MTT

While I was reading a post from a fellow blogger, one in particular caught my attention http://sweeneymath.blogspot.com/ . What to do when a student fails, or is failing? Not necessarily just a test or a class, but even when they fail to comprehend a topic or idea, as a teacher what are you supposed to do? As Mr. Sweeney explains his dilemma of not wanting to give students a failing grade, but also not wanting to give them a grade they didn’t earn, he also explains his concern that many kids now have never failed anything before. I’ve personally read stories about how schools have had to add more sports teams because they have more students wanting to play than they have room for, and trying out to be on a sports team didn’t fly with the parents. They weren’t about to let their child miss out on an opportunity, and with enough complaints to the right people, schools were forced to let the students play. (Sorry I don’t have a source for this, I just remember reading about it) I’m sure that we could all think of several more examples where students, or even kids in general were given something, despite maybe not earning it, simply because it “wasn’t fair”. But what kind of a disservice are we giving these kids? If they go through life getting things just because other people do, they will, and do, come to expect it. Once they get into school, and these ideas continue, the idea of “failing” will be a shock of reality. Back to what Mr. Sweeney had to say, he required any student who fails a test, or to understand an idea, a retest. While I do think he has the right idea, and that students do need to go back and learn what they missed the first time around, is it fair to the students who did the work to understand it the first time around? Or should that not matter, as long as at the end of the day, every student has learned what they need to?