<p>Usually when kids are failing, teachers will give them Mercy points so they pass. But why wont teachers give B+ students points so they can get an A? Clearly the student that earned the B+ is a better student than the failing one. So why do failing students get extra points?</p>
<p>Teachers know that if a student *fails * a class (as in an F), he/she may have to retake the class and/or face dire consequences (both at home and at school)—and I wholly agree with them. A B+ may not be good if you’re an outstanding student, but an F is not good no matter who are—outstanding or not. Additionally, a B+, since it is so close to an A, may serve as motivation to work harder. I can imagine there would be very little motivation with an F—it is far too negative. In fact, an F may convince a student that he/she does not have the capability to succeed.</p>
<p>As for your question itself—stupid kids do NOT get “all the benefits”. Try this: fail 2 or more classes, and get below a 300 in each section of the SAT. Then come back to me with a list of “all the benefits” you have achieved. =D</p>
<p>does it not also make the teacher look bad?
idk, i saw it recently on TV…</p>
<p>There are some things in life money can’t buy, for everything else theres mastercard.</p>
<p>Well, a lot of money also goes into stupid kids that should be going into the nonexistent gifted programs in many middle/elementary schools, and more honors/AP classes in high schools that don’t have enough, with all the extra special education teachers. I’m not saying these teachers aren’t necessary, but I think, at least in my school, the district ends up spending more on stupid kids than on smart kids, and it irritates me.</p>
<p>I had a teacher that did this. I was doing A level work, yet he refused to give me an A based on the premise that one girl in the class already had an A… (got an A-)
Yet girls with D’s would be boosted for absolutely no reason at all other than they needed the help more. He even stated that it was unfair to me, yet did nothing about it.</p>
<p>He flat out admitted this to me… next semester (different english class, same teacher), I completely worked my butt off and got that A…</p>
<p>and then there’s the whole no child left behind act…</p>
<p>Quite frankly, I don’t give a **** because they’re not the ones that I’m going to compete with for college, graduate school, and the workplace.</p>
<p>I’m the one getting the benefits for having the scholarships.</p>
<p>Socialism!</p>
<p>Seriously, why so harsh? I had a friend who was failing math simply because he’s very bad at it (and his teacher was bad, too). He worked hard, too, to try to learn the math, but couldn’t do well enough. He did barely pass in the end (without pity points).</p>
<p>But, what makes you deserve the extra few points? Because you picked the right parents and became intelligent?</p>
<p>Okay, that sounded harsher than I meant. Just saying, you’re the one with all the benefits: intelligence.</p>
<p>You’re right, but hard work definitely plays into it.</p>
<p>I have a decently intelligent friend who got a D up to a B when no one else could because of his dedication and hard work. He also was very polite to the teacher. The teacher didn’t give those points to the kids who failed because they were irresponsible.</p>
<p>I know I was a little bit rude, but the guys above me were complaining about those kids who had the extra points and their “benefits”.</p>
<p>I don’t think Liist was trying to say that people who don’t do well in school are lazy idiots who can never succeed.</p>
<p>Anyway, by no means do stupid kids get all the benefits. I’ve heard of few teachers who would give mercy points for anyone, which is a good idea, because I think that mercy points are stupid (except maybe in the case of a hard-working student who has a 59.4%).</p>
<p>I’ve been the recipient of B+ -> A- pity points. I struggled in geometry but worked my tail off and ended first and second semesters with an 89.51 and 89.49, respectively. My teacher realized how much that A meant to me and rounded my grade up both semesters, even when it went against her usual policy for rounding grades. :)</p>
<p>That said, I think there is a difference between a dense kid who tries really hard in difficult classes and barely passes and an average kid who puts forth no effort in basic classes and barely passes. In my experience, teachers pity the former student over the latter and are more likely to award those necessary extra points for a passing grade.</p>
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<p>Well, I’m fine with rounding in all cases. I like thinking of 90-100% as what you should be getting, and 89.5-90% as a kind of “grace period” for grades.</p>
<p>In my school district, teachers are (supposedly) legally obligated to round 89.5s up.</p>
<p>Well, my school has this policy against rounding. My friend this year got an 89.9 semester grade for Alg. 2 and the teacher refused to round up. In order for me to get an A my teacher had to add imaginary extra credit points to the grading program.</p>
<p>EDIT: Our online grading system does not allow teachers to round up without adding “extra credit,” so most teachers can’t be bothered to round up.</p>
<p>It may make the teacher(at least in my school) look bad. If too many students failed, it was believed the teacher was the one failing and would face some sort of discipline. It was well-known in my school that teachers would raise grades to prevent the former.</p>
<p>Just get your nose a little brown and you’ll get the mercy points 99% of the time</p>
<p>I am warning you that this is my most potically incorrect statement ever. I apologize now.</p>
<p>I know, they get head protective gear in case bricks fall on their heads(helmets), specializied trasportation for a select few students(short bus), a bunch of classes that not even the val can take(special ED), and even their very own set of olympics. Wow, they get every thing.</p>
<p>It’s more pity than anything. Obviously if a student fails a course and the teacher sees that he/she somewhat tried to pass, the teacher will normally pass that student with a D so they don’t have to take the class again. A B+ from an A can make quite a difference, especially if you’re aiming for top schools, but teachers do have to be fair about grading. An 89% is a B+ and just giving you an A wouldn’t really be fair at all to other students. Heck, a teacher can still choose to give you a B+ if you had an 89.9%, so you should be pretty happy that most teachers curve really close grades (less than 1%).</p>
<p>You are my hero. Not to mention that the money is going to come out of your paycheck to pay for these things.</p>
<p>And disabled people:</p>
<p>They get their own parking lots near the front (yet they’re still allowed to drive), they get the first pick for certain jobs, they get special transportation (in Jacksonville, it’s called JTA Connexion), etc.</p>
<p>Not nearly as good as rmadden, but I tried.</p>