Did Los Angeles Change Its Homework Policy in the Name of Urban Equality?
- Posted on June 27, 2011 at 12:17pm by
Jonathon M. Seidl
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The Los Angeles Unified School District has drastically changed its homework policy, banning teachers from counting homework as more than 10 percent of a student’s grade. The reason? According to the LA Times, it has to deal with racial make-up of the district and its urban location.
“Beginning July 1, 2011, homework assignments will comprise no more than 10% of a student’s academic achievement grade,” a memo issued last month states. It goes on to lay out the reasoning: “It is unfair to penalize or reward students for their home academic environment. While some students do not have the opportunity to do homework while away from school thus failing to return assignments, for others, it is difficult to be sure that it was the student who actually did the work.”
According to the L.A. Times, that’s in part an attempt to fix urban inequality:
The L.A. approach is intended to account for the myriad urban problems facing the district’s mostly low-income, minority population. It’s also aimed at supporting L.A. Unified’s increasing focus on boosting measureable academic achievement. [Emphasis added]
“Varying degrees of access to academic support at home, for whatever reason, should not penalize a student so severely that it prevents the student from passing a class, nor should it inflate the grade,” the new policy says.
It even goes on to say that grades should not be “based on the routes which students take towards mastery, nor their behavior, attitude, effort, or attendance.”
Some teachers aren’t happy about the change.
“Students need to realize that they’re held accountable,” Chris Johnson, who teaches Advanced Placement English and history, told the Times.
“They have to rise up to meet that, organize their time and be much more mature at a younger age than many students,” he added. “If it takes till midnight, then you burn the midnight oil.” According to him, without assigning substantial homework he can’t cover the necessary course work.
As expected, however, students are elated.
“I do my homework, but I don’t do it too often,” Marshall junior Lexus Bailey, an honor-class student, told the Times. “I‘ll tell myself I’m going to do my homework, then I don’t.”
“It‘s a waste of time and a poor reflection of whether I’m learning the subject,” Marshall senior Manny Hernandez, an entrepreneur outside the classroom, added. “And it‘s so easy to copy other students’ homework, it’s ridiculous.”
One college professor says that the policy is sending the wrong message.
“To make homework worthy of only 10% of a student’s grade sends a message that it is not important,” Janine Bempechat, a Wheelock College associate professor, told the Times.
The website Gawker took a more sarcastic tone while pointing out the obvious: “They can blow that [sh**] off entirely and still get a solid B! This is wise, as well as fair.”
Read the full story at the Los Angeles Times.
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Comments (251)
Mr. Oshawott
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 12:39pmNo wonder why our public education system is so horrific…
Report Post »Ghandi was a Republican
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 12:37pmFirst they want the kids at school all day with all day school lunches and now they say it is unfair to have them learn anything because it’s too hard at home. Anyone else smell a hitler/obama youth program a‘comon’? Like- a “Youth civil defense force” of fully funded automations who are too programmed to question any of it?
Report Post »r*luv
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 12:37pm…banning teachers from counting homework as more than 10 percent of a student’s grade…grades should not be “based on the routes which students take towards mastery, nor their behavior, attitude, effort, or attendance…
Then as teachers, what do we grade them on?!
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 12:36pm.
Did Los Angeles Change Its Homework Policy in the Name of Urban Equality?
No it was just plain ole Stupidity……………
Report Post »RealLifeExperience
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 12:36pmSo lets make learning about ‘life’ and preparing kids for their future..easier. That does not make a lot of sense. I thought that going to school was meant to prepare one for real life, but not by this action. My eight grade US History teacher use to say “life’s hard, and that’s what makes it great.” He was right, and I am glad he informed me of that fact, and he expected me to do my best and graded me accordingly, and I am better for it. Thanks Mr.Teacher.
Report Post »elosogrande
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 12:35pmIt’s an obvious fact. The educators, to whom we as taxpayers pay billions of dollars each year, make every attempt to keep our children uneducated, uninformed and DEPENDANT on the Democrat Party to provide for them in return for their vote. When are people gonig to wise up? The Department of Education and all of the teachers unions have avested interest in turning our population into a gathering of stupid fools, who will be unable to extist without the help of government.
Report Post »VRW Conspirator
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 1:11pmOkay…PLEASE do not judge the profession by the Union HACKS you see on TV or radio or print. Like a doctor becoming a doctor because they want to help the injuried…or a lawyer becoming a lawyer because they want to fight for justice…MOST teachers become teachers (at least grades K-12) because they want to educate a child and teach them to think and become a productive member of society….
Has public education become an indoctrination machine YES….do all the educators in public education support it or believe it.. NO…ESPECIALLY in the Mathematics and Science fields where political opinions often lean moderate to conservative because we KNOW that critical thinking is necessary for being a productive citizen…does that mean that Math and Science teachers don’t buy into global warming or evolution dogma or redistribution of wealth nonsense.. NO…some do but some don’t…
Don’t judge us all by those that make the most noise….I am a diehard Conservative with MANY libertarian beliefs and leanings…I have always been a Reagan Republican..and I LOVE my home state of CA…though i DISPISE the government and how it works…on the state and Federal levels….but my state is beautiful…snow capped mountains, beaches, deserts, grasslands…flora and fauna galour…brimming with natural resources…
My father taught for 35 years…a Kennedy Democrat…ardent against Reagan..but he was just, fair, and railed against how the education system has failed…dont judg
Report Post »fantasywriter
Posted on June 29, 2011 at 1:43am“Critical thinking,” a term that makes the blood run cold among the leftist liberal set. To actually teach students how to learn and how to study is anathema to the left. Just remember, all learning is self learning to one degree or another. We must change the educational paradigm from one where teachers are expected to impart information to one where teachers serve as guides or mentors to students who acquire information and knowledge themselves. If you‘ve ever lived in a inner city you know that too many student give up on homework because they don’t know how to begin. I’ve seen it and experienced it so I have something to say about it. Elements of the left know this and that is how they want it. It is very difficult to control people who have the ability to think critically and that is why it is not part of the public school curriculum. They don’t want thinkers but they do want them to believe they are thinkers. The left wants followers who will blindly take the party line. With nothing else to fall on they desperately grasp the ideas that are put into their heads. As a result, they will angrily defend the indefensible. Educated, but uneducated they will viciously attack anyone who opposes their status quo. They base their opinions on feelings rather than facts and will attack you if you ask them to prove their opinions. In the end, they have become automatons who follow while thinking they are leading. And that is the way the left wants it and that is the way it is.
Report Post »Rob_M
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 12:35pmWhat’s the other 90%?
Report Post »SUPPLY_SIDE
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 9:38pm90% is part:
Report Post »Star Testing – So the State can rank the school but has nothing to do with grades toward college
Attendance – So the school can collect it’s money from the State
Foreign Language (Spanish) – This is where the teachers get schooled by the students
Teacher’s Aid – Students do the correcting of homework and tests for the teacher
And other useless stuff that will not prepare these students for college or society…
1TrueOne55
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 12:33pmSo here we go so if we don’t assign homework to minority or low income students their grades will go up and then test scores go??? OK so now we are cooking the grades of school kids now so they can do what in Society when they grow up. If they don’t learn to apply themselves in a school environment what do you expect them to do when they get old enough to get a job, that’s if they can even understand the job application process.
Progressives are creating the new “SLAVES” of the future and lowering the living standard of the country. None of these kids have a chance at the higher income level jobs because they will not have the motivation to do what is needed to get there, this is what “Homework” instils in students.
Report Post »FlatFoot
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 12:31pmHa. More than half of the residents of L.A. lied, cheated, and/or thieved to get there and perpetually continue to do so in order to remain there. Why shouldn’t their schools reflect that? In fact, their country of origin is a 3rd world cesspit in every way. Why shouldn’t the city reflect that in every way? They certainly have proven that to be their endeavor in every way each and every day.
¡Viva La Raza!
Report Post »Mick1140
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 12:31pmJust show them pictures out of the book…That should teach them more gooder….
Report Post »SnapTie
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 12:31pmThe union teachers say it’s for the good of the kids…
Report Post »Jaun & Rosalito plan on being janitors anyway.
regressive_democrat
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 12:30pmRaising the next generation of ignorant, anarchist, democrat voters.
Good on ya godless LA! May you truly reap the hell on earth that you are sowing!
Report Post »Amy
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 12:30pmNote to Los Angeles public school students: Please do not blame me for your lack of self esteem. You could have done better. Demand better from your teachers.
Report Post »GOTT-EM-MAUSER
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 9:55pmOne Addition:
UNLESS and UNTIL we DEMAND MORE FROM the PARENTS, “ALL” all of these kids are doomed to FAIL!!
The GOVERNMENT school system is the perfect example of “GARBAGE IN, GARBAGE OUT”.
It is required that the PARENTS of these miscreants, DEMAND that both the GOVERNMENT “AND” and THEIR OFFSPRING, get their collective butts in gear and get the job done!
THAT WILL NOT HAPPEN, therefore the entire discussion is a Moot Point!
Report Post »geonj
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 12:29pmhomework is designed to re-enforce what is learned in the classroom. since most of these kids have no desire to learn in the classroom, homework is not necessary.
Report Post »Mandors
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 12:29pmActually, I like this policy. If you look past the “urban” issues labels, the actual policy puts the focus on the classroom and achievement. I can’t begin to relate the number of useless busy work assignments that my kids have gotten that have nothing to do with what they are supposed to be learning.
If the kids pass the tests, who cares about homework?!! Now, if they don’t…
Report Post »hi
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 12:38pmI know!! I agree.
Report Post »Mick1140
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 12:29pmJust show them Pictures and that will solve everything right?…..
Report Post »Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 1:33pmAll they need is an iPad with buttons to push. 1. for Spanish, 2. for English, 3. for Facebook so they can send pictures back and forth, 4. for porn, 5. for games.
Report Post »Outlaw_Josey_Wales
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 12:28pmSome kids don’t do home because playing basketball and selling drugs takes up all their time.
Report Post »Outlaw_Josey_Wales
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 12:33pmooops home = homework
Report Post »hi
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 12:27pmI love it! Grades should be based on whether one knows the material or not. (knowledge) It is wrong that grades are based on what goes on at home. The parents could be doing it all. The stakes are high and I know the parents are cheating.
Report Post »NJTMATO
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 12:26pmDumb down the youngest so that they can get their tenticles around their brains forever. 10%? That definitely proves to a student that homework, additional study, is not important. But, what do we expect from government schools? Just more rules to teach by…So glad my kids are grown. Today, I would definitely stay home and home school…find a way…or private school
Report Post »Oh My God
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 12:25pmJust keep dumbing down the youth.
Report Post »dealer@678
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 12:24pmGuess they gave up on educating the illegal mexicans. Jus ttoo dumb
Report Post »Countrygirl1362
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 12:50pmSounds more like racial profiling to me.
Report Post »nomercy63
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 12:24pmYeah lets give these kids a pop quiz right now and see if they can tell you which state they live in!
Report Post »I.Gaspar
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 12:49pmYou can’t do that!!
Report Post »It would place undue pressure on some of the “lower echelon” inner city/non English speaking students.
We don’t want to make their lives any more stressful than they already are.
Hell, then they may not vote democrat when they reach the age of majority.
They don’t need to know what state they live in.
Hawkeyefan19
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 12:22pmThe dumbing down of America continues,
Report Post »dealer@678
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 12:31pmThe liberals want to keep em dumb so they can manipulate them
Report Post »caexpat
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 12:22pmLook at my user name!!!!!!!…..Will the last American…leaving California. please take down the American flag!
Report Post »vennoye
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 12:53pmCan you still find an American flag in California???? Am glad you escaped!! BTW, with all the tolerance, compassion, (what a joke..what is tolerant and compassionate about leaving these kids uneducated) underachievement that CA hands out to students, WHY bother to send them to school at all??
Report Post »VRW Conspirator
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 1:17pmCAEXPAT….might be joining you soon…hello to Texas is all goes well…
but still love the natural CA even if the government of CA is STOOPID!!
and I fly an American flag and the flag of the US Army outside my house 24/7/365…
and my HOA better NEVER try and tell me to take them down or somebody might get hurt…
my kids are brilliant…they always shock me as to how perceptive and atuned they are…even when they tell me what idiotic stuff some teacher told them about in school…my two youngest learned well from dad that BHO was a “menace” before he was even elected…now even with my comments or saying a word…when they hear him or see him on TV…they say “gawd, Obama is an idiot”…makes me PROUD!!!
Report Post »BRINGIT
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 1:48pmOr pick it up off the ground…. at the rate they are being replaced by the Mexican flag there won’t be any left to take down.
Report Post »123gone
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 3:06pmThis stuff is NOT limited to California, it is going on all across America, and it falls right in line with ICLEI and the implementation of the U.N.’s Agenda 21 for a New World Order. See if your City has bought into it at: http://www.icleiusa.org/about-iclei/members/member-list
Report Post »Some of it sounds so sweet, but it is Communist POISON designed to take away your liberty right from under your nose. Take the time to check it out and pass this warning on, it is NO JOKE!
Find out more at: http://www.freedonadvocates.org
BOUGHT YOUR SILO YET?
Posted on June 28, 2011 at 2:31amCan’t wait to join you CAEXPAT! I live in a rather conservative town so we do see lots of American flags. But, California is not the only state to be concerned with. We lived in Colorado for a few years and it is progressively becoming, um- well, more progressive. I need to get back to the East or at least Mid-West. I don’t understand their logic here. Save the little fishies- crops be damned! Charge a CRV tax on anything packaged in plastic or aluminum!
Report Post »Stoic one
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 12:22pmPublic sector at work again….it don’t matter – give me your money.(taxpayer)
Report Post »dealer@678
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 12:29pmIts time to put a fence around California so nobody escapes
Report Post »Uncurable wound
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 12:32pmFubar…
Report Post »SnapTie
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 12:35pmThe union teachers say it’s for the good of the kids…
Report Post »Jaun & Rosalito plan on being janitors anyway
AOL_REFUGEE
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 12:37pm{Grades shouldn’t be “based on the routes which students take towards mastery, nor their behavior, attitude, effort, or attendance.”}
Well, then, what ARE you going to base them on, idiots?
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 12:38pm.
Report Post »Democrates need uneducated masses……
Sound The Trumpet In Zion
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 12:49pmWell this is no big deal. All they teach in schools these days are to live green, how to help to fight global warming, that conservative are evil, that to excel in school is also evil and all this stuff that has nothing to do with learning what they need to know to get along in the world. In fact if they don’t have to do homework, then that is less time that they have to spend on being brainwashed that good is evil and evil is good as well as the other things I mentioned above and the things that I haven’t mentioned that we all know they “teach”. I’m sure most of the teachers are upset that they have lost this additional time that they had to brainwash them on how to become the enemies of a free and moral society.
Report Post »fastfacts
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 12:54pmWHAT ARE WE DOING TO OUR KIDS?
Just like the law that says kids can’t work until 16-years of age, we are robbing our youth of experience. Homework is there to learn and show you have learned them material away from the classroom, away from pressure and away from your teachers help. There is not enough time in the classroom to do everything you would do on a regular day plus all you would have done for homework. There is too much to learn. This is the down fall of our society, why not take away score keeping at baseball games or pick up our kids every time they fall down, oops oops, already do. This way they won’t be ready for the future when the time comes they leave the home. That is probably why they return. Should we call this a nanny state, oops, already do.
Report Post »VRW Conspirator
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 12:56pmour distict adopted a 70% test/quiz and 30% homework/participation policy about 8 year ago for all Algebra 1, Geometry, and Algebra 2 classes…most other subjects also have at least a 50/50 breakdown or higher percentage for the test and quizzes…
it is all based on standardized test scores, district benchmarks, and state testing…70% is considered the minimum test score to demonstrate “mastery” of the subject content..yet for the state testing 67% gets the student a Proficient rating…meaning they are at grade level…and only a 55% on the high school exit exam is needed to graduate…go figure….
over the 12 years in teaching…the #1 reason that a student does not pass is LACK OF WORK HABIT. Those students that do all the class/homework and participate ALWAYS pass even if it is only with a D-. Those that do NO work and try to sleep or text or listen to their mp3, even if they are non disruptive, with few exceptions, FAIL.
Our failure rate in Algebra 1 and Geometry has reached nearly 60% these past two years and you can trace it to the accelerated change in attitude of the student body that homework is dumb, doing what you are told makes you a Nerd or a School Boy/Girl or Teacher’s Pet, and that school is nothing more than a social network.
I would add that the removal of Vocational Education classes, like Metal shop – Wood shop – Drafting/Architecture – Auto shop – Electronics have KILLED public education, the graduation rates, and the US Manufactu
Report Post »mizflame98
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 12:56pmHappy racism strikes again. They’ve just said that blacks and Latinos are not smart enough to compete with whites and those useful idiot students concurs.
Report Post »aerorepairo
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 12:57pmAgreed, put up a huge wall along the Mexican, California maybe Nevada, Oregon and Washington boarders too!
Report Post »paperpushermj
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 1:01pmAnd your work evaluation shouldn’t be based on how well you do your job along with attitude. It should be on your intentions do your Job and forget attitude because thats totally dependent upon how much Adult Beverages you had be coming to work. Hows that Sound?
Report Post »michael48
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 1:01pmpay the youngsters to stay at home and rob thier neighbors…we pay thier parents to sit on thier azz and b!tch…so let’s get moving along with the third generation of Helpless, Totally Dependent, Plankton…
Report Post »robert
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 1:04pmThis is just more of the same dumbing down that’s been going on since affirmative action was instituted. What good is a diploma or degree if it’s given strictly for substandard work?
Most likely the people affected by this policy will be screaming racism when they can’t get a job based on qualifications determined by tests.
Report Post »Disabledvet
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 1:07pmI has to do with lazy people not wanting to help their kids, and the fact that most cant read english, or speak Homboy or Hood, and are to stupid to help their kids, most of the urban people fall behind simply because they know they do not need to learn anything except how the welfare system works.
Report Post »Czar Casm
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 1:17pmThey don’t care about giving minorities an education. It’s important to keep them dependent on government for their votes. Why don’t they be honest and say “Look, show up for a head count so we can get the federal and state money then go back to your miserable existence you serfs.”
Report Post »Is not this dumbing down and lowering standards the height of hypocrisy? Why isn’t La Raza complaining? Because “All Animals Are Equal, But Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others” – Animale Farm
TheOracleOfTruth
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 1:19pmWhat do expect from Communist country, where boys are girls and girls are boys, where winners are losers and losers are winners. LA and SF, can drop into the sea for all I care! Communist CA and NY, MA, MN, VT, NH, etc can all go eat egg!
Report Post »Patrick in AZ
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 1:25pm“It‘s a waste of time and a poor reflection of whether I’m learning the subject,” Marshall senior Manny Hernandez, an entrepreneur outside the classroom, added. “And it‘s so easy to copy other students’ homework, it’s ridiculous.”
—————————————
“entrepreneur outside the classroom?” is that a euphemism for drug dealer?
Unintended consequence – now they will have to perform better on tests; they can’t bring up their grades with homework. So, the tests will become even more dumbed-down to ensure they don’t fail.
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 1:42pmOkay once again we see the devolution that results from the socialist progressives in CA. And why would anyone want to make this their ideal future?
Report Post »smithclar3nc3
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 1:48pmAt what point do we scrap PUBLIC SCHOOLS or at the very least pay the teachers what they’re worth and that would be minium wage. And throw the saving in a blender where they would good as much good as the public indoctrination centers(public schools). If you look at the caliber of student our system is creating and the cost comparison v/s other nations our Federal eductional system has become an oxymoron. And alot our private colleges have as well.
Report Post »hauschild
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 2:12pmIt’s the ingenious plan of progressives to “bring everybody down to their level”; and it is working!!!
After these people have been beaten time and again, they thought, “Is it really easier to kick people in the ass and tell them to make it happen, or is it easier to gradually destroy those above them by forcing them down to your level?”
I think we know the conclusions progressive drew. Knifing bastards.
Report Post »mikelivi
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 2:27pmBottom up/top down………………………
Report Post »Vixvenom
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 3:08pmThis is what is called “Multicultural Education”. I’m taking a class in it right now. I’m getting my degree in Elementary education. If you think this sounds odd, you should read the other ideas coming down the line. My textbook has one chapter in it that is completely dedicated to describing how capitalism is causing all the problems in education. It’s basically 8 pages of excerpts from the Communist Manifesto. No sh*t. This entire line of thinking is what they call the critical aproach to ME. It’s founded on principals of “social justice”. You all here know what that means….trust me when I tell you, no one else does. I’ve had a hard time even convincing the class that these authos might be left biased. 8 pages of the Communist Manifesto and my clasmates think “maybe” they are slightly left wing……seriously. It doesn‘t help that most people in this country can’t see n agenda even when those promoting it point it out to them….country of idiots….teaching a whole new generation of idiots…i’ve said it before, we are too far gone….further than most realize….the end is coming, be prepared…..NWO baby, we are all set up to slide right in.
Report Post »portague
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 4:07pmthe only problem with this as with all public education is the one size fits all. I hated homework and could get A and B on test without doing the homework the homework was irrelevent. I could demonstrated that i understood the material and knew what I was doing without homework. This is not true for others in order to demonstrate the same level of knowledge they may need homework. These differences in needs have to be identified and the students broken up and put in classes with other similiar students.
Report Post »Patrick R1973
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 4:34pmok seems fair you don‘t pass the test you don’t pass. i had a 1.6 GPA coming out of high school. i started my first business by 19 and my top earning year to date is 750k. i did go to college for three years where i took k out no loans and worked full time while playing sports. i carried a 3.8 GPA and rarely attended classes. i was a ward of the state from the time i was 13 until i emancipated myself at 18 in wyoming legal age is 19. Is it possible? yes will most do this? no. but those that want to succeed in our great country will no matter what obstacles they encounter. the rest will blame thier failures on everyone else no mater what advantages you give them. it the pareto principle 80/20 rule whatever you want to call it. is this a cop out on the part of administration? yes. i believe that if they hold the children to the same acedemic standards on thier tests and expect the kids to know the information. the ones that want to succeed will. the rest had better find a way to do thier homework. statistically A students work for the Government and Bstudents work for C Students. this is a fact. i was pretty much a D student when homework mattered because it was a waste of my time. i aced every test. and i finished the curriculum with only 1/2 a credit required my senior year to graduate. i say lets see what rises to the top.
Report Post »docvet
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 4:42pmOh, to hell with it! If a child in kindergarden can learn their alphabet and numbers, can write their name and color inside the lines, just give them a high school diploma and be done with it. Besides, it will save 11 years of the cost of schools. Would all conservatives please leave California before we give it back to spain?
Report Post »heyjms
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 4:49pmWhy even bother, just give them the diploma when they turn 17. It’s worthless anyways so it wont make a difference.
Report Post »banjarmon
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 4:56pmThey are still trying to DUMB DOWN the KIDS!!!
Report Post »Brian3163
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 5:15pmWhat is wrong with these people? Homework is Practice. You learn by repetition. What if a concert violinist never practiced? How good would her solo’s be? What if an Olympic swimmer never went to the pool to swim? Maybe one of the reasons why our school system is so bad, is because ther teachers and schools do not push the kids to acheive, but instead let them sink to the lowest common denominator.
Report Post »VanGrungy
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 5:22pmTupac‘s ’California’ video looks prophetic…
Report Post »VegasGuy
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 6:06pmIt didn’t take long for affirmative action in grading to take hold. Next they will say the kids do not need to attend school because it is so difficult and dangerous to travel the streets of L.A.
Report Post »american1st
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 6:16pmso if homework is a smaller percentage of the grade, wont that encourage a “poor home academic environment” in more homes!!
Report Post »this doesn’t make it more fair for some kids, it promotes poor performance in all homes …stupid leftist
ACES06
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 6:28pmAs a high school math teacher I feel this is the correct policy. Students need to be graded on achievement not effort. What can you produce on the test?
Homework is practice. Why should practice be graded?
Scenario 1: If a student can get A’s on all their test but not did not turn in homework why should that student get a B or C. The student obviously understands the concepts of the class. Scenario 2. Students receives B’s on all tests but turns in all homework, this student could possibly earn a B+ or A-.
The end outcome is better for the student who did not turn in the homework. But who understands the material better? Who should get the higher grade in the class?
Overall, we are looking at achievement and what information the students know and can do.
Report Post »Brian3163
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 6:44pm@ACES06
Well, if your going to be like that… why even bother teaching the students? Why not just give them the test, and hand out the answer sheet at the same time? Kids need to learn that they are expected to be held accountable for themselves. Having homework as part pf their grades is one way to keep them accountable.
If you take a kid and tell him that 2*2 = 4, and 5 minutes later you test them on that, it proves nothing. Short term memory will help pass a test. However for long term retention you need to practice. Homework IS practice, and developes the long term retention. Having homework as a siginificant portion of the grading, makes them understand they are required to practice AND remember what was taught for the long term, not only until they take the test.
Obviously you are one of the reasons why our students have an overall lower education level than in the past. You are the problem. We need solutions, so get out of the classroom and let someone better than you teach.
Report Post »avenger
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 7:32pmtime to privatize the schools.we do not need more fast food workers or supermarket baggers…
Report Post »sooner12
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 8:18pmFirst it’s homework – what’s next?
Maybe community service will count for 20%.
Not having a criminal record will count for 20%.
I know I’m giving the liberals some constructive ideas, but you get the idea.
The list goes on.
Report Post »beans bullets and bandaids
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 8:20pm@ACES
Have you known any students who don’t test well? You know, the students who do well with homework, class participation, etc., but do not perform to their potential in the testing environment? How is this fair to them? They may be able to produce excellent “practice” but not do as well under “test anxiety”. Counting homework as a substantial portion of a grade can help give a fairer assessment of their mastery.
Also, in addition to “practice”, homework provides opportunities for research and learning a topic more fully on their own. Learning how to learn is an invaluable skill that is useful for life.
Report Post »TomFerrari
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 9:49pmActually, I feel very different on this.
I feel they ended up with the right policy for the WRONG reason.
If homework is allowed to make up 70% of a child’s grade, and the child is copying their homework, or getting ‘help’ on it, they could pass the class and never learn the material – they could fail the tests and still pass the class.
Limiting how much homework counts, forces tests to be the primary measure of how much a student has learned.
I’m not saying 10% is the magic number – I’m saying that homework should not be the measure of learning, but monitored tests should.
At the same time, if homework is too small a percentage of the grade, then students may not DO their homework.
If students do not DO their homework, we are likely to see a RISE or JUMP in failing students.
We just need to get government OUT of education. Talk about SAVINGS! Eliminate federal involvement in education, and you cut TONS of overhead costs.
What we NEED from the feds for education, is a BUREAU OF EDUCATIONAL STATISTICS – much like the bureau of labor statistics. They need to track everything, but have NO authority. ALL statistics should be freely available for analysis, comparison, etc. Standardized tests would create meaningful statistics.
Give us vouchers for private schools, commercial school companies… COMPETITION.
In SHORT ORDER, competition will create quality.
Standardized tests would have to be pre-approved by the states. (And only ask about THE
Report Post »Xerus rutilus
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 9:57pmI could not have said it better my self, and the fence they put around CA should be electric so when they try to escape they will be killed.
Report Post »justateen
Posted on June 27, 2011 at 11:35pmHa, so will the other 90% be based on tests? Sounds good. This is so stupid. I always wanted MORE homework, that way if I did bad on a test, all my homework points will help bring my grade back up.
But considering its CA, the other 90% will probably be participation grades. Any test will be open-book.
Report Post »BOUGHT YOUR SILO YET?
Posted on June 28, 2011 at 2:04am@DOCVET and others- Please do not put the wall up or give CA back to Spain until I’M OUT!! I grew up in the East but my husband’s job has taken us on a rather unsavory tour of the West Coast- Washington State and now California. We are suppose to be relocated out of here this summer (God’s Speed) Anyway- we have been here since Oct ‘10 and I HATE IT HERE! The insanity boggles the mind. My children started in the public school system but I started homeschooling in February ‘11. The education is still a public school education (just without the brick & mortar). I find myself having to constantly correct what is taught in their text books. Was SHOCKED that they painted Islam as a wonderful religion in my daughter’s history book. They left out a lot of pertinent details: like the reason Islam spread so quickly across the Middle East was because the Muslims would behead those who did not want to convert. The text made it sound as if the reason Islam spread like it did was because it was this wonderful religion and that the people couldn’t wait to convert! Thus, I can’t be surprised that the school district in LA will be shelling out less homework. Its not about individual accomplishments anymore- oh the humanity! Its about what can be accomplished as a team. Before long society will be so dumb it WILL take a team of people just to change the proverbial light bulb.
Again- don’t through us into the sea just yet! Let me get out first.
Report Post »wildjoker5
Posted on June 28, 2011 at 6:40amHomework – If you know the material, and do good on the tests, what is the point of homework? If you don’t know the matterial, do the homework to practice and learn at home. If you don‘t know the matterial and don’t do the homework, you won’t pass anyways. What is the big deal with keeping kids doing mindless school work till midnight if they know the material?
Report Post »mikem1969
Posted on June 28, 2011 at 9:02amSomone nuke the san andreas fault so commiefornia will fall off the coast of the US and become its own country, then mine the new waterways created so any boats trying to leave sink. Once again in the name of making minorities dumber, they change the rules.
Report Post »Secret Squirrel
Posted on June 28, 2011 at 10:27am.
Report Post »Brilliant.
Democrats need an unending supply of stupid voters, and what better place to start than the schools?