Accountabily is a big concern for me... not just from the teachers. I feel that students and PARENTS need to be held accountable for the grades that little Johnny & Mary are "awarded". I have found that if a parent is not fully involved, the student (ok, i know some of us have absolute geniuses with the work ethic of a chinaman building the transcontintal railroad) ... the student will in many cases do "just enough' or "nearly enough" to not get a letter sent home. We get weekly updates. Thats not enough. The child has not made the dotted
line that the amount of quality works results in a quality grade. The concept of averages hasn't penetrated the noggin. If she gets a 100% on one homework paper, and a 0 on one she decided wasn't too important to do, her average is a 50. This concept makes her eyes glass over with the resultant whine of "but, but, but..." I'm not sure when cause and effect will make the light shine in her head, but... we're gettin' there.