The re-vamping of grading practices is being promoted by Leftists as a way to improve performance by minorities, primarily Black students.
Short description?
Rather than use objective measures of long-term performance (which tends to minimize the effect of a Bad Day), teachers will have to subjectively assess whether or not students meet the course/grade objectives. In other words, no more ‘high-stakes’ tests; everything is how that teacher FEELZ about that student.
It’s a recipe for academic failure. MASSIVE academic failure.
Worse, by making the metric so subjective, rather than based on cumulative performance, teachers will be incentivized to pass failing or marginal students, who have not mastered the needed skills to succeed in subsequent grade levels.
That’s how we end up with students who cannot read grade level material, or use math well enough to understand high school level subjects (the worst subjects are generally science and math). When the kid then fails, of course, it’s THAT subject teacher’s fault.
Not that a totally unprepared student was thrust upon that teacher, who had no reasonable opportunity to succeed, given their lack of skills.
I’m so glad that I retired from teaching; the pressure on teachers today to pass those students who have not qualified for it must be phenomenal.
Another factor in the future of education will be the shift of the “problem students” - those that disrupt, are unprepared, or require too much time from the teacher - to online learning. The districts now have the tools to make it happen. Many tablets were bought with district money, and hot spots secured, and will be available after most students return.
So, MAGICALLY, the Leftists will ‘solve’ educational failures, grade scores will rise, testing will ‘show’ how much more the students are learning, and everyone will be happy.
It’ll be too late then. They will be just another Lost Soul on the Ashheap of Leftist Rule.