Opinion: Banning 'D' Grades Puts Undue Pressure on Students

all they are doing is changing the position of that cushion not what it takes to pass or fail what's so bad about that i say make it simple pass or fail no worries no cushion if you try you can do it if you dont care it doesn't matter any way why let the ones not trying call the shots

I had several teachers that absolutely believed in the c being average, they made tests hard enough that they graded on curves, if they got too many b's and a's the next test was made even harder. If c is average and everything below a c is failing then half taking the class should fail. If this is not the case then they are mickey mouse courses and the material needs to be much more difficult. There are people now with degrees that I doubt should have graduated from high school, I've had to work with them, fix their errors. We should be going towards a European school system anyway, ours used to be like theirs years ago. General education school only went to middle school, high school was college prep. Those that didn't go to high school went to a trade school or became an apprentice in something. Now if only more people could understand the concept that everyone can not be average or better, frankly I blame the education system!

If a school's grading policy is based on a scale in which C means average, or in the middle, then the grade of D makes sense to indicate performance slightly below average. However, the current trend in education is toward "mastery of standards." In this scenario, the grade of C is often used to indicate that the student mastered the minimum standards required to pass the course. The grades of B and A indicate that the student exceeded the minimum standards by a little or a lot. If the student failed to meet the minimum standards, s/he failed the course, as indicated by the grade F. In that case, the D grade is superfluous. It all depends on which grading model the school is using, information which presumably is communicated to everybody involved.

When I went to school, A's stood for 90-100, B's 80-89, C's 70-79. Anything below 70 was a failing grade. "D" to me means dumbing down. I understand that not every child can bring home the A's. I think that as parents, we need to accept that. Our job is to do our best together with our children to help them simply do the best that they can. As long as they are doing all that they can to acheive a passing grade, we need to accept that and not admonish them for it. It doesn't necessarily mean that the child is going to turn out bad or not have a good future. Maybe the child is a late bloomer. Some kids grow up & find an inner strength that they never tapped into before. Maybe the teacher isn't doing their best to convey the information. Let's face it, some teachers are better than others. Some seem to have only taken the job because of the great schedule (summer's off, holidays, etc.) I don't think that taking the "D" grade away is a bad idea. What I do find bad is "dumbing down" the system just to accomodate those that are just a little less than passing. I truly believe that everyone has the potential to at least be a "C" student. All they need is the proper guidance and support system. Being at least a "C" isn't a horrible thing. Ok...so maybe they'll go to community college instead of Harvard. That's not such a horrible thing.....at least they're going somewhere. Better to at least be a "C"ommunity college grad than a "D"rop Out!

Getting rid of the D is ridiculous. A D means you have mastered 60-69% of the material presented. It is unreasonable to expect every student to be proficient in every subject just to graduate from high school. Not every student is going to college nor do high school grades determine success in life. I graduated with honors from high school, college and graduate school. By eliminating the D, I never would have received even a high school diploma because for the life of me I could never comprehend geometry which was a required course for graduation. I barely made a D. One boy I went to high school with who went on to be a successful doctor was always getting Ds in English. My youngest son was a slacker and his grades showed it but the Navy didn't care as his high IQ, aptitude test scores and physical fitness qualified him for SEALS and submarines. He's had a very successful Navy career. The Mt. Olive superintendent of schools is an elitist fool when he says no one wants to hire a D student. There are plenty of plumbers and mechanics out there who were D students making more a year than him.

I just graduated from a long-distance learning program (essentially a virtual high school), but between kindergarten and my freshman year (the year I left public school) I encountered several teachers who did refuse to help me after hours.

For two years at my school (8th and 9th grade for me), the teachers were having contract negotiations and every teacher in the union refused to do anything outside of their contract, which included offering any type of extra help (which I needed in math especially).

My grades suffered because of this, and I left the school. I also suffered major confidence issues and thought I was stupid, until I started succeeding in alternative high school. Fortunately for me, I did have the financial means to get a good education, and am now going on to study secondary education (along with musical theater) in college, because I want to be the type of teacher you described, a teacher who is willing to help their students succeed and wants to see them do well.

Thomson, you've addressed a problem for another day - the fact that far too many teachers are either too beholden or too scared of their unions to put their students first.

I'm sorry that you had such a crappy experience, but it's obvious that you overcame the obstacles. I'm sure you will make a fine teacher - please do not forget this lesson that you learned. Your students will be most fortunate to have you.

C will no longer be an adverage grade and you must have an adverage in anything in order to use a scoring system as we all do. These poor kids are going through hell and now we are taking yet another chance for them to make it. In poorer households the parents are already having to do part of the homework for thier kids and this support team where have they been? all schools claim to have a support team but you can never find this team and if it exsist it is not accessable to the poor as is the case of this support team ($150 per class failing grade) I certinly couldn't do it for my child. I made mostly E's and later in life found that I have a learning diability. I only read one book when I was in school and no one knows it but me. I have been a hiring manager now for more than 25 years for a company that employs thousands of people so I know what employers want and I have never hired based on education and this has been dicused whitin circles and in fact education can hurt your chances of getting a job. Someone stills has to flip my burger and pick up my trash and I want mind if they have a PHD, degree of any kind or and adverage grade I will still thank them. So please for the kids sakes lets hold the teachers accountable and by all means the principles and above. The public needs to take the school system back.

I agree completely. I am 17 years old and come from an almost below middle class family. My family has lived in my town for almost 3 generations. Ever since I was 7 I understood that things would be different for me compared to other kids around me. I would never have money for a tutor or SAT classes. If I was going to have good grades, it was because I WORKED for them, by myself, with no bribes/"rewards" from my parents. I am a 3 sport athlete, which means i practice for at least 2.5 hours every day after school, have a part time job on the weekends, and for my senior year in september I will take 3 AP's (environmental, calculus, economics), a foriegn language (chinese), and a college writing course. My GPA is a 94.8. No tutor. No classes. If a child wants to suceed, they will do it. As you can see, it has nothing to do with the classes and tutors.

As for the parents who bribe their children with money, and other outrageous items, you are pathetic. Tell your child to stop being lazy, and stay up until 2am until they figure out how to understand what they are stuggling with, the internet is a massive resource with millions of great explanations, or even a simple teacher at school. You have to learn to work through the struggle. Suck it up.

"I'll bet you cannot find a single teacher - and I'm throwing the challenge open to the readers here, because I know there are PLENTY of teachers who read PD - You can't find a single teacher who would not sit with the student who came to him or her and said, "Excuse me, Mr/Mrs. Smith, but I'm having trouble understanding the concepts we've been discussing in class this week. Would you have time to go over it with me?"

Find me a teacher who wouldn't be willing to help that kid, and maybe I'll reconsider my stance that a "D" is acceptable."

Found one. When I was a sophomore in high school, I had an English / Literature class with "that" teacher. I actually got thrown out of her class because she was "that" teacher.

The kid that sat in front of me was an average student at best. I used to help him out all that I could, but on this particular day, I was working on my assignment and could not stop to explain things to him. He raised his hand, and she ignored him. Keeping his hand up, he stated that he had a question about the assignment. The teacher asked what the question was, and he asked her to re-explain a specific part of it because he did not her understand. The teacher's response was, and I quote, "I am not going to answer that because that is a stupid question."

I IMMEDIATELY shot my hand in the air and stated, "I thought there was no such thing as stupid questions?" Her response was the student was not "serious" about the assignment and was only trying to joke around. I stopped everything I was doing and explained the assignment to the kid, doing the best I could. He genuinely did not understand the concept. At that point, since she refused to help him at all, I walked out of the class and straight into the dean of student's office to file a complaint. I have never, ever forgotten this incident because I was so horrified.

So, yes. There ARE teachers that exist that will not take a few minutes to sit down with a student.

Exactly. My son's first day of Grad School was yesterday. That was after having to take his Freshman College Econ class a second time in summer school because he got a C in that class. Yes, C's are considered FAILING in the real world. We employers look at C's the same way. F, D...I've got news for you, a C isn't anything to be proud of. No get to work!

There's nothing wrong with a "C", as long as it's mixed in with an "A" or two. Everyone's brain is "hardwired" differently (right brain/left brain concept). My "C to low-B" in the engineering disciplines was offset by my straight "A" record in humanities, both in hs and in college. I even squeeked by with a "D" in chem (I swore they made the rules up as they went along...stociometrics was just another foreign word). I still managed a 3.0 in the end...not the greatest, but not too shaby.

or maybe you have found a teacher that does not belong on the job can them quick and find someone worthy of the position

Not everybody goes to college. Some kids are just grateful to have a high schoool diploma, or even are the first to be in their family. People need to realize, just like the article says- you might not be the best in that subject but could be amazing at another.
As for the comment made by LS- you should take a drive over to my high school and I challenge you to find the teachers that ARE willing to stay after with you. Or a teacher that you can understand if they are helping you... Remember there is a reason why you're not getting it in class what makes you think after school will help?
Sounds like this school is just trying to get more money by charging for the failed classes... and now there is a wider margin. I am a 4.4 student with tons of extra-curriculars which means I'm smart enough to see all the kids around me and how much of a struggle things really are no matter how hard they try.

For you to include ALL teachers is quite a stretch, because I'm quite sure you don't personally know all the school teachers in America. In fact, I've had a Chemistry teacher in high school tell me to "go back and read the text again," every time I asked her for help. I came in to class early, stayed late after school, and made it very clear that I simply could not keep up with the pace of the class and needed some extra help. Never once did she sit down with me and explain anything, it was always just "go home and read it again."

So yes, there ARE teachers out there who don't give a damn. Not everyone is capable of making good grades, even if they are trying their hardest. Try stepping down from your high horse and realize that there are teachers out there that are not nice and don't really care what happens to the kids who are struggling.

LS, you pointed out that some colleges might not accept Ds; however, high school is not college. Also, from my experience in college, getting a D in one class is acceptable as long as your overall gpa is a C or better.

You pointed out that a C is considered average, and then went on to make the argument that "there is no excuse for doing less than average." Unless every student were to get the same exact grade, (ex: in a class of 5 students, all receive a grade of 90%. 90+90+90+90+90=450, 450/5=90.) there would have to be some students both above and Below the average.

You further argued that "there really is no need for expensive tutoring centers, if the student has even the smallest amount of initiative." As a former peer tutor I can personally vouch for the effectiveness of tutoring programs. In the 1.5 years that I worked as a tutor, I found very few examples of students suffering from a lack of initiative. I may have been an A student, but MY students were working much harder on their class work than I ever did! What I did find was students who lacked basic skills required to be successful in class (unable to think critically, read, write, research, memorize, stay on topic, compare + contrast...) as well as students suffering from a break down in communication (often because of unclear professors). If a student does not realize what their problem is, (ex: they can memorize their whole text book but can't compare + contrast) then they won't know what they really need to work on. A good tutor can help a student to identify their problem and teach them the skills they need to improve. (I do, however, agree with you criticism of "expensive" tutoring programs. My college provided tutoring labs free of cost to the students.)

You also challenged the readers to "find a single teacher who would not sit with [a] student..." Well, you should have been in my 9th grade global class. If you asked Miss. N. a question she would grunt and then ignore you.

Finally, I have to say that I think the author of this article, Honey Berk, makes a great point when she explains that some students might excel in one subject while having difficulty in another.

"Kids who will be successful novelists even if they get a D in math, or revolutionize physics even if they're thought to be slow language learners."

im srry to say but i agree with the mother saying this
just because some1 does 1 of those and passes is good and all but there are some who do more then just one
i for one do 2 i work and help my mom with bills food and taking care of my sister as well as try to do good in school
i work morning and go school at night which honestly is fun and easy due to my sleep times
even with all that in my day i still try to manage to hang with friends
school is great and trying to succed in life is awesome but theres no point if u cant have fun and act like a kid once in a while
but the only thing i can say is you are a stupid if you think a teacher will always help its very rare to find a nice teacher let alone one that would help his/her student
through my entire schooling education up to date ive had only 1 teacher thats right ( 1 ) who was ever willign to help his students when ever he could and is still the only teacher i say that is worth having around
so before you say you agree with that shit about d grade's
i advise you to think and look back on your life and remember how hard it was for you to get by in life

i had a teacher when i took chinese level 1 and no matter what she taught us at a college level/yelled at another student when she suggested a way to help us learn (to allow us to write the characters on the board) and i barely passed with a D.
SOME TEACHERS ARE NOT MENT TO TEACH and im going into sophmore year and have her again