How Can Five People Cross the River In A Three-Person Boat if Person A Refuses To Sit Next To A Black Person And Person C Refuses To Sit With A Latino Person?

Tim Cavanaugh | February 8, 2005

Reader Bonnie Pettis alerts us to this Fox News story about curriculum guidelines in the Newton, Mass. public school system. Benchmarks issued in 1999 to encourage "Respect for Human Differences" promote "Newton's commitment to active anti-racist education" through various suggested activities:

Students will: Consistently analyze their experiences and the curriculum for bias and discrimination; Take effective anti-bias action when bias or discrimination is identified; Work with people of different backgrounds and tell how the experience affected them; Demonstrate how their membership in different groups has advantages and disadvantages that affect how they see the world and the way they are perceived by others...

Part of the new Social Studies program? A more enlightened Civics curriculum? No, these are benchmarks for Newton's math classes.

The guidelines have shown striking results. According to a local columnist who published the guidelines, Newton's math test results have declined steadily over the past three years, to the point where 32 percent of sixth-graders are now getting D-plus scores or worse (or, in non-prejudicial language, 68 percent of the students are passing).

Here's a math question I never figured out in public school: How come a D is considered a flunking grade? What's the purpose of F if D has all the same effects as a failure?

Comments

|2.8.05 @ 2:15PM|#

I've never seen the point of the D either. I'm all for sorting out varying degrees of talent or lack thereof, but since I don't believe that classroom tests and assignments are the best indicators of merit (don't get me wrong, they're good for sorting people into basic categories, but the fine distinctions can only be ascertained by performance in jobs, or at least applied research projects), I think we should have just 4 grades:

Satisfactory/Pass
Fail
Barely passing
Pass with distinction

I'm not so sure that two people whose scores differ by a few percent are really all that different (the only way to be sure is to observe them in the real world), but I'm pretty sure that a 20% difference is telling us something.

|2.8.05 @ 2:30PM|#

I never got why we use 'F' anyway. OK it stand for failing. But why blow the alphabetical system of ABCD? Only once have I seen a school that used a more sensible 'E' for a failing grade.

|2.8.05 @ 2:32PM|#

OK it stand*s* for failing.

Some linguist I am! Sorry, slight agreement problem there.

|2.8.05 @ 2:43PM|#

The reason you all don't understand "D's" is because you don't understand how our politically-driven education system works. I work as a public high school math teacher, so I can enlighten you why "D's" exist and why they are basically the same as "F's"

Parents don't like it when their little clones bring home "F's" Since their brilliant progeny could not possibly have failed without help, it must be the teacher's fault. So these parents, who up till now have had NOTHING to do with their child's education, pick up the phone and complain loudy to anyone who will listen.

Principals and administrators don't like "F's" because they have to deal with the aforementioned indignant parents. Additionally, failing grades reflect badly on the school's performance, and thus their own personal performance.

School boards don't like "F's" either. When a student gets and "F," he or she can not recieve credit towards graduation for the course and must retake it. This potentially results in the student spending more time in school, which costs additional money and strains the school system's already maxed-out capacity. If that wasn't bad enough, parents are also voters, and since most school boards are elected, the school board members tend to get riled when the parents are upset.

And thus the shit rolls downhill to the teacher. Teachers are put under enormous pressure not to fail students for all of the abovementioned reasons. A teacher who gives out too many "F's" catches serious heat from the school administration. Some schools actually have a policy forbidding teachers to fail a student in the same course twice.

If this pressure wasn't enough, teachers have their own reasons for passing on failing students. Failing students are often disruptive, ill-behaved students. School curriculum has been dumbed-down so much over the last 20 years that even a complete knucklehead can pull a "C" if he tries. The kids who fail usually do so because of a lack of work ethic, high absenteeism, and out of school suspensions resulting from discipline problems.

So the end result is that most "F's" are changed to "D's" in order the pass the student along through the system. The "D" is "the new F." A "D" doesn't mean "below average" anymore. It means "get this little bastard out of my face and the administration off of my ass."

So now you know.

sage|2.8.05 @ 2:45PM|#

I've heard this one before, but you left out the Rabbi.

|2.8.05 @ 2:45PM|#

What's the purpose of F if D has all the same effects as a failure?

It's a cynical device to show smart students that school is mostly bullshit.

Tim Cavanaugh|2.8.05 @ 2:50PM|#

Matt, that explanation presumes that a D is considered "passing." It's not. With a D you get no credit, so you still have to repeat the class. There's no functional difference between a D and an F as far as I can tell.

|2.8.05 @ 2:55PM|#

The 'D' is also used by vindictive teachers who just plain don't like a student, but who can't justify failing her with an 'F', because the teacher realizes they would never get away with giving her an 'F' just because they don't like that particular student, her writing style, or her ideas. (In regards to non-scientific classes).
This is especially true of the increasingly arbitrary grading pattern of modern-day college liberal arts professors -- especially the ones who know you have little or no interest in their subject of teaching.
In a college major at many undergraduate schools, a D has the same effect as an F - failing.

|2.8.05 @ 2:56PM|#

Pardon the subject-verb non-agreement. Heh.

|2.8.05 @ 3:01PM|#

Tim, that's College. Most High schools still give graduation credit for a D. As long as the student doesn't have any illusions of taking the next level of the course it doesn't usually matter.

CodeMonkeySteve|2.8.05 @ 3:05PM|#

"D" is for "Dolt", "F" is for "Fuckwit".

A subtle but significant distinction.

|2.8.05 @ 3:07PM|#

D or F - Fail
C - Barely passing
B - Satisfactory/Pass
A - Pass with distinction

In other words, thoreau, pretty much what we do now.

aj|2.8.05 @ 3:11PM|#

where I went to college you had to get a "c" or better to pass the required math courses, a passing, but "d" grade would not count, effective making a "d" an "f", but for the lesser effect on your GPA. No other departements did this that I was aware of. Damn math anyway, it belongs in hell....

MP|2.8.05 @ 3:17PM|#

Tim,

Not that I'm an expert, but my wife is a teacher in New York State and I'm pretty sure there is a clear difference between D and F. I'm curious what system you are referring to.

Matt's comments were dead on.

Glen Whitman|2.8.05 @ 3:21PM|#

Even if D and F are both failing grades (not always true), there's a GPA difference. In the 4.0 system, D is 1.0 and F is 0.0. That can make a difference when a student has to maintain a particular average for certain purposes (such as athletic eligibility, maintenance of a scholarship (!), etc.). Where I teach, students are supposed to maintain a 2.0 average to remain "in good standing." They'll supposedly get kicked out if their GPA stays below 2.0 for too long.

|2.8.05 @ 3:32PM|#

RC Dean-

True, but we also have the + and - grades. Also, even though the letter grades more or less have the meanings that you said, the B still has the aura of being a "good" grade rather than just satisfactory. I'd rather ditch the grades and their frequently outdated connotations and go to labels with unambiguous meanings.


Tim-

Whether or not a D counts all depends on the school. I seem to recall that at my college a D would get you units of credit so you could meet the 128 credit graduation requirement, but if the class was a core requirement then you'd still have to repeat it with a C- or better to meet the subject requirement for your major.

So, if you got a D in some electives or GE's you were OK. But if you got a D in a core class you were in trouble. Or something like that. Point is, different schools treat the D differently.

|2.8.05 @ 3:33PM|#

Tim,
I don't know how things work where you live, but here in Florida you get credit for a "D." I'll quote from Florida statute 242.2463:

Grade "D" equals 60 percent through 69 percent, has a grade point average value of 1, and is defined as "lowest acceptable progress."

Notice the "acceptable" part.

The legislature has changed the graduation requirements so that a student now needs a 2.0 cummulative GPA to graduate, so a kid can't get all "D's" and graduate. However, it is entirely possible for a student to fail every math and english course they take, get handed a bunch of "administrative D's," and make up the GPA with "A's" with easy elective courses.

Yes, things really are that screwed up.

JLo|2.8.05 @ 4:04PM|#

Two quick thoughts:

1. All of the comments at this point are about the last two sentences of Tim's post (i.e., what's a "D" and what's an "F") rather than the paragraphs before. Is it that the topic so absurd that it speaks for itself or that we're running short on ten-foot poles?

2. The columnist for the Tab lists school administrators' salaries; is that common practice in local papers?

|2.8.05 @ 4:20PM|#

Matt Medlin at February 8, 2005 02:43 PM
So now you know.

enlightening in a frightening kinda', sorta' way.

PintofStout|2.8.05 @ 4:21PM|#

I think absurdity wins out.

I'm not sure if it is common practice, but since the "public" pays their salaries I wouldn't find harm in it.

|2.8.05 @ 4:40PM|#

Tim Cavanaugh,

A "D" is a passing grade at some universities.

The program itself sounds rather screwy.

MP|2.8.05 @ 5:05PM|#

JLo,

Articles that point out the absurd level of political correctness in public schools are simply passe. We are all numb to them now.

|2.8.05 @ 5:30PM|#

"What they do know about is the wonders of Ghana, Mexico and China," [Lillian Benson, whose children...attend the district's schools] said.

If only that were true there might be hope. The trouble is they don't even know that.

|2.8.05 @ 5:48PM|#

As someone who graduated from the Newton, MA school system in 1985, all I have to say is things have changed a hell of a lot in old Barney Frank's district.

The worst thing I can remember is a teacher who didn't know the difference between archeology and paleontology.

Jesse Walker|2.8.05 @ 7:24PM|#

Only once have I seen a school that used a more sensible 'E' for a failing grade.

My elementary school used the 'E' as well, and so did the other schools in our system. I may be remembering this wrong, but I think my mom (who taught LD kids for a spell) told me that this was because some administrator thought it stigmatized kids to give them a grade that stood for 'Failure.'

|2.8.05 @ 7:33PM|#

My university used to have an E grade. It stood for a conditional Fail. Basically you fail the class if you don't pass a test on the 5th week of the next term, you don't get credit. As such there was a 5 point GPA scale. They got rid of it because people would be slacking off mid-semester to pass the test. Now all that remains is a 5 point GPA scale that punishes Fs more.

|2.8.05 @ 7:41PM|#

Jesse Walker,

Does "E" stand for "empty-headed?" :)

|2.8.05 @ 10:13PM|#

How about the difference between "archeology" and "archaeology." Did they teach you that in school, too?

|2.8.05 @ 11:37PM|#

My schools (in Rochester) all had "E" not "F". Hence, I always thought "ABCD-F" was really dumb, too. And there was a clear difference between "D" and "E". "D" was "below average", but passing. "E" was "failing". Simple, eh?

|2.9.05 @ 1:03AM|#

I know this would horrify today's educationis babblers, but in my grammar and high-school career, we didn't receive letter grades. We got numbers. An excellent 4rd grade report card might look like this:

English....91%
Geography..94%
Science....96%
Religion...92%*
Math.......91%

etc.

I seem to remember letter codes for attendance, deportment and effort, also.

Our high school GPAs were computed by awarding points for a numeric range, with an extra point for taking advanced classes. (A sophomore taking geometry earns 4 points with a 92% (A in letter-speak.) A freshman taking the same course and achieving the same grade would be awarded 5 points.

I can remember 65% being the standard for failure, and in a pure, Bart Simpson "Behold, my F!" manner, the teachers would inscribe it in red ink. Anyone doing "D" work - 66-75% - would get a warning mid-year that they were in danger of failing, in writing if not at a teacher/parent conference. Of course, parents signing the report card was a requirement, so nobody could claim that they were ignorant of their child's plight.

As for Newton, this "matrh as social studies" nonsense has been around for some time. I have no objection to multicultural inputs to an elementary school math class, as long as it is really amth-related. We learned that the "Arabic" numerals originated in India, and how the West's favorite computational system, Roman numerals, were inferior for doing accurate arithmatic. Bring in the abacus, and even chisanbop. If it helps teach math, good. If its just more Blobbish propaganda, ditch it.

Kevin

*Yes, you might have guessed these were private schools run by religious institutions. They used horrible tactics, such as my 9th grade algebra teacher, Sr. Stephen, who "drilled and killed" me from "C" work to a 100% score on the New York State Regents algebra exam at year's end.

|2.9.05 @ 2:37AM|#

My brother, a high school science teacher in Ohio, passes everyone in order to avoid angry parents and administrators. He isn't allowed to flunk more than a small percentage. He has to explain every F grade to the administration. A HS diploma is worthless. Matt Medlin is too correct.

|2.9.05 @ 9:59AM|#

We got numbers in high school, too. For GPA purposes, 90-100 was 4.0(A), 80-89 was 3.0(B), 70-79 was 2.0(C), and below 70 was 0.0(F). They dropped D's, but stuck with the 4 point system. Advanced Honors classes were worth 5,4,3,0, and truly remedial classes were worth 3,2,1,0. (I had a 5.0 one semester, to give a feel for how generous they were with the honors designation. I think the Valedictorian had something like a 4.4 GPA.)

This was a public school - magnet, but that didn't affect the grading system, the regular programs used it, too. (Magnet school - take all the talented kids and talented teachers, bus them to a failing inner city school building, and give them an education almost as good as they might get in private school while using their grades and SATs to make the sucky inner city school look good even though the only time the regular and magnet students see each other is in art, health, and passing periods.)

|2.9.05 @ 11:07AM|#

"How about the difference between "archeology" and "archaeology." Did they teach you that in school, too?"

Both spellings are acceptable.

|2.9.05 @ 11:18AM|#

My brother, a high school science teacher in Ohio, passes everyone in order to avoid angry parents and administrators.

Twba, you must be referring to my high school physics teacher. Og bless him.

|2.9.05 @ 11:39AM|#

My brother does teach physics.

|2.9.05 @ 11:44AM|#

My brother does teach physics.

Twba, we should talk. I wasn't kidding about that comment. Does he fly planes for a hobby? Is his wife a teacher also? If you don't want to disclose info about him, I understand, but I must say that I am curious....

|2.9.05 @ 11:49AM|#

If you don't want to disclose info about him, I understand, but I must say that I am curious....

Especially since if it is the same person, then he could rightly verify that I totally blow at physics.

|2.9.05 @ 11:57AM|#

Smacky,

Geoff is a tall dork married to another teacher. I don't think he flies planes.

|2.9.05 @ 12:03PM|#

Twba,

Oh. I don't recall having any instructors named Geoff. But it's nice to know that there is more than one merciful physics instructor out there. (Well, "nice" as long as none of the kids he incorrectly passes don't go on to become shoddy radiologists or nuclear scientists or the like.)
:p

|2.9.05 @ 3:03PM|#

smacky--

they go on to become whiny college freshmen who show up in their physics instructor's office saying "I don't understand why I'm failing. I did great in physics in high school!"

Geoff|2.9.05 @ 4:35PM|#

Hmm I always thought it went like this:

D is for "Done."
F is for "Free books next semester."

|2.11.05 @ 3:57PM|#

DON'T YOU ALL GET IT, D&F DO NOT MATTER ANYMORE.UNDER NCLB EVEN IF EVERY CHILD GETS 100% ON THEIR "MANDATED" READING,MATH ETC. TESTS AND MORE THAN 5% OF THE CLASS IS SICK OR ABSENT THE CLASS FAILS. I KNOW, IT HAPPENED AT MY DAUGHTERS FINE PUBLIC INSTITUTION.