Failing Students By Auto-Passing Them
Shane Trotter writes at Quillette

Ten years ago, I showed up for my first day as a high school teacher. I had landed a job in the best school of what is often called a "destination district." Still, I knew I was facing an uphill battle. Warnings abounded of an American public school system in decline. But I was undeterred. I had that youthful sense that education needed change and I was just the one to change it.

Throughout that first year I worked incessantly--creating lessons, grading, and making myself available to students an hour before school each day. I ran around the room joking with students, telling stories, creating relevant analogies, and turning pop-culture songs into lesson reviews that I'd sing for the class.

My students looked forward to my energy and I enjoyed their sense of humor. Still, I couldn't have predicted how unprepared my students would be. They had never taken notes. They were shocked that my test reviews weren't a list of the questions on the test. They couldn't understand why I didn't allow 20 minutes of review before the test, or why a history exam would have sections requiring written responses. In fact, many would just skip the entire short answer and essay sections, despite being given these topics in advance. Those who did respond often wrote single words or incoherent run-ons.

I'd spend entire classes explaining what I wanted to see in the short answer responses. We'd practice writing the "who, what, where, when, and why this concept is important." But little changed. After their years of schooling in which writing never extended beyond filling in a blank, my expectations were analogous to asking high schoolers to solve algebraic equations when they had not yet learned to multiply and divide. They were capable, but it was going to take a lot of effort to fill in the gaps. Which raises the question, why would a student be willing to put in that much work?

I was fighting the overwhelming tide of a system intent upon handing over diplomas. Over half of my students would have failed if I gave them the grade they earned. But the unwritten, yet well-communicated, rule was that teachers should never fail a student if it could be helped. The onus was on the teacher to hound students for late assignments and find a way to bump them to a C.

As much as I wanted to fight every battle, I eventually caved to the exhaustion of a demanding Texas high school coaching schedule (which seemed to be the job I was really hired for). I compromised more times than I would have ever thought possible. I eliminated homework, allowed test retakes, gave fill-in-the-blank notes, graded essays at a 5th grade level, gave test reviews that were basically the test, and intentionally made tests easy. When there were still too many students failing at the end of a grading period, I went above and beyond to manufacture easy routes to a passing grade so that only a handful of incomprehensibly effort-averse students failed.

...In response to concerns about low standards, American schools have doubled down on standardized testing. But standardization should not be conflated with the standards I have been advocating. State standards have nothing to do with pulling students up to a standard. They push all the attention to the lowest achieving students and perform sleight of hand to make it appear that these students have learned.

...Teachers must have the authority to select lessons, teach, give failing grades, punish those who cheat, and determine that behavior is unacceptable without themselves being subject to a courtroom inquisition. School administrations must be empowered to determine that students need skills not required on state tests. They must be able to remove incompetent teachers and tell insubordinate parents that their child's individual demand is not in the best interest of all. Education can only become what society needs it to become when we empower every school, teacher, and student to actively participate in the educational process. We don't need extensive rule books or broad state mandated curriculums. We need talented teachers who are expected to be an authority in human development and are empowered to utilize their judgment to create an energized, challenging learning experience.

Excerpt from Trotter's new book (available on Kindle and as an audiobook), "Setting the Bar: Preparing Our Kids to Thrive in an Era of Distraction, Dependency, and Entitlement."