School board lowers passing from 70 to 60%

The Baltimore Sun | 18 August 2006 | Edcoil

[edcoil]

The Baltimore school board this week lowered the passing grae from 70% down to 60%.

I was travelling to Baltimore this week and read the Sun Tues/Wed morning and read this article and how the hacks though it was wonderful but the parents were outraged due to the lack of public input and the lowering of standards.

[Past Your Eyes]

Good. Now maybe we can have grade deflation. Or maybe just plain old flation.

[wallcrawlr]

one of the graduates write that too

misspellings included?

grae = grade

[randog]

Leave it to the child to put it in perspective:

Jessica Gaines, 15, a junior at Carver, said many students will be pleased to learn of the change.

"It'll be good for the students who don't work hard, because some kids don't like to go to class, and you can get a 60 without going to class now, anyway," she said.

I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

[The_Reader_David]

Given that classroom rigor is not measured by a passing percentage, this may, paradoxically be a good thing.

Since teachers are already under pressure to pass 'enough' students, they make usually vaccuous extra-credit assignment, give 'redos' on tests and the like, all of which waste student time, and sometimes class time, with very little educational benefit. Also, work assigned tends to be watered down and easy so that 'enough' students can get 70% or above.

One can run a rigorous classroom without any fixed 'passing' score: give tough work, and grade on a curve (the old-fashioned way, based on parametric statistics--means and standard deviations--with cutoffs based on SD's above and below the mean, and devil-take hindmost even if he or she got a 70%).

[stm]

Another wonderful decision by a blue state. If the kids don't meet the standard, just lower it. God forbid you should put the kids and teacher's feet to the fire to meet the standard, that would be too logical. Compare this to Florida, where in 1999 Jeb Bush started his education initiatives that (from his website) "In 1999, Governor Bush introduced the A+ Plan for Education, a plan based on high standards and expectations, clear measurement and accountability, and rewards and consequences for results. Since then, the state has raised the bar on accountability by providing remediation and eliminating social promotion, making reading instruction a primary focus in elementary years, providing reading coaches, using the latest in research-based reading curriculum and setting higher standards in how schools are graded."

The plans are not perfect but FL has risen noticeably in it's national education ranking since this program was initiated 7 years ago. It's been a while since I looked at the rankings but FL's two neighbors to the west were ranked 49 and 50. Now that is sad.

[kaboom]

Baltimore - Tha sitee that reeds

[RockinRight]

Actually, around here it always was 60% when I was in school. They raised it higher a few years ago.

[nevs911]

You may recall that Republican Governor Ehrlich tried in vain last year to infuse state resources into troubled city schools, but was blocked by Democrats for (what else) political reindeer games.

[hophead]

"Pretty soon the "graduates" won't be able to read the paper ..."

We have a tight election coming up here in November for Governor and the sitting Republican Governor has a campaign ad that says that the high school graduates cannot even read their own diplomas!! The dems are furious at the ad. The worst part is that the subjects that are being lowered are READING AND MATH. Good choice school board.
I think the idea behind this is to insure the politicians in Maryland a future voter base they can cater to. Thats all it is.

[GeronL]

More money is not the answer.

[stylin19a]

so what happens to the guy who didn't pass 2 years a ago& last year because of five 69's on his report card ?
Does he now get double promoted ?
If not, does he sue ?

If he sues, does he win ?

discuss amongst yourselves.

[hophead]

"Another wonderful decision by a blue state. If the kids don't meet the standard, just lower it. "

If O'Malley wins the Governorship, that is exactly what the voters will have done. LOWER THE STANDARDS to be Governor.

[upchuck]

From the link mentioned in reply #11 above:

"Trying to change outcomes by merely changing the number, as opposed to performance, doesn't work," (board member Anirban) Basu said yesterday. "Before, a student who got a 62 did not pass. Today, a student that gets a 62 passes. To me, that's what it means to lower standards."...

"My initial thought was we were lowering standards," (school board Chairman Brian D.) Morris said yesterday, "but how are we lowering standards if every other district has the same standards?"

Mr. Basu get it.

To Mr. Morris: what's wrong with having higher standards than other districts? Moron!

Reading this crap makes me say, "Thank you Lord," for my 50s/60s education.

[stylin19a]

laugh or cry because she's on the fast track to be a RAT politician ?

[DustyMoment]

Good move!! Beats requiring either the students or the teachers having to do the work necessary to pass a class at 70%.

[DustyMoment]

That sorta makes me a C "+" student now? "A+" students are now A++?

Goess to show you, if they were less smart, they could be computer programmers. Programmers only have to know C++.

[Atlas Sneezed]

What do you call the person that was DEAD LAST in his graduating class at Harvard Medical School?
.....................Doctor............

---

What do you call the person that was DEAD LAST in his graduating class at Harvard LAW School?
................."Senator"............
(Or "Your Honor"...)

[NRA1995]

Baltimore - Tha sitee that reeds

I believe that was one of Mayor Kurt Schmoke's little gems....soon to be "Baltimore - the city that has to have everything read to it"

[Red Badger]

....or maybe even, Mr. President............

[nevs911]

I didn't say money. I said resources, as in fresh ideas and intelligent planners.