Students' grades suffer after teacher misplaces their assignments

Wilhamette Week ^ | June 5th, 2007

[Clintonfatigued]

For a class of Jefferson High School students trying to explain missing grades to their parents, there's a new excuse: It's called "my teacher never returned my homework." Last month, students discovered two boxes of ungraded assignments in math teacher Yaw Osei's classroom. When third-quarter report cards went out in April, Osei's students got "NGs" for "no grade," according to a letter from Macarre Traynham of the school's Academy of Science and Technology. The students will get semester grades based on their fourth-quarter work, but Yollanda Johnson, whose grandson was in the class, wonders if he might have performed better if he'd had appropriate updates on his progress. District spokesman Matt Shelby says he can't comment on personnel matters but notes the principal has options for helping Osei in the classroom.

[Clintonfatigued]

It sounds funny, but for the affected students and their parents, it was no laughing matter.

I’ve never heard of homeschooling parents doing anything like this. Something to think about.

[highimpact]

Grades don’t matter anyways. What’s important is their self esteeeeeeem. /sarc

[Sonny M]

This actually happened to me in college, and as a class we were ticked off.

[LasVegasMac]

More justification for the TEA to defend NOT testing teachers for competence.

/s

[dawn53]

My kid had a college class last term and as of the end of class the teacher still had not graded assignments that were handed in in March. She didn’t make the grade reporting deadline and gave all the students an “incomplete” even though it was she who hadn’t done the work. She eventually got around to grading the work and recording the grade, and the “incomplete” disappeared from the transcript and was replaced by their grade. He’s a senior and it’s the only prof who he’s ever had that kind of trouble with. The entire class was complaining.

[gotribe]

Hard to say Guilty or Not Guilty without a photo.

[vetvetdoug]

Look for the Union label.

[Sonny M]

My kid had a college class last term and as of the end of class the teacher still had not graded assignments that were handed in in March. She didn’t make the grade reporting deadline and gave all the students an “incomplete” even though it was she who hadn’t done the work. She eventually got around to grading the work and recording the grade, and the “incomplete” disappeared from the transcript and was replaced by their grade. He’s a senior and it’s the only prof who he’s ever had that kind of trouble with. The entire class was complaining

That is exactly what happened with me.

The students in the class complained to her (she made excuses) and then went over her head, and she finally got around to grading them and us finally getting our grades.

I wound up getting her a couple of times after that too, she was always late getting us back our assignments and tests and stuff, but at least after this happened, she did make her deadlines, part of ticked everyone off so much was that she made such a big deal about following her deadlines with serious penalties and she was never on time for anything.

[truthkeeper]

I had a college professor - a notorious drunk - who lost my final. I had been pulling a rock-solid “A” up until that point. Man, I was *****d!!

[geopyg]

In High School I had a teacher that would “joke” and say he finally got our essay papers graded by throwing them down the stairs and where they landed determined their grade. Also that he would grade them at stop lights. Ha Ha.

However, after being gone for a month or so for Alcholism treatment, our essays came back with gramatical errors, spelling mistakes, and comments. (Before treatment there was just a grade on the front page!)

[July 4th]

There were a couple of profs in our law school like that. They’d sit on the finals for two months or so before grading them. Finally, the faculty board passed a measure that withholds a profs paycheck if they don’t have it done in a month.

[Grizzled Bear]

I had a college professor - a notorious drunk - who lost my final. I had been pulling a rock-solid “A” up until that point. Man, I was *****d!!

---

Shoulda attached your paper to a bottle. You woulda kept your “A!”

[truthkeeper]

Actually, I SHOULD have fought it - kicked myself over the years - but I just had a baby and complications and was sick as a dog for weeks afterward. Somehow I could not dredge up the energy to fight the system and this long-tenured professor, even though his little "problem" was an open secret around the joint.

Anyway, the baby was a lot more important in the long run! :-)

[Grizzled Bear]

You made the right choice! God bless you!

[truthkeeper]

Uh-huh...I think so too. She's now 22, gorgeous, and a musical prodigy.
Gotta know your priorities sometimes. :-)

[Old Professer]

“gramatical errors, spelling mistake”

[Clintonfatigued]

This seems to happen more than anyone is aware.

[Lord Basil]

In High School I had a teacher that would “joke” and say he finally got our essay papers graded by throwing them down the stairs and where they landed determined their grade.

AKA, the staircase method.

[truthkeeper]

LOL. Kinda like “The dog ate YOUR homework.”