Brad Hicks' Blog

Gee thanks Brad...in 51 years on this planet, no one has ever called me mediocre before! How uplifting. Okay. I was a poor student, "C" average, which by definition I suppose is mediocre. Does that make me stupid? Not hardly. What IS stupid though, is paying students cash on the barrelhead for good grades. Now that it's out in the open MPS will want to pay kids just to show up. This is further evidence that our government should not be in the business of educating our children. They should be operated by private enterprise kinda like the prisons that have been privatized in some states. Publicly funded and privately operated prisons in some states actually make a profit for the private operators. If you want to see some changes at MPS and schools everywhere in America, take the day to day operations out of the hands of bureaucrats and put it in the hands of the private sector. Paying students for good grades would never happen in that environment.

In my book average would be ordinary or moderate, neither good nor bad. But let's not dwell on that. Your point about paying students for getting good grades I find extremely valid and IMHO shows extremely poor judgement by the Chicago public schools.

rewarding good grades is for the parents.

How about penalties for poor performance and behavior.

Let's reward good teachers, and remove bad ones.

Social problems is the number one factor to absenteeism. Somehow the social clicks need broke. Good students go bad. (uniforms?)

This is re-enforceing the attitude that money buys anything. There are already issues with material items in school. Children getting ridiculed if they don't have designer clothes, or the kids that do wear it worry about someone beating them up for it.
I also agree that a "C" doesn't get rewarded.
I do reward my boys with $5 for every "A" and we celebrate all accomplishments. Rewards for good work should come from the home. My 15 year old has video games he wants and he knows he has to keep up with his homework and keep his grades up.
The schools should promote the accomplishments of students and brag about their good grades and effort, but not financial reward. That's teaching a bad lesson. What's next? Attentdance checks?

My initial email:

Ms. Depka,

It is my understanding that you chair a parent involved committee regarding student grading and standards.

I currently have a 4th grader attending Burleigh Elementary and as an involved parent, this is an issue that I am interested in .

I would like to find out when the committee meets, and if there are any openings on it.

Thank you for your time, and I look forward to your response.

I replied back:

Thank you for your response. I would certainly like to be more involved with this issue.

I am quite concerned with the new grading system. At the end of the year last year, my then 3rd grader asked "did I pass............am I going onto the 4th grade?????"............and to be honest, I really had a hard time figuring that out myself.

I can see how the new system came about. With a continuing focus on meeting standardized goals, gauging progress toward those goals has become paramount. As an adult, I understand what "Exceeding Standards", "Proficient", and "Developing" mean. My concern about the grading scale is direct towards the students. The need to understand and be recognized when they do very well, know when they did well, but could have done better, and understand when they really have work to do .

I still remember to this day comparing my report cards with classmates and if I didn't have the best card (and I usually didn't), being motivated to do better. I always wanted to see an "A" on work, and being disappointed when I didn't earn it.

This source of motivation from the current grading system does not exist, but, it is still needed by students. Now, I am not a proponent of adding more and more administrative work on teachers. They have enough to do. But with the current system lacking any component which the kids can easily understand, it is inadequate.

I thank you for your time and consideration, and look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

I replied back:

Ms. Depka,

I was glad to hear at PIN night that students will be graded more in "real time". However an end of the year "promotion" area doesn't really address what is a daily, and semester issue. The concern is not about communicating achievement to parents, it is to communicate it to the students. What is being done in the class room on a daily basis to address individual student achievement, or lack thereof, still isn't addressed by the grading system. It has been left up to a teacher to address this issue, and, there doesn't seem to be any guidance from the District. It also became clear at PIN night, that my concern on this issue is shared by a great many parents.

I have addressed my concerns also with Principal Zahn as well, and I think the District needs to come up with a real solution to this problem. In speaking with several educators at Burleigh about this, the most common response has been that the system is the result of an exhaustive effort on the part of educators, and that it is being widely implemented.

Such a response is unresponsive.

It is my hope that the Elmbrook School District recognizes this issue and that it is of serious parental concern, and will continue to work to address it.

I thank you for your time and continued consideration.

Sincerely,

You get $$ when you're rewarded at the end of highschool with scholarships and financial aid for good grades! Isn't that enough? Sheesh!

This is just bogus . . .

My bad....he isn't my youngest son, he's the middle child.
Oy vey!