Being an independent college counselor, the following notice to parents and students from disturbed me:
"Once again this year, the CVHS math, English, science, and social science departments will offer opportunities for grade incentives tied to performance on the STAR California Standards Tests."
It goes on to state that students who improve from below proficient to proficient levels on the test will get a retroactive grade boost of 3 percent, for advanced, a boost of 5 percent, etc. And the student has to go back and ask their teacher to adjust the grade accordingly if they win this inflated grade percentage. Like teachers don't have enough non-academic minutia to do!
CVHS may call this "grade incentives" but I call it grade inflation. Here in (and other school districts we work with, with the exception of high-end private schools), students have been given an overly optimistic view of themselves. It used to be that there was one valedictorian per high school class. Last year had 86! We see hundreds of students every year that apply to colleges they don't have a chance of getting into, let alone get money for, as their confidence has been puffed up unrealistically.
Whatever measuring stick is used to get the coveted "state funding" should have no affect on student grades. Is dangling a prize really going to cause a student to do better? Just like those ridiculous memos to parents telling them to make sure their child gets rest and eats a good breakfast so they can test well. Do parents really need to be told that...really?
C'mon Capo... This year (especially), we have seen some of the most amazing students come from Capo. You have some great things going for you. Please don't feed the students any more of the "entitlement stew." There is a certain dignity and respect from earning a good grade, especially if the teacher was seemingly unfair or harsh. That's life. In the words of that famous philosopher Mick Jagger, "You can't always get what you want."
