Edginuity-Aaarrrggghhhh!!!

[Dmmetler]

M didn’t pass geometry second term, so has to do credit recovery, and the school sent her home with a chromebooks and a log in for this software. She’s been coming to my house so I can help her with it during the day, and 2 days in, I hate it. 
 

As far as I can tell, this software exists to have kids cheat their way through it and get credit quickly. As in, if you put in anything, it gives you the correct answer, and you can go back and change your answer to match before hitting submit, yet the assignments are scored. Based on what I’ve seen so far, it looks like they’re about 75% of the module grade. 

 

What’s more, I see no way to  actually watch the videos and  do the problem sets in a reasonable amount of time. Four questions in every subtopic are short essays (three problem solving/written explanations/proofs, akin to AoPS, but not as well written, one is a reflection on how you feel you’re doing, where you feel confident, and what was the hardest for you), and a unit, which is supposed to be completed, literally, in a day for summer school, will have 10-12 subtopics. So 10-12 of those reflections alone, plus another 30 or so problems requiring a paragraph or so narrative proof, plus probably 100 or more fill in the blank problems with shorter answers. Plus you have to figure out a not at all intuitive system for putting in said answers.
 

So, you’ve set a perfect storm where kids are told they have to get through this content quickly and get a passing score, or else, with 0 instruction except for videos (most of which open Khan academy). And the system is set up to facilitate not doing the assignments and just copying/pasting  the correct answer to get a quick 100% on the assignments, and unless I am missing something, you can get a C by just copying and pasting, even if you bomb the tests.
 

This is at a “good” high school. Sigh….

 

 

 

 

 

[Roadrunner]

All these platforms are terrible. They are just terrible on many levels - frustrating to use, easy to click and easy to forget. Sorry. No wonder kids hate school. 

[Farrar]

I have yet to meet anyone who thinks Edgenuity is decent. Like, some of the other terrible platforms have defenders, but no one seems to actually like Edgenuity.

[Farrar]

I wonder if you can ask the school to take a summer credit from somewhere else? Like, there are other accredited providers that offer summer geometry that are better. Of course, someone has to foot the bill.

[Lecka]

It’s so disappointing 😞

[Lecka]

Even more sadly to me than parents being disappointed, is parents thinking it is good.  There are definitely people who just can’t believe how bad it is.  

[katilac]

idk about edginuity in particular, but credit recovery in general tends to be a joke. 

If a student can't pass in the typical amount of time, they aren't likely to pass it with less time. If they can't pass it with a teacher leader class, they aren't likely to pass it without that support. 

This is what happens when schools and admins are 'graded' on metrics like number of students passing, graduating, and so on, without specifics as to what that looks like or what safeguards should be in place. When money and promotions are tied directly to these things, with no context or oversight, admins change the rules so those numbers look better. The ability to cheat is a feature, not a bug. 

[Dmmetler]

On 6/9/2022 at 9:03 AM, katilac said:

idk about edginuity in particular, but credit recovery in general tends to be a joke. 

If a student can't pass in the typical amount of time, they aren't likely to pass it with less time. If they can't pass it with a teacher leader class, they aren't likely to pass it without that support. 

This is what happens when schools and admins are 'graded' on metrics like number of students passing, graduating, and so on, without specifics as to what that looks like or what safeguards should be in place. When money and promotions are tied directly to these things, with no context or oversight, admins change the rules so those numbers look better. The ability to cheat is a feature, not a bug. 

They're now trying to tell her she needs to come in daily vs just coming in to unlock exams (which is what they were saying last week)-and that it should "only take a few days to finish". So, yeah...they want the kids to come in, tick the boxes, get the score they need to finish, and get a semester or year's credit without learning anything.  I'm thinking it might be better to do just that, and to homeschool/afterschool geometry with an eye on what she needs for the ACT. Except what kind of message would THAT send???

[katilac]

21 hours ago, Dmmetler said:

I'm thinking it might be better to do just that, and to homeschool/afterschool geometry with an eye on what she needs for the ACT. Except what kind of message would THAT send???

She's old enough to be completely honest with her: Credit recovery is just ticking off boxes, so we will go ahead and do that as quickly as possible so you have more time for real learning. 

Believe me, the kids well know that credit recovery is nothing like an actual course. 

[City Mouse]

My DS attended a hybrid school for 2 years that used Edgenuity as the primary platform. I was highly involved with his English and history courses, and I thought those were pretty well done. However he didn’t take any math courses through Edgenuity. I do know that the individual schools have some control over how the assessments are done in the platform, and it sounds like yours are quite lax. 
My guess is that it has more to do with the credit recovery that the specific platform although math courses online don’t seem to be successful for many students.