And “special children” pretty much means what “retarded” used to be used for. Changing the word doesn’t change the attitude. Instead, the new word becomes the new insult.
Zenster it sounds like, for the most part, that ODD is describing teenagers.
In my day, an ‘N’ grade meant ‘non-graded’ or ‘not turned up to the exam due to it’s clashing with a rather important World Cup game’ or something along those lines…
If I had a cv, it could be seriously upgraded by this news.
I’m still not sure who won at Edgehill in 1642… but I clearly remember the outcome of Scotland v Peru in 1978…
a) Numbskull
b) Not even close
c) Nyah nyah stupidhead!
d) Nice try, dipshit
e) Next time, stay awake in class
f) News flash – you flunked
g) All of the above
…as opposed to the University of Nebraska, where the N stands for Nowledge! 
The Straight Dope, fighting Nearly informed, it wasn’t as near as we thought.
Yes, I think most teenagers could be described as ODD…
From the link:
‘They include instructions that maths exam answers should be marked as either ‘creditworthy’ or ‘not creditworthy’, rather than correct or incorrect.’
I don’t know enough about quantum physics…
2+2=5 … If the cat don’t see it it could be ‘creditworthy’.
The mind boggles…
History: 1966… Geoff Hurst scores a hat trick against the Normans… one in the eye for Franz Beckenbauer…
“Creditworthy”
slight hijack:
How does the term “political correctness” fit into all this? I’m so counfused by its meaning these days.
IMHO:
In a politically correct world we are all equal.
The phrase ‘Although some sums are more equal than others’ should not be used.
Feel free to drop by my ODD (Oppositional Defiant Disorder) a Big WTF?!? and have your say. There are some who disagree.
I’d give a “Nearly” to those nearly passed, a “Barely” to those who barely passed, & a “Did Not Pass, No, Not Even Close” to those who did not pass.
Just giving “Nearly” to all those previously labeled “Failed” is a flat-out lie.
I voted on the site’s poll, too, even though I’m a foreigner. Oh, well, I listen to the BBC World Service once in a while, I’m not completely unfamiliar with the country, right? 
Now that had me laughing out loud.
I’m a teacher and have suffered the “only correct in green” days. Kids aren’t stupid, they know they failed and at worst we just make them think passing isn’t that important.
Self-esteem by itself is nothing. I’m sure those guys who blow themselves up in pizza places had sky-high self-esteem as they pressed the button.
We should try to be as postive as posssible.
Peru 3 Scotland 1 (The Peruvian goalie even blocked a penalty kick)
ARRIBA PERÚ
First off, my response is related to children who are 7 and older who can understand the concept of winning and losing.
In my experience, kids who do poorly in school know it, and the patronizing BS is more harmfull than good because they know they’re being patronized. They also know they are NOT achieving anything (all the sadder if they don’t).
Ask any kid who has really achieved something and they will inevitably point to a specific teacher and say “Mr/Ms So-and-So was really hard but I learned alot”.
IMO, patronizing a child is FAR more destructive to his/her self esteem than feel-good grades.
Wow… this Politically Correct Stuff is going the not sane way. I mean the crazy way 
I have been an educator for many years, and this is not just a problem in the UK. American Schools are increasingly adopting this same attitude. The UK is at least lucky that their press covers developments in education, so that the ludicrousness comes to the surface. We haven’t done that here since “ebonics”.
Real achievement is what bestows self-esteem on an individual. Trying to cover up their total lack of ability in the area of bringing about real achievement, some school systems decide to recast failure as some sort of achievement in and of itself, so as not to make the children of the greatest country on Earth feel inadequate.
Insanity.
You’ve used several unwords there. What you meant to say is that the Politically Correct stuff is becoming doubleplus ungood and infected with Goldsteinisms.
I appreciate the logic behind the move - kids who don’t pass need encouragement to do better. But this works if it’s actual encouragement. So long as the grade isn’t 'MORON! You’ll never pass!!" I don’t think calling a grade that a lobotomized basketball could get ‘nearly’ boosts anyone’s self-esteem.
I’m not an expert but I would have been inclined to think the best measure of achievement for the very young is not some articial objective (examination) standard but whether they are making the most of their individual ability, as it is at that point in their still very early development.
I’m assuming that those who get an A get a ‘Nearly Perfect’ too?
And those who got Bs get ‘Nearly, Nearly Perfect’.
So those who used to get an F should get a ‘Nearly, Nearly, Nearly Nearly, Nearly, Nearly Perfect’. Having a ‘Perfect’ in there somewhere has got to be better than having just a ‘Pass’ mentioned somewhere.
Or is that taking a stupid idea too far?