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Quarter Grade Disagreement


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Hi -

My daughter is taking an outside class for history.  I do not agree with the grade her tutor gave her.  He told us at parent orientation that most children would fail his first test. He said that if they made a 40 or higher, tell them good job.  If they made a 65 or higher, take them out to eat.   I wasn't worried about it.  my daughter is a very strong student.  However, he only graded the one test and an essay.  She made a 69 on the test.  She didn't have a chance to make up for the test.  Also, he gives a large amount of homework, but he doesn't give them much credit for it.  He also took away points from her essay because she didn't head her paper the way he requires.  She had not met him yet and wasn't aware of the procedure.

 

As a result, my high achieving daughter received a 79 for her quarter grade.  I am trying to decide if I should change her grade or not.  It is allowable.  I teach her four days a week and he has her for only 1.  Thus, parents can adjust grades they disagree with.  I have never went against any of her other tutors.

 

 

What would you do?  Why or Why not?

 

Thank you,

Suzanne

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Hi -

My daughter is taking an outside class for history.  I do not agree with the grade her tutor gave her.  He told us at parent orientation that most children would fail his first test. He said that if they made a 40 or higher, tell them good job.  If they made a 65 or higher, take them out to eat.   I wasn't worried about it.  my daughter is a very strong student.  However, he only graded the one test and an essay.  She made a 69 on the test.  She didn't have a chance to make up for the test.  Also, he gives a large amount of homework, but he doesn't give them much credit for it.  He also took away points from her essay because she didn't head her paper the way he requires.  She had not met him yet and wasn't aware of the procedure.

 

As a result, my high achieving daughter received a 79 for her quarter grade.  I am trying to decide if I should change her grade or not.  It is allowable.  I teach her four days a week and he has her for only 1.  Thus, parents can adjust grades they disagree with.  I have never went against any of her other tutors.

 

I do not quite understand.

The tutor warned you in advance that the first test would be tough. A 69 seems to indicate very strong student.

Taking off points if the paper does not follow the required formatting is standard. I assume the requirements for formatting have been stated somewhere?

I do not consider it necessary to give a lot of credit for homework. Some classes don't give any and base all evaluation on demonstrated mastery through papers or exams. I do not see this as a reason to complain - unless the homework is not pertinent to the subject and does not contribute to learning. I would object to busy work that serves no discernible purpose.

 

Presumably there will be other assignments that are less tough - because an outside class with an average grade of D will not garner further customers. So what is the importance of the quarter grade? Why even look at that?

Edited by regentrude
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I guess it would depend on how formal this arrangement is and if he's affiliated with some school or is contracted by you, in which case he's more like your employee. 

If the former, I'd just plain withdraw. If the latter, I'd just change the grade & tell him to stuff himself. 

I'd also take this as a serious lesson. There are profs like this in post secondary too. Avoid them if you can, plan ahead if you can't. Some really are super stingy with marks & get a thrill from giving low grades.  If she's headed for the humanities, she'll need to get used to this as it happens way more than in more objectively marked classes. 

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No, the requirements for the paper were not stated.  Most of the students have been in his class before so I guess he just assumed they all knew how to head a paper.  If he had given more opportunities for the students to improve their grade, I would not have expected the homework to receive more credit.   However, he had two grading opportunities for an entire 9 weeks.  The importance of hte quarter grade is that it will go on her transcript.  I am trying to decide if I am overreacting. 

 

Suzanne

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Is she a senior? Or why do you report the quarter grade on the transcript?

Most classes don't report quarter grades; I leave all grades blank for any senior year course until I have semester grades.

DS has been in class for 11 weeks and has two grades for two papers; that is fairly normal. 

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Also, he gives a large amount of homework, but he doesn't give them much credit for it.  He also took away points from her essay because she didn't head her paper the way he requires.  She had not met him yet and wasn't aware of the procedure.

 

As a result, my high achieving daughter received a 79 for her quarter grade.  I am trying to decide if I should change her grade or not.  It is allowable.  I teach her four days a week and he has her for only 1.  Thus, parents can adjust grades they disagree with.  I have never went against any of her other tutors.

 

 

Ack, second time this week I typed out a long post and it didn't save correctly. Trying again!

 

Since she didn't know the procedure and it wasn't stated anywhere, I'd complain about the paper grade. (Better, have her go to him about it if she's a junior or senior.) It does seem overly strict for just a high school course. 

 

Why would quarter grades go on her transcript? Nothing but final grades go on transcripts here. If you don't have to put it on, don't, and wait out the semester to see how things work out.

 

I will say that if he's specifically trying to be "college prep" (as in actually preparing them for college requirements), it is standard to take off for improperly formatted papers and also for homework to not be a large part of a grade. So in that way it's a good learning experience. (But in a college course, I would expect some kind of syllabus that would make formatting requirements clear, and also the grading rubric--they'd know up front how much the homework assignments counted towards their grade.)

 

 

 

 

Edited by MerryAtHope
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She is a fourteen year old ninth grader. I live in TN and most people who homeschool register with an umbrella school.  The umbrella school basically keeps a transcript for you and provides standardized testing.  At our Umbrella school, we are required to report quarterly grades. Most tutorials around here meet for class one or two days a week.  Then, they assign lessons for the rest of the week to do at home.

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Oh, I see. We're in a totally hands off, no oversight at all jurisdiction. People who use tutors don't have them generate any grades...... 



I think what I'd be tempted to do is weigh the grades. Since he has her 20% of the time, his marks are worth 20%. You give her 80% of the marks based on whatever criteria you set. 

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I still do not understand the setup. If she attends any class at the tutorial one day a week, do you normally conduct assessments?

If yes, then your assessments count 80%, the tutor's 20% - easy.

If, OTOH, you normally only supervise daily work and the assessment is outsourced to the tutorial, I would accept the tutor's grade.

Otherwise, what point is there in outsourcing a graded class if you override the grade anyway?

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I would give whatever grade I deemed appropriate.

 

In previous AP classes, our teachers have gone so far as to say this is how they grade but since as a homeschool parent we are ultimately responsible for giving the grade.

 

I would be careful about changing grades, but I wouldn't have any trouble "giving" back points for anything that I approved and though appropriate though the teacher took off for. "I" haven't had to change any grades, but I have told my kids that I am changing the grading scale and will give the grade I think appropriate - it's been the same as the teacher so ultimately not a problem. I figure I am the teacher and am using a "tutor" as one resource, but "I" ultimately determine the grades.

 

I would use this as a learning opportunity to say that you have to format as the teacher instructs, etc. I would also pull out from using this person as a tutor if you disagree with the grading - or simply say you want them to teach, but not grade.
 

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I'm not sure I understand what a tutorial is in your situation.

 

If this is a class with a teacher and a syllabus, where the course is planned and executed by the teacher and your role is to see that homework gets done, I think you should work within the course grade.

 

If this is a setting where it is not a full course, but is one aspect of what you are doing for a subject, then you make some determination of how much of your course is the tutorial and how much is your at home instruction.

 

If this is just a tutor you have engaged to do what you direct, then I think the whole grade is up to you.

 

 

To the extent that an outside course has extra meaning for a homeschooler, it is in the fact that there is a less subjective grading situation and a schedule that is less bendable.  

 

On the other hand, if your dd was graded down for formatting and there was not guidance given (either on the assignment sheet, on the syllabus or in class), then that is something she should discuss with the teacher.  If she isn't willing to speak with the teacher, then it might be worth your calling and asking about formatting and other information that other students would already know, but that might be unknown to your kid.

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You should start by having her talk to the teacher about the grade and the points for the heading. This would be good practice for her. She will always deal with stuff like this all her life. I think the main thing many teens lose out on these days is handling administrative things. If she is unwilling to at least try to speak to the teacher about it, then I would not change the grade. Dealing with the teacher or an employer, etc, it is just a part of life and a good lesson to learn. Being rescued by mom when you haven't tried to resolve anything first is not a good lesson.

Edited by Janeway
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She is a fourteen year old ninth grader. I live in TN and most people who homeschool register with an umbrella school.  The umbrella school basically keeps a transcript for you and provides standardized testing.  At our Umbrella school, we are required to report quarterly grades. Most tutorials around here meet for class one or two days a week.  Then, they assign lessons for the rest of the week to do at home.

Also in TN so I understand about the Umbrella and tutorial situation.... (people in other states would call them either Cottage Schools or co-ops with paid instructors)

 

What I'd do is change the curve. So, her 79 is probably, from what you said about most failing first test, a high B or low A.  I'd give her what she deserves. Instructors who consistently give low grades for EVERYONE deserve to have their grading system re-evaluated. If she worked for and deserves an A give it to her. If she didn't then don't.  As HSer's, even in TN, we get to decide these things.  I wouldn't mess up her GPA because the instructor thinks he'll be respected for making it too hard.

 

 

I agree with PP who said instructors like this need to be avoided at the higher level if at all possible. I had a class, Econ 201, where 1/2 the students were taking it for the 2nd or 3rd time, trying to get a C.  Of the 3 prof's who taught the course the one I had was the only one who even gave B's (no A's).  I got a B but I had to work crazy hard to get it and No, it was not worth it, other classes/grades suffered because of it.

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She is a fourteen year old ninth grader. I live in TN and most people who homeschool register with an umbrella school.  The umbrella school basically keeps a transcript for you and provides standardized testing.  At our Umbrella school, we are required to report quarterly grades. Most tutorials around here meet for class one or two days a week.  Then, they assign lessons for the rest of the week to do at home.

 

Suzanne, I am also in TN and was (for 12 years) with an umbrella school that required quarterly reports. I agree with a PP that you should assign grades for the portion of the course that your daughter does at home. Also, I would not report the quarterly grade to your umbrella school. Just leave that grade blank and attach a note that you will report it at the end of the semester. That will give you a little more time to process your thoughts and set up a plan to help your daughter succeed in this class. 

 

The things this teacher said at your parent orientation make my skin crawl. You are paying for this??? I am certainly in favor of thorough, challenging courses, but there is no need to throw such haughtiness into the mix. Maybe I'm just especially sensitive to it during this election season...lol!!!

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