computerdisc-l: Passing to the 9th grade

[Cynthia Kahler <kahler@watervalley.net>]

Thank you for all the replies about passing to the ninth grade.  Most of 
you didn't send them to the list serve so I'll let those of you that are 
interested know what the gist of the replies were.  I got approximately 11 
replies.  Well folks, it appears we are all in the same boat.  Only one of 
those eleven replies was in a district that students were required to pass 
or they were retained.  Many others claimed a 20-30% failure rate. If that 
one district weren't so far away, I would apply for a job!!! - doing almost 
anything.  My philosophy has always been - expect success and many students 
will rise to the challenge.  Oh well, I'm told it's a "district thing" so I 
guess we're all in this together.  It makes it hard to get students to see 
the importance of technology and hard to justify the long hours 
before/after school that are sometimes necessary for us to put in.  My 
failures are increasing as the years go by.  I faked students out 
completely the first year with the "I don't know" reply when they asked if 
they had to pass it; it worked on some the second year.  They know better 
now - and yes, GPA matters to some, but they'd care about the grade if it 
didn't follow them to the high school, wouldn't they?  Thanks for the 
replies.

Cynthia Kahler
OMS