Sunday, June 24, 2007
I had a student this semester--a single mother of two--who was going through a lot of personal problems. She was failing the class and I tried to work with her. She kept telling me how passing this class would allow her to reach her goals on time, especially important because she was on unemployment and had a limited amount of time to make this work.
In the end, she tried to make up much of the work she missed early on, but her answers indicated she didn't quite get it. On the day of the final, she told me she hadn't had time to write her last paper, because she'd devoted all her time to her other classes, but it was very important that she pass my class. I felt bad for her, and I gave her until I left my office that day, about an hour later, to turn it in. As I was getting into my car, she came running up, calling my name. Something had gone wrong with the file and printer, and all she had were some notes. She swore she'd written the paper.
A few days later, she mailed me the paper.I read it, but didn't give her credit. It was not of passing quality. Her final grade was a D. After the grades were posted, she emailed me to tell me that with the D, her GPA had slipped 3/hundredths of a point below what she needed to maintain her financial aid.
Now I feel that if I'd just passed her, I could have made her life that much easier at little cost to me. Was I wrong? Or should I have not even considered her personal situation (single moms always have my sympathy and respect)? What would you have done?
In the end, she tried to make up much of the work she missed early on, but her answers indicated she didn't quite get it. On the day of the final, she told me she hadn't had time to write her last paper, because she'd devoted all her time to her other classes, but it was very important that she pass my class. I felt bad for her, and I gave her until I left my office that day, about an hour later, to turn it in. As I was getting into my car, she came running up, calling my name. Something had gone wrong with the file and printer, and all she had were some notes. She swore she'd written the paper.
A few days later, she mailed me the paper.I read it, but didn't give her credit. It was not of passing quality. Her final grade was a D. After the grades were posted, she emailed me to tell me that with the D, her GPA had slipped 3/hundredths of a point below what she needed to maintain her financial aid.
Now I feel that if I'd just passed her, I could have made her life that much easier at little cost to me. Was I wrong? Or should I have not even considered her personal situation (single moms always have my sympathy and respect)? What would you have done?
Dear Author:
ReplyDeleteYou did the right thing, repeatedly, and I hope you've forgiven yourself by now. You gave her second and third chances and bent over backwards with that last extension on her paper. And then you maintained standards. Sleep well.
Her grade was her responsibility, and she had some nerve implying that you caused her loss of financial aid. I do get that managing time is very tough when you've got little kids, but I've taught a surprising number of single mothers who were at or near the top of the class.
Why was she so close to that GPA cutoff? Did she have a pattern in previous semesters of not managing time and then making excuses?
Why did she devote all her time to her other classes? Maybe her other professors had previous experience with her brand of emotional manipulation, and she saw that you didn't.
Second guessing shows that you're a humane person, but you did nothing wrong.
"Why was she so close to that GPA cutoff?"
ReplyDeleteExactly. This. For an average to have fallen just below some cutoff, there must presumably be several courses that all have grades less than the cutoff. Students never seem to mention this little factoid, or to even be aware of it. Instead, they tell themselves (and you, and anyone who will listen) that your ONE course is the sole reason their lives are ruined. I can understand the feeling, but it doesn't justify bumping a grade.
You beat me to it... I've had quite a few folks who I've gotten that from. (1) They are doing poorly in other classes and need multiple bump-ups and (2) their prior record is what does them in, not just the current class(es).
DeleteThey think we're stupid and that we are unable to check! And that we're soft-touches.
They also think we're unaware of how GPA (and, more broadly, averages) works.
DeleteI had an international student that did almost no work, then began telling me that if he didn't pass he'd lose his student visa and have to return home, where he would be drafted. I felt bad for him, but doing less than 1/2 of the work, and then doing a poor job earns a F.
ReplyDeleteI had a similar situation back several years ago. Student wasn't even close to passing, but e-mailed and told me that if they didn't pass MY class that they would lose their student visa and have to go back home. I just e-mailed them back, saying that there work was what it was and that there was nothing that I could do about that. I never lost a moment's sleep over giving them that F!
DeleteAren't grades just an organized (hah!) way of informing the student and the rest of the world of our best judgement of the student's competence? They are not rewards for being good - although demonstration of good/productive/professional behavior might well be an aspect of demonstrating competence; and they are not punishments for being bad - although disruptive/unproductive/unprofessional behaviors might well be a indication that competence has NOT be achieved.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that detailed grading policies (and mine runs to multiple pages) are an attempt to both fully inform the students of the mechanics of the process, and reminder to ourselves to keep the process logical and even-handed.
But shouldn't competence trump all?
Seconding the point that her grades in her other classes must have been pretty bad.
ReplyDeleteMoreover, the whole "my printer broke at the very last minute and my computer simultaneously ate the file!" thing? Right. That's a sign of a larger problem--a student who's just not being honest. And at her age, she should know better than to make those excuses.
(Not that I'm surprised by non-traditional students who try to out-huckster the eighteen-year-olds. This past semester I had an older student who was always supposedly in "poor health" and in the hospital--a cover story she maintained until I saw her on the same day, as well as could be, shopping at the mall.)
I just have a statement on my syllabus that computer/printer problems are not a valid excuse, ever. The one concession I give is that they can e-mail me the pape.r and if the hard copy they are required to give me at the very beginning of the following class matches it exactly, I will give them credit for having the paper in at the time of the e-mail. If I can't open the attachment, too bad.
ReplyDeleteMay I steal this?
DeleteI feel this way when I talk to working soldiers doing school on the side. They pay so much for each course and 3 points one way or another can either keep them going or cost them $4000 more. They aren't cut out for school, but it's part of the package of serving the country. If they pass, they take advantage of the GI bill and other programs. If they fail, they have to pay out of pocket.
ReplyDeleteThey don't belong in the classroom. They aren't academically minded. They struggle with medical problems, parenting problems, emotional problems. But a lot of those problems stem from serving, and I can't help but bump them up if only to avoid receiving a $4000 bill.
I'm a pacifist, but my god do I feel bad for those people coming back from war.
Ditto about being against war but for our current and future veterans. The way we as a nation treat them (or not, in the case of the VA) is shameful.
DeleteSome of mine haven't been academically minded or cut out for school, but that's true of most of my students. In contrast, most of my vets have started the semester prepared with the books and some reading; have arrived on time reliably; have listened to my directions and suggestions and followed them; and have not made excuses on the rare occasions they came up short. They have been polite in class and out.
I don't wish military service on anyone, but I do wish more of my students had that kind of discipline drilled into them.
A reader sends in this comment:
ReplyDeleteDitto the previous comments about being close to the GPA cut-off. I’ve had student request/plead/beg that I fudge/adjust a grade so they don’t lose their financial aid. My response is that such action is committing fraud and I’m not going to do it.
As a recent college graduate I think you did the right thing. I got financial aid and knew that if my GPA got too low it would be taken away. So I was organized and studied by butt off all through out college to make sure I wouldn't lose financial aid. And as for her excuses, that's unacceptable. Senior year of college I ended up in the ER and went to many doctor appointments. I was diagnosed with an illness and at risk at developing colitis. And I was still able to graduate cum laude. If she can't make time for school she shouldn't be in school.
ReplyDeleteBravo, Little Miss Twenty Something! Congratulations on your degree and best of luck with your health.
Delete"If she can't make time for school she shouldn't be in school." That thought crossed my mind. Knowing what it's like to be a married mother and student, I often advise students with small children to take only one class at a time. (I'm presuming that the student in question was in school full time because of her financial aid predicament.)