"Grading for Equity" - Portland Schools Mull Banning Zeroes for Cheating and Not Doing Work

"Grading for Equity"
More destructive "woke" thinking.

Portland Schools Mull Banning Zeroes for Cheating and Not Doing Work

Students in Portland, Oregon may soon be able to get away with cheating and not doing assignments, if Portland Public Schools implements new “equitable grading practices.”

If adopted, the new practices will bring various changes such as new grading structures, not grading homework, not giving students failing grades for not completing their work or cheating, and not grading for “non-academic factors” such as behavior, participation, and effort.

“Not giving a student a zero when his or her work earned such a low mark actually harms that child,” Jonathan Butcher, an education fellow at the Heritage Foundation told Fox News. “You hurt a student when you pass them on from one grade to another without asking that student to show that they can complete the work he or she is assigned.”

The initiative springs from grading practices implemented by some of the district’s schools during the COVID-19 pandemic that accommodated for “inequalities in access to curriculum and instruction,” according to a handout first reported on by the Washington Free Beacon.

The handout says the initiative’s goal is to standardize practices district-wide after the non-unified implementation “led to a mosaic of grading practices across schools and across the district that is confusing to students and families.”

Butcher said the document “uses catchphrases from the woke lexicon” such as “implicit bias” and “culturally affirming.” He added that such terms are “hard to define and are not supported by research as effective practices.”

it was always going to devolve to this point but it also highlights the coming war between equality and equity, the more is less lot vs thed do more with less side.

when stacked up we are heading for a sectarian society at war with itself..

of the 2 I know which one will stand the test of time..

If the grades in schools mean so little and do nothing to actually "grade" students, then the schools are no longer necessary. It will be time to simply eliminate all schools and the laws that require attendance. What the hell, reading, writing, and arithmetic are all institutional racism anyhow, a white man's weapons that are used to keep people of color down and out, so no need for all that. Plus the English language, eliminate that as well as that's just white racist nonsense anyway.

What could go wrong? It will be equitable and level the playing field. A great idea all around.

originally posted by: nickyw
it was always going to devolve to this point but it also highlights the coming war between equality and equity, the more is less lot vs thed do more with less side.

when stacked up we are heading for a sectarian society at war with itself..

of the 2 I know which one will stand the test of time..

It's hard to imagine that elementary school is one of the best places to nourish the Young person's mind from grades 1 through 6 and it's very important that they have to learn the very basics of reading in the very basics of math and the very basics of English grammar they have to learn this it goes a long way in life and it's just sad that the teachers many teachers probably feel like they're just babysitting so it's a very confused world we're living in I believe.

a reply to: musicismagic

seeing the young adults come through from the school of everyone is a winner and spelling don't count this is just next phase destruction of young minds to craft a class of mindless serfs who'll be happy to accept their lot in life, its this meek inherits equity stuff that tells you its being done by a Christian sect, and one of the most radical sects at that, a sect that hates itself and the church, that sees the bible as a curse while holding that all forms of degeneracy are virtues.

such a society can not exist long as the brewing unintended consequences will tear it apart.

a reply to: FlyersFan

Not a new concept, it's the same as giving the child an A for effort, but there's more to it than that. Confidence building and pinpointing where extra help/tutoring or social (right vs. wrong as in not cheating) guidance is required.

a reply to: FlyersFan

THe world will always need ditch diggers.

originally posted by: MichiganSwampBuck
If the grades in schools mean so little and do nothing to actually "grade" students, then the schools are no longer necessary. It will be time to simply eliminate all schools and the laws that require attendance. What the hell, reading, writing, and arithmetic are all institutional racism anyhow, a white man's weapons that are used to keep people of color down and out, so no need for all that. Plus the English language, eliminate that as well as that's just white racist nonsense anyway.

What could go wrong? It will be equitable and level the playing field. A great idea all around.

Remember when white land owners kept minorities down by denying them access to tools such as reading? Looks like they will be trying that again in Portland. History always repeats its self.

But your wrong; even when schools no longer teach children they will still be useful to the affluent in Portland. Daycare so that their parents can be most productive in the Portland businesses.

It's interesting that some people have natural skill sets that will never be evident or recognized in any classroom but given half a chance out in the real world will lead them on the road to success.

www.businessinsider.com...

a reply to: quintessentone

except we've lost the interplay between teachers and parents who are now more often in conflict than not so no gains can be had for pupils.. unless teacher/parents share the exact same ideological religion, and we re-enter the phase where non conforming kids get punished by religious teachers..

so we find ourselves cycling back to the worst bits of the faith schools, segregation and parallel societies evolving.

a reply to: nickyw

As a witness to parent/teacher interaction, most teachers have parent(s)/guardians phone numbers at their fingertips for any and all situations requiring interaction.

We never had to do this in the past and produced brilliant scientists, philosophers, mathematicians, engineers etc.
When I say we I blatantly mean the western world and it's native people.
Now we bow to the lowest common denominator, kids who can't learn at all and all the clever kids are suffering.
There are clever and eager black kids who are held back by peer pressure to rather twerk or join a gang, a problem that needs sorting.

There are also dumb white kids, however they used to just have to do the year again (at least in Germany).
Meanwhile the great majority went on. It was never so rampant that we had to drop it all and drag the rest down.

A personal story, I went to a very progressive school, where we could literally walk on tables during class and didn't get grades.
Guess how long that lasted? Two years and then grades were reinstalled, even A and B groups were introduced for important classes such as maths etc.

I went from never listening to a word to being in both A groups, despite the teachers thinking I wasn't capable due to my behaviour during the laissez fare years.

Kids need order not chaos, they need it like we need a skeleton to hold our bodies up.

If some people can't hack simple things and disrupt everyo else, send them to special schools, we had them too in Germany. For children who just couldn't follow normal school.

There is no problem apart from the word raccism which seem to be the ruler everything is measured by.
When in fact it should be normal kids vs those with literal learning difficulties (literally, not as in mentally disabled).

originally posted by: quintessentone
It's interesting that some people have natural skill sets that will never be evident or recognized in any classroom but given half a chance out in the real world will lead them on the road to success.

www.businessinsider.com...

see, this is a perfect example of why school is a waste of time. Teachers don't really do anything of value. Why not just give kids a voucher for the gaming system of their choice, a stockpile of honey buns and energy drinks, and we can sit back and reap the rewards of a well managed society. Compliments of the left. Well played non-binary's.

originally posted by: network dude

originally posted by: quintessentone
It's interesting that some people have natural skill sets that will never be evident or recognized in any classroom but given half a chance out in the real world will lead them on the road to success.

www.businessinsider.com...

see, this is a perfect example of why school is a waste of time. Teachers don't really do anything of value. Why not just give kids a voucher for the gaming system of their choice, a stockpile of honey buns and energy drinks, and we can sit back and reap the rewards of a well managed society. Compliments of the left. Well played non-binary's.

I said 'some' people, the majority will benefit from what the classroom offers which is more than reading and math. I think they should add more lessons how to feed yourself on a budget, how to save and invest money, face-to-face social skills, etc. basically everything else that is required outside the classroom and digital world.

This article goes into the finer details of this 'being mulled over' plan. It almost touches on the necessity for a 'learn and hand in your materials at your pace' type of set up where you are still accountable for doing and handing in the work.

Citing COVID-19 disruptions, the DOE said schools “must adjust” expectations for timely work and are “encouraged to lessen or eliminate penalties for late work beyond these deadlines.”

Student attendance will not directly impact grades. The DOE guidelines state that “courses that currently include attendance as a factor in student grades must remove that factor completely.”

Like last year, city students will not be given failing grades and will instead be given opportunities to make up material.

In addition, parents will now have the option of scrapping any numeric grade this year and replacing it with a less exacting “meets standards” or “pass” mark that won’t count towards a cumulative overall score.

Individual schools will be allowed to determine how numeric grades are calculated and will be given wide berth in assessing student progress.

“This guidance is designed to promote equity, flexibility, and empathy in our grading practice for all students,” the DOE said.

nypost.com...

originally posted by: quintessentone
It's interesting that some people have natural skill sets that will never be evident or recognized in any classroom but given half a chance out in the real world will lead them on the road to success.

www.businessinsider.com...

Aren't you arguing the exception here? Also, wouldn't these people be even more successful if they are good at reading, writing and arithmetic?

originally posted by: dandandat2

originally posted by: MichiganSwampBuck
If the grades in schools mean so little and do nothing to actually "grade" students, then the schools are no longer necessary. It will be time to simply eliminate all schools and the laws that require attendance. What the hell, reading, writing, and arithmetic are all institutional racism anyhow, a white man's weapons that are used to keep people of color down and out, so no need for all that. Plus the English language, eliminate that as well as that's just white racist nonsense anyway.

What could go wrong? It will be equitable and level the playing field. A great idea all around.

Remember when white land owners kept minorities down by denying them access to tools such as reading? Looks like they will be trying that again in Portland. History always repeats its self.

But your wrong; even when schools no longer teach children they will still be useful to the affluent in Portland. Daycare so that their parents can be most productive in the Portland businesses.

I know, schools will be left for babysitting, indoctrinating, and control. It would be hard to get uneducated idiots to vote, so no need for that when these kids are adults. They will make their vote by not voting or being told who and what to vote for.

originally posted by: Hecate666
Kids need order not chaos, they need it like we need a skeleton to hold our bodies up.

Exactly. What this 'grading for equity' woke nonsense does is chaos. It doesn't teach. It doesn't hold kids responsible. It just 'makes kids feel good' because it's all about the feelings and not the quality of education. Dumbing down to lowest denominator. UNFAIR to students who actually learn and become productive members of society.

But then again, as was said, the world needs ditch diggers too. PFFFT.

originally posted by: Kaiju

originally posted by: quintessentone
It's interesting that some people have natural skill sets that will never be evident or recognized in any classroom but given half a chance out in the real world will lead them on the road to success.

www.businessinsider.com...

Aren't you arguing the exception here? Also, wouldn't these people be even more successful if they are good at reading, writing and arithmetic?

Depends on the person and their abilities and what they are applying their natural skill set to, don't you agree? Let's say I'm not good at math, arithmetic or reading but I am able to fix up dilapidated houses and sell them for 3X the money, blood, sweat and tears I put in, does it matter that I know it's 3X the money when my bank balance looks mighty healthy? I am sure the contractor with that kind of incentive will want to start working on their arithmetic skills, or maybe it's this type of life's experience that puts arithmetic in the right perspective for this person.

originally posted by: DBCowboy
a reply to: FlyersFan

THe world will always need ditch diggers.

Actually when I took a horticultural design course the instructor/contractor said that serious money can be made in this field by installing sprinkler systems and fish ponds...a sort of ditch digging.

originally posted by: quintessentone

originally posted by: DBCowboy
a reply to: FlyersFan

THe world will always need ditch diggers.

Actually when I took a horticultural design course the instructor/contractor said that serious money can be made in this field by installing sprinkler systems and fish ponds...a sort of ditch digging.

Pedantic reply.

STEM jobs, careers won’t happen to folks who can’t read or do maths.