Discriminatory Grading Practices in High School PE

[tranquility]

Of course I have dealt with clients like that. However you are comparing apples to oranges.

You are also comparing academics to PE. My sister is a PE teacher. I just spoke to her. She thinks this teacher should be fired, immediately.

Fired for what?

Who cares if we are comparing academics to PE? Why is it fair I have certain brain characteristics and unfair if a person has certain body characteristics? Are they both not inherently unfair? Is it fair that my highest level of achievement in art was a paper plate with macaroni glued on it and spray-painted gold? No matter how hard I tried, my art grades were always "needs to improve".

Children are being graded based on physical ability rather than effort. When a complaint was made to the teacher the child's grade was threatened by the teacher.

Both are unacceptable.

Why should they be graded on "effort"? How does one measure that? Improvement? Achievement of a standard? How much one's face grimaces when told they have to run a mile? The amount of miles logged as homework?

And, let us review "a" complaint:

I prepared a summary with documentation and presented it the principal. She promised to correct the issue but never did. I appealed to the school superintendent, and she never responded to my letter on this topic. When I pointed out the discrimination to the PE teacher, he told that if I didn't stop complaining that he would make my daughter run under 6 min 30 sec in order to earn A.

Repeated complaints up and down the line including the accusation of the standards are misogynistic and intended to discriminate. I agree, the teacher should not have made such a threat. People say things when angry they don't mean. I bet that is what happened here.

 

[tranquility]

You mean lowered, right?

No. Currently the standard for an A requires a boy to perform at a lower percentile than a girl has to. (That is, a boy can get an A if he is in the top 20% of the nation's scores of similarly aged boys while a girl must be in the top 5%.) That is where the accusation of discrimination comes in. I think LeeHarveyBlotto was showing a way that would remove the discrimination allegation in a way that would make the OP and her daughter unpopular.

 

[Dave1952]

I could be wrong but I find it most puzzling that you had a reasonable complaint about grading and did not address this with the PE teacher. You went over the teacher's head to the school principle. Why was that?

 

[tranquility]

I could be wrong but I find it most puzzling that you had a reasonable complaint about grading and did not address this with the PE teacher. You went over the teacher's head to the school principle. Why was that?

I bet the OP did not list in detail all the steps taken. I would find such a jump to the student's "pal" before talking to the teacher a bit puzzling too. I think the OP talked with the teacher on more than one occasion, even though only the once was mentioned. But, even if she did, that would not negate the potential issue--especially if there was a run in with the teacher in the past. (Which might explain how this got so heated already.)

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

There is nothing emotional about this, and the facts are clear. There is no "dentistry" to practice. Children are being graded based on physical ability rather than effort. When a complaint was made to the teacher the child's grade was threatened by the teacher.

Both are unacceptable.

Clearly, you are unfamiliar with the concepts schools operate under. I have never seen either of my children come home with effort monitors. Your argument means a meter should be attached to determine how hard they needed to study or how much time they had to expend, compared to other students to learn the concepts they were graded on. Children are in fact graded on results. I question how your sister can be a teacher and not understand that. Further, if you read up on the Physical Fitness Guidelines, there is a specific disclaimer as to their accuracy and the opinions as to their accuracy by the President or anyone else associated with the program, except for the members of council that established them. So we have thrown out your and your sisters arguments and discredited the numbers OP has presented regarding accuracy. We are left with the actual criteria used to establish the grading guidelines. Something only the teacher and her supervisors that approved her lesson plans are privy to.

 

[tranquility]

Clearly, you are unfamiliar with the concepts schools operate under. I have never seen either of my children come home with effort monitors. Your argument means a meter should be attached to determine how hard they needed to study or how much time they had to expend, compared to other students to learn the concepts they were graded on. Children are in fact graded on results. I question how your sister can be a teacher and not understand that. Further, if you read up on the Physical Fitness Guidelines, there is a specific disclaimer as to their accuracy and the opinions as to their accuracy by the President or anyone else associated with the program, except for the members of council that established them. So we have thrown out your and your sisters arguments and discredited the numbers OP has presented regarding accuracy. We are left with the actual criteria used to establish the grading guidelines. Something only the teacher and her supervisors that approved her lesson plans are privy to.

I disagree with half.

Boys and girls are different. The specific numbers, while arguable, are reasonable to the most recent data. The statistical data are not close. The OP does not need modern statistics, but the reason for the standards.

By ALL studies I"ve read, the difference is significant.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

I disagree with half.

Boys and girls are different. The specific numbers, while arguable, are reasonable to the most recent data. The statistical data are not close. The OP does not need modern statistics, but the reason for the standards.

By ALL studies I"ve read, the difference is significant.

As I implied, I agree the issue should be reviewed on a micro level. One thing the stats did reveal, was a disproportionate range between the 50th and 85th percentile, based on sex. It is very possible the classes were timed overall and standards developed based on class times for the school/age/sex, factoring in the tendency to have a similar 1.5 vs 2 minute percentile spread, to obtain a proportional distribution within the school.

 

[stealth2]

There is nothing emotional about this, and the facts are clear. There is no "dentistry" to practice. Children are being graded based on physical ability rather than effort. When a complaint was made to the teacher the child's grade was threatened by the teacher.

Both are unacceptable.

So... would it be unacceptable for kids to be graded on intellectual/academic ability? In ANY academic class? Heck to the no.

 

[stealth2]

So... would it be unacceptable for kids to be graded on intellectual/academic ability? In ANY academic class? Heck to the no.

I'm going to reply to myself... In ANY class, kids should be graded on ability. Sorry, but I don't agree with "effort" as a grading criterion. There are kids who excel academically, those who excel artistically, and those who excel physically. Each should be graded on their achievements, rather than their efforts. Why should a kid who excels in Math be penalized for their talent to make a kid who doesn't "feel" good? Why should a child who excels in art or music be penalized? And similarly... why should an athletic kid be penalized?

I have one child who excels in every area - except the physical. OMG, it was painful to watch. Flippin' *painful*. I was certain that he would be my athlete. My baseball player. My catcher. I knew it. KNEW it when he was born. And I could not believe how inept he was. I tried. Lord, how I tried. And it was hopeless. I don't think he ever got more than a C in PE. And, I'm sorry, but I could not fault a teacher for grading him that way... Not when he would head out to the fields for PE... spinning. SPINNING! Sweet Jesus, it was painful. But he is incredibly successful academically, and has a very bright future ahead.

And there is my other child. Who IS my athlete. And bright enough. Not a stupid child. But... Not as intellectually invested. That is painful as well - in a different way. She excels on the field. Plays at college, for a local women's team, as well as for several other teams nationally. She pretty much has carte blanche to play when she's available. BUT... That's a hobby. It will not get her anywhere professionally, and that is where the painful part comes in as a parent. I mean, she does well academically. But I'm afraid not well enough to get where she wants to go. But... Why should her achievements in PE be lessened to make her classmates "feel good"?

 

[Proserpina]

I'm going to reply to myself... In ANY class, kids should be graded on ability. Sorry, but I don't agree with "effort" as a grading criterion. There are kids who excel academically, those who excel artistically, and those who excel physically. Each should be graded on their achievements, rather than their efforts. Why should a kid who excels in Math be penalized for their talent to make a kid who doesn't "feel" good? Why should a child who excels in art or music be penalized? And similarly... why should an athletic kid be penalized?

I have one child who excels in every area - except the physical. OMG, it was painful to watch. Flippin' *painful*. I was certain that he would be my athlete. My baseball player. My catcher. I knew it. KNEW it when he was born. And I could not believe how inept he was. I tried. Lord, how I tried. And it was hopeless. I don't think he ever got more than a C in PE. And, I'm sorry, but I could not fault a teacher for grading him that way... Not when he would head out to the fields for PE... spinning. SPINNING! Sweet Jesus, it was painful. But he is incredibly successful academically, and has a very bright future ahead.

And there is my other child. Who IS my athlete. And bright enough. Not a stupid child. But... Not as intellectually invested. That is painful as well - in a different way. She excels on the field. Plays at college, for a local women's team, as well as for several other teams nationally. She pretty much has carte blanche to play when she's available. BUT... That's a hobby. It will not get her anywhere professionally, and that is where the painful part comes in as a parent. I mean, she does well academically. But I'm afraid not well enough to get where she wants to go. But... Why should her achievements in PE be lessened to make her classmates "feel good"?

Hear hear!

*bravo*

 

[stealth2]

Hear hear!

*bravo*

And you all know... I LOVE watching her on the field. Her grace brings tears to my eyes. Then there's what goes in to maintaining that grace when she's playing with injuries. Broken ribs. Broken knuckles. A chronic hip injury. Shin splints. It is that mental fortitude that makes me know she will be successful. And what tells me she should get that A over a kid who just "tries". Because I can tell you that - even WITH those kinds of injuries? She could blow the boys' times out of the water. because she *can*, and because she wants to. She should not have been penalized for it.

Sorry if your kid can't.