"No child left behind" (was Re: Filepro-list Digest, Vol 86, Issue 21)

[Kenneth Brody]

On 3/8/2011 3:13 PM, Boaz Bezborodko wrote:
[...]
> This can even occur in private schools.  My nephew once yelled at a
> teacher because she praised him very highly for what was really a
> mediocre accomplishment of the task at hand.  "You're lying.  This
> wasn't that great so why are you lying to me."

Good for him.  Praise loses its meaning when given for everything.  And then 
you get a generation of kids who expect praise for everything they do, 
regardless of how trivial.

> My 8-year-old daughter (2nd grade) is a bit behind in reading and math
> (so was her father).  They modified her spelling exams to include only 5
> words instead of the usual 10 fro the rest of the class.  At first she
> had problems and was getting only 1 out 5, but she improved..  After
> about 2 months of getting 5 out of 5 right I insisted that the teachers
> increase the number of words.  "How is she going to know if she's
> getting better if she is constantly getting them all right?  Don't you
> think she knows that she is being given only half the words that the
> rest of the class is getting?"
>
> They increased the number of words to 7.  Her first exam she got 6 out
> of 7 and then 7 out of 7 for the next 4.  My wife and I insisted that
> she be given the same as the rest of the class.  Her first test she got
> 10 out of 10.  She was beaming because she knew exactly what that
> meant.  But she did give me a face when I suggested she ask the teachers
> for even more words on her next exam.
>
> The kids know the difference.

I'm not sure I agree with the "let's give her simpler tests" angle, but I'm 
glad she got better, and the school eventually went back to giving her the 
same tests as everyone else.

As for wanting even more words on the spelling exam...

We tease our youngest that he gets "only" 107 on his spelling tests, when 
his older brother used to get 108.  "But they only have 7 bonus points!  You 
can't get 108!"  He complains that his teacher _doesn't_ give him harder 
work.  I hope the school doesn't beat that out of him.

-- 
Kenneth Brody