letter grade. There is at least one math course in the schedule that is designated as S/F only.</p>
<p>Cobrat, you are too funny! And yes, i believe that you did do that.</p>
<p>^There is no point on which cobrat is not an expert. Thou shall not question his expertise.</p>
<p>And of course the supposed blatant discrimination was because of the person’s SES status. That or his race :rolleyes:</p>
<p>actually, based on Cobrat’s posts, the discrimination was based on the student’s major and prejudices that might have been attached to it based on the class being taken. The SES only factors in because the student presumably didn’t have access to other means of defense in his/her family. If it’s the 92=F story, it’s definitely unfair enough to warrant an action from someone. </p>
<p>The parents should tell their daughter that they may take action on her behalf but only after she provides the class syllabus. The student shouldn’t have gone to her adviser about it but to the class professors to confirm what the TA said, after of course checking that it isn’t already written in the syllabus. In addition, check that the TA didn’t say “D” not “B”, as the TA might be international. Although English proficiency is checked, someone for whom English is a foreign language and who may not be totally aware of the value each grade has, might make a mistake.
(I know of a TA who blissfully gave 50’s and 60’s, apparently unaware that those were failing grades in the US, and not “good” grades like in his country. He thought the students were just whining to get underserved points as students did in his country and since he prided himself on his integrity - ie, students in his country would have tried to bribe him after the whining - he refused to listen to them. There was no malice on his part, just miscommunication. It was a headache to fix and after that we made sure to include the “value” of numericals in the US system into every TA orientation. 
)
In short: OP should get ALL the facts before doing anything.
Kids often leave things out :).
I agree that “everything below a B is an F” sounds harsh.
It also emphasizes how advising can be important for freshmen and how hurried professors don’t necessarily have time to work with undergrads in large schools.
I wouldn’t pull your daughter out or force her to transfer though, especially if she likes her school, but i’d get to the bottom of the matter.</p>
<p>Fighting for a revised P/F threshold seems like a waste of time. What makes you think there won’t be a similar struggle next semester? As full pay? I’d advise; take the credits you have at the end of this semester and suggest moving her to a local college or even community college close to home. Developing good study habits doesn’t happen overnight. Take the money you save and get her a tutor (if necessary).</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Wow MYOS that is interesting about the international TA. I must admit that I would be pretty peeved if I was paying tuition at a school that employed a TA (international or otherwise) who did not understand something as basic as the school’s grading format.</p>
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<p>In that context, I’d be slightly more peeved at the college/academic department for failing to adequately brief TAs/instructors on the college’s grading format/standards. </p>
<p>They have the greater responsibility to brief them and ensure they are clear on such formats/standards BEFORE they start teaching their first classes. </p>
<p>That’s not to say I’m letting the TA/instructors off the hook as they themselves also have the professional responsibility to look up and ensure they understand the grading formats/standards before teaching even in the absence of such briefings.</p>
<p>Very interesting thread. This is cc, so I assume there’s a lot less experience here with remedial classes than there is in the real world.</p>
<p>First, I don’t believe the advisor was in the wrong to suggest a lower level math class for a kid with Cs on her high school transcript and who says she struggles. There’s no way to know what the other comment meant and it’s too hard to speculate what anybody meant when the info is third hand (daughter relays to OP who reports here). </p>
<p>It is very common for remedial courses to have minimum standards do passing well above a standard college course. There are different ways to grade, too. Some give the high stakes assessment at the end of the course, others will require certain percentages to “pass.” I would be fairly certain the pass rate is where it is because students scoring below that benchmark have not been prepared for the next level up. It does not matter at all that the course was or was not a requirement for OP’s d. There’s a single benchmark required to achieve an S. The difference may be that OP’s d would be allowed to progress without a pass because she has an assessment score that places her at the higher level. </p>
<p>In the case where the OP’s child is not in a major that has a math requirement other than the gen ed distribution, taking the required math at a community college is probably the way to go. Check the articulation agreements to be sure the course transfers and be aware that the cc may also require a placement test before signing up for a math class.</p>
<p>OP- giant hugs. This can’t be what you want to be focused on right now!</p>
<p>I think you need to help your D pivot away from worrying about the 78/not passing right now, and focus on her performance in her other classes. The math is the easy problem to solve (taking a re-do this summer is a good solution) but the other classes may be indicative of bigger problems.</p>
<p>First of all- is she going to class? A lot of Freshman get a nasty wake up call when they realize that since there are no penalties for not showing up… so they start missing classes here and there. Then guess what- they don’t understand the material when they try to review it on their own. So going to class- each and every class- should be part of her success strategy.</p>
<p>Second- is she getting adequate sleep? Freshman year is when some kids go off the rails a bit with the new found freedom, no mom and dad to monitor the coming and going, and unlimited social opportunities. But she needs to be in bed at a decent hour (or else she’ll be skipping classes very soon).</p>
<p>Third- She needs to figure out a regular study pattern. For some kids, that means treating 9-6 pm as their job. Classes, and then the library or lab; then head to class (grabbing a sandwich along the way) and a solid block of academics. Then they can linger over dinner with friends, but then it’s back to the books. Other kids like to break up the day with activities, the gym, clubs and volunteer work… but spend at least one of the weekend days studying. If your D can’t tell you what her baseline study system is… she is likely not spending enough time doing it. Kids who think they’re studying “all the time” but are also posting on Facebook and texting with their HS friends and taking a study break for frozen yogurt and then making popcorn… can find themselves staring at the clock at midnight feeling exhausted without really having made a dent in the work they need to do. College isn’t HS and the classes move much quicker and there really is no opportunity to catch up if you’ve blown off a day or a week or a few weeks.</p>
<p>re the 78- I’d suggest that you ask your D if she’s gone to the professor (make an appointment so it looks like a serious meeting and not just a “walking by”) and sat down to discuss “what do I need to do to pass your course”. The instructor doesn’t want to hear a lot of explaining or excuses or “but everyone else would consider a 78 passing”. The instructor wants your D to pass the course, and wants your D to demonstrate mastery of the material. So your D needs to ask the professor “tell me what I can do going forward to pass this course”. The professor may be willing to give a make up test. The professor may be willing to offer your D an extra credit opportunity. Or the professor may say there’s nothing your D can do (so you’re back to the community college idea). But if your D shows the initiative the professor may be willing to consider some make up work.</p>
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I know you mean to help the OP, but as a professor I hate it when students come in asking what they can do to pass the class and wanting extra credit or make up work. I have a policy of never doing that for several reasons. </p>
<p>1) It’s not really fair to the rest of the class to permit you to do some kind of extra credit thing that they don’t get the opportunity to do as well. Other students might like to improve their scores. </p>
<p>2) Any extra credit opportunity IMHO shouldn’t raise the student’s score by more than a point, so generally it’s not going to be enough to help you (in the op’s case, maybe a point would be enough so this might not apply). </p>
<p>3) Coming up with another assignment, giving the whole class the opportunity to do it, and grading them all is more work for me. You want me to do more work to make up for the lack of work on your part. If you had worked harder you wouldn’t need ME to work harder. </p>
<p>4) I give the class many many opportunities for points and to show they have learned something in the course. What am I going to tell you to do given that you haven’t learned “enough”? Wash my car?</p>
<p>If the final grade has already been submitted to the Registrar and posted, your D could ask for a grade review if she feels her grade was incorrectly calculated per the terms of the syllabus. The department chair generally does these. Grade reviews are usually not successful but it might be worth a try.</p>
<p>If she is marginal/borderline and still has the final exam left, she can certainly pass if she does well. Sometimes kids catastrophize about classes right before finals and assume they will fail, but they somehow pull it out at the end. If it’s not over, encourage her to focus her energies on studying and reviewing rather than fretting.</p>
<p>I agree with Sylvan about extra credit at the college level. It is unfair to other students who don’t get the chance to do it, and it is a pedagogically indefensible dodge around the course requirements, which were presumably intentionally designed to assess minimum acceptable performance.</p>
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<p>Agreed. Some old-school HS teachers I had remarked about this along with the idea taken from their college experiences that extra credit is more appropriate for lower-levels of K-12, not higher education. </p>
<p>With their professors, any inquiries about “extra credit” would be met with a response along the lines of “Extra credit is for high school, not college.”</p>
<p>Some college classmates had some Profs with similar such attitudes but weren’t nearly as direct about it.</p>
<p>If a class is pass/fail how do they put that into the GPA?I don’t think failing a pass/fail class is going to affect the GPA. I would be much more concerned about the other class she is having problems with. Is that class one that has to do with her major? Why is she having problem with that class? Is it because she doesn’t understand the material or is it a lack of studying? I wouldn’t pull her yet but you need to find out what’s really going on. She needs to understand that you can’t afford full pay if she can’t pass the classes. Perhaps she can tell you what she thinks is the best course of action.</p>
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<p>Probably a course designated as S/F like this:</p>
<p>[Satisfactory/Fail</a> Grades (S/F) : Academic Bulletin](<a href=“http://www.indiana.edu/~bulletin/iub/educ-ugrad/2011-2012/policies/grading/satisfactory-fail.shtml]Satisfactory/Fail”>http://www.indiana.edu/~bulletin/iub/educ-ugrad/2011-2012/policies/grading/satisfactory-fail.shtml)</p>
<p>^If it’s a 3 credit course, then they would divide the total points gained by the total number of credits taken including the 3 credit failed couse. For example if the total number of credits attempted were 15 and the student had A’s in 12 of them and Fail in 3 of them, the GPA would be (12<em>4)/15 = 3.2. If the student passes, then it would just be (12</em>4/12) = 4.</p>
<p>Wow. I wonder if they repeat it if they leave the first fail in the GPA calculation.</p>
<p>^where I teach, they leave it on the transcript, but not in the GPA.</p>