For example, these students worked all year to attain good grades. They
were upset when they saw that other students who did little work until the
final weeks of a semester had earned similar grades. The students on the
committee tended to turn in their assignments on time. They were upset
that students who turned in work late, sometimes the day before the end
of the term, had it accepted with little or no penalty. Much of the final
language in the policy statement came from this student input.
Principal Rivera listened and took notes on the discussion of each topic.
At the next meeting, she provided a draft of a policy statement based on
the discussion—first on cumulative grading, then on assignment makeup,
then on test makeup. In each case, this draft incorporated the general
consensus of ideas previously discussed, based on the blueprint originally
provided. With minor changes to the language, over several meetings, the
committee developed a real policy statement. While such a statement will
differ from school to school and level to level, the final document (appen-
dix A) devised by this committee addresses many of the issues confront-
ing all schools in all districts throughout the country.
Another major issue tackled by the Academic Affairs Committee was the
very contentious issue of granting students course credit for passing required
standardized New York State exams (Regents Examinations) if they had pre-
viously failed a course leading up to a particular examination. In the current
educational climate where more and more testing is being required by every
school district, this will become a more and more contentious issue.
Let’s look at an explanatory example of granting course credit through
a test. All students had to pass a required examination in global history.
This exam covered two years of instruction in the ninth and tenth years.
All students took one semester courses called Global 1, Global 2, Global
3, and Global 4. At the end of Global 4, students took the exam.
When this test was first initiated as testing two years of study, many
schools held students back if they failed any course. So, students failing
Global 1 retook Global 1 before moving on. This led to the creation of
off-term sections of courses and additional teacher preparations. It also
confused programming, with guidance counselors having to keep very
careful track of passing and failing in all subjects. Because of these nega-
tives, over the course of a few years, Ms. Rivera eliminated this holding
back of students in all subject areas.
Lay the Groundwork 109