Should Teachers Grade Parents?
Filed under: In The News, Weird But True
As a parent, what kind of grade would you earn? Credit: Corbis
This story isn't as wacky as Texas cops giving tickets to 6-year-olds. But still. Teachers grading parents? That's what one Florida lawmaker is proposing.
According to published reports, Rep. Kelli Stargel (R-Lakeland) "is sponsoring a bill that would require teachers to give parents in Florida a grade for how involved they are with their child's education."
Parents would receive a rating of "satisfactory, unsatisfactory or needs improvement" rather than the traditional letter grade.
It's not hard to imagine that many molders of little minds would love the idea of grading parents. And I bet there are some parents who wouldn't mind filling out a report card for their child's teacher.
What do you think? Is the idea of teachers grading parents a good one? Or would it just create more tension in the parent teacher relationship?
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
1-20-2011 @ 11:32AM
Sandyone said...I'd laugh at any teacher/school system that wanted to give me some kind of formal grade. Who do they think they are? Do they really think I care? My carrot and stick days are ovah!
The teacher already 'grades' the parents by personality and the kids are rewarded or punished in their everyday interactions with the teachers, based on how the teacher feels about the parents.
And the poor teachers! Like they really want to have another grade to write down and defend. If I were a teacher and this stupid rule came down, I'd give every parent an A across the board. Not worth the time to do anything more.
So stupid.
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1-20-2011 @ 3:06PM
Lauren said...I agree! It would be almost impossible to grade someone who you never see on a daily basis. And how the kids attitude towards schoolwork isn't always the parents fault. They might be very good at their job but have a kid who doesn't like to do his math. Just seems like a silly law when we have more important issues that need attending to.
1-20-2011 @ 2:41PM
dougalcandy said...I am a teacher, and I think this is a terrible idea. We have always had to deal with both overzealous parents and non involved parents. It is what it is. Should a teacher really put themselves at risk by giving parents grades, good or bad? There will always be a handful of parents, usually the most noninvolved who will create a scene and harass the teacher. A teacher can lose his/her job for not doing that job, but a parent can't, so what is the point, except to rile up the parent?
I take issue with the above comment,however that teachers grade students based on their parents. At least in my case, so not true! In large public schools, teachers normally have very little interaction with most parents, and we NEVER see the parents who really need seeing, they are impossible to contact, don't return calls, don't show up for scheduled meetings, etc. We really only see the parents of the good kids who are doing well. Especially once the child gets to HS, if a child is passing and has not discipline problems, most parents don't even come to open school night.
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1-27-2011 @ 10:42PM
darnurse4ya said...I've been an educator in healthcare over 15 years and an active parent in my children's education. My oldest is a senior. I've been volunteering and substitute teaching over a period of several years in my spare time. I can tell you objectively that there are so many teachers within the school systems who do not belong there! There are as many bad teachers as there are bad parents (if that's how you want to label them) when it comes to education. I've seen a teacher(s) grab children aggressively, yell (loudly), not let a student go to the bathroom, talk on their cell phone in class, have students on their Face Book friend list and many, many more things I find to be inappropriate. I have also been in the classroom when a teacher couldn't teach the material to the class and had to tell them she was sorry and then go and get the teachers manual in order to get through the material! Another time, I had a teacher look to me for help to teach math to the class. I can tell you that a parent should be giving grades to the teacher if a teacher is going to grade a parent! You can not put it all off on the parent(s), this is a 2 way street. My experience within the school systems includes 2 states over a period of 14 years! There are many factors that aren't being considered before making premature decisions about what is in the best interest of the student's. In fact, I recently decided to get certified to teach but changed my mind when I listened to teachers stick together like glue even when they knew they were in the wrong. What I've seen and heard a teacher do to a child, a parent would have been turned in to the DCS!!! Once they get tenure it's all over! There certainly needs to be a camera with audio in every classroom with an educated trained person monitoring what is going on in the classrooms inside of a private room so that nobody will know when they are being monitored! Maybe then school will be more conducive to learning in the eyes and ears of many children.
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2-26-2011 @ 11:14AM
Roger said...This idea sounds crazy but with some creativity, it might actually work.
The main problems in public schools today are all related to motivation. The teachers work diligently to create interesting lesson plans but often find frustration with students saying in effect, "We're not working today."
I have encountered this time and time again and found the most effective way of getting the student back on track is a parent conference. When there is cooperation between home and school everything taught has higher priority and there is much better performance in the classroom.
The success of a school is directly related to parent participation but I have seen inner city schools in which the parent isn't seen until they pick up their child once he or she is suspended. At mandatory parent meetings held twice a year it was common for the teachers to outnumber parents two to one.
I know that if there were four mandatory meetings during the school year and if parents were held accountable for attendance, it would drastically improve learning.
Schools need to encourage and reward parents for their attendance at these meetings. Perhaps a free field trip for children and parents at the end of the year would be money well spent. Show them a great time and the next year I am sure that the students will help persaude their parents to attend all four meetings.
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