"The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit recently ruled that the age-old tradition of pupils’ grading their classmates’ work violates a federal privacy act. Although the ruling directly affects just six western states – Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wyoming – it might have national impact as the U.S. Department of Education develops guidelines for the nation’s schools about this common classroom practice. "
This is the result of a lawsuit brought by the above mentioned waste of skin Kristja Falvo who maintains that the practice of pupil grading and students calling out their grades “severly embarrassed her children”
Because of the curriculum that I teach, this (student grading) is not standard practice for me anyway…but this kind of shit just gooses my gizzard anyway…fucker
What I think ought to be illegal is letting children pick their own sports teams. I was personally traumatized by always being picked last and that’s why I’m such a lardass today. Can I sue my old school for my declining health?
I always hated having my marks made public. When people asked me, I would never tell them what I got on a test, or what grade I received in a class. Fuck them all, they don’t have to live with the grades. And I did not want to play their stupid little comparison games.
What is ridiculous is not the substantive nature of the suit, it is the fact that it had to go to the goddamned Court of Appeals. This is the sort of thing that is worked out between a parent and a teacher. Why was the teacher and the school so unyielding about this stupid, stupid policy? Is it really so important to have students grade each others’ work?
I, for my part, think not. It is a testament to the foolish and dogmatic nature of education in certain areas, and to the unpleasant (and avoidable) adversarial relationship between parents and teachers.
Oh puh-leeze… Most teachers do not post final grades (unless they are coded by a student id number, for example)…but this is a situation where normal daily assignments (primarily at the elementary level) will now add to an already incredible work load (especially with the current class sizes in many districts). Frankly, NO I don’t think one parent should be able to dictate that kind of a policy to the rest of the class/school.
What’s next, no more posting of student work on bulletin boards (don’t laugh, the article hints that it might lead to that…“As for displaying student work, Simpson said teachers might want to get signed waivers from parents for permission to do so.”)? Or perhaps the physical education tests that students do (as part of the Presidents Fitness program) should not be done in view of other students either…And we better not have students share the same Drivers Ed car while learning to drive…
In the context of the many other idiotic societal/parental demands that teachers put up with on a daily basis, having this moron cry about the “severe embarrassment” caused by this …takes the cake
My Tenth Grade English class featured pupils grading each other.
Though my teacher did warn us that if put:
“5. Hi, Kathy!”
he might very well adjust the grade. (Our grades were on a scale of 1-5, 5 being best)
No wonder I speak English so good liek I doo.
[sub] All right, I stole that from Get Smart. Bite me.[/sub]
As for students calling out grades, I’ll never forget the one time our geometry teacher did. He asked us beforehand to say “No”, if we didn’t want our grade read aloud. One of my friends should have dissented (points were out of a possible 50):
Yeah…again I think there is a difference between making a final grade public (which is why DRYs teacher made it voluntary) and simply having students grading a spelling quiz…in the case of the something like the spelling quiz, the grading process can also reinforce the lesson…
Damn, I would have killed to have gone to that lady’s kids’ school! Imagine being embarrassed because of bad grades! When I was in Jr High, bad grades meant acceptance and popularity. Good grades lead to ostracism and taunts.
I vividly remember playing dumb from 7th through 9th grades. The teacher would ask me a question and I’d tell her I had no idea, rather than answering correctly and risk being labeled an egghead. I barely slid by classes that I could have aced. Kind of sad, really…
I would never SUE, but my mother called my teacher and complained when she let the 8th graders grade our sixth grade science tests. One kid I hated graded my test, and told everyone that I failed.
I’m sorry, grades are confidential.
That’s just fucked up, I’m sorry.
Well prior to this ruling (and, it remains to see in other areas)…regular assignment grades are NOT confidential, final report grades…because they go in a “permanent record” are confidential…
I’m not sure why 8th graders are grading 6th grade assignments, so I cant comment on your situation… but in the case I mentioned above, we’re talking about kids grading other daily work assignments (not just tests, in other words, but ANY frickin assignment)…its fucked up for you or any other one person to dictate a classroom/school wide policy based on something like the case example
While I agree that sueing is over the top, I have to say that i also disagree withthe “swap your papers” grading technique, not so much because of potential embarressment, but because it puts kids in the uncomfortable posisition of having to chose between integrety and friendship. I have a college professor who does this on tests, and the pressure to cheat is enourmous. I don’t think it is fair to put that sort of pressure on a child. I’d let them grade thier own paper first–then it becomes an issue between student and teacher, and not between student-teacher-best friend.
I would make a distinction between grading a spelling paper in 3rd grade, and college level tests that Manda JO was referring to…
Again, a blanket statement that students should NEVER check peer work, is just dumb…there are cases where it’s ill advised I think (the earlier example of an 8th grader correcting a 6th grade paper seems, at face value, ill advised for example)…but the issue as portrayed in THIS case has to do with “embarrassment” at other students seeing your work…so again, for Guinastasia, Manda JO and Maeglin…are you also opposed to
posting any student work on a bulletin board (graded or not)
students having to perform physical ed tests in view of other students
Drivers Ed students having to drive, with other students in the car
students assisting the teacher in passing back assignments
A teacher orally checking students for their knowledge of a book assignment (asking questions of that student to check to see if he/she read and understood a reading assignment)
Having students do math problems on the chalkboard in full view of other students
Group based assignments, where 2 or more students collaborate on a project, receiving a group grade
All 7 of the above cases involve potential public embarrassment if a student is not pleased with his/her performance (which is the reason that the parent complained)…so do you ban all of them? I make a distinction between those events and cumulative grades that go on a private report card record (and are protected, like IEP reports, by FERPA)
I am making a distinction here between checking peer work and observing peer work. They are different. When a student is given the responsibility to assign a grade to another student’s work, there is pressure to cheat, regardless of the age of the students involved. Kids care about grades, and it is normal for kids to threaten to withhold friendship if their grader does not “help” them. This does not have to take the form of bullying-rather, it is more often “I made sure you got a B-why did you give me a D?”. What is a ten year old in that posistion going to do? Turn in thier friend for inflating thier (the first student’s) own grade? Continue to grade thier friend honesty while benefiting from thier friend’s dishonesty? (and risk taking, for that matter). I’m sorry, but students grading each other’s papers inevitably leads to this senario.
Hi, Kathy!”