parent complaining about grades

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parent complaining about grades
By Carolyn

I had a situation like one you describe years ago when I taught seventh grade reading. The student in my class missed an A by one or two points. I gave her the B. Mom didn't even come to see me. Oh, no. She went STRAIGHT
to the principal and asked HIM to have me change her child's grade! After she did that, she came into my room and told me that she had already arranged with the principal to have her child's grade changed. I thought it was awfully inappropriate of the mom to violate a chain of command. That is, she should have come to see the teacher first and try to resolve the problem there first.

If that doesn't work out, then go to the principal.

The mom told me that her daughter had never had a B in her life. I went back to the gradebook and rechecked my math. I still had a B average for the child. Mom wheedled about a missing assignment that brought down her grade. She had all kinds of excuses for the child's missing the project.

I guess it's hard to convince parents of kids like this that they aren't perfect. Certainly, I never expected that my own children receive all A's, or else. I never bugged their teachers about grades, either.

As for the child's entering this special program, how is one B going to keep him out? Also, what a ridiculous notion for the teacher to give out grade reports to each student every week! That's a lot of reporting and paperwork! I believe that middle school students should keep a log of their own grades. Perhaps you could suggest this to the mom. The child makes up a log sheet, then records each graded paper he gets back. I knew a middle school teacher once who did this. It puts the responsibility onto the kids.