BACA Punishing Students for Good Grades

[Acker79]

My niece came home very upset today. She is generally a good student, but after receiving a B in a test, she was put on report. Another girl in her class got an A and was put on report.

Apparently, if you get a grade lower than that which you were predicted, you get put on report (my niece was predicted an A, her classmate an A*). Yet, if you are predicted an F and you get an F there is no punishment.

How is that fair?

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Ludicrous.Bean counter wankers. Needlessly upsetting people. Happens to STAFF in my game (uni), though thanfully not me yet (low expectations I expect....).

 

[Vegas Seagull]

Does she think she could have revised more?

 

[essbee]

Ludicrous.Bean counter wankers. Needlessly upsetting people. Happens to STAFF in my game (uni), though thanfully not me yet (low expectations I expect....).

this.

 

[Peteinblack]

Ludicrous.Bean counter wankers. Needlessly upsetting people. Happens to STAFF in my game (uni), though thanfully not me yet (low expectations I expect....).

Yes, academics are given targets - 'key performance indicators' - by Uni' managers (who have never taught or marked an assignment in their lives), one of which is to award more 2.1s and 1sts every year, to keep fee-paying student 'customers' happy, and also improve their Uni's league table performance in order to attract more students in the future - students (or parents) will ask at Open Days what per centage of a Uni's students are awarded 1sts each year, and if the answer is 'not many' (because the Uni is rigorous about academic standards), then the students will go elsewhere.

In other words, the 'free market' in Higher Education, and competition between Universities to attract fee-paying students, is placing academic staff under intolerable pressure to award more high grades - it is not actually raising standards, as politicians like to claim. On the contrary, more and more students expect high grades and good degrees automatically because they are paying £9,000 - when they are told they must work hard for good grades, they are outraged; their sense of 'entitlement' and self-importance is quite frightening!

Our whole education system is f******d, because of constantly meddling politicians who keep moving the goalposts and reorganising everything every year, and arrogant/bullying managers who refuse to listen to teachers and lecturers who try to point out the absurdities and problems - yet whenever anything goes wrong, it is the teachers and lecturers who get blamed, and slagged off by the media.

I'm looking forward to early retirement!

 

[Theatre of Trees]

Welcome to the world of education where the statistical results of A*-C grades are far more important to the schools (particularly academies) than the students passing through them.

 

[Peteinblack]

Welcome to the world of education where the statistical results of A*-C grades are far more important to the schools (particularly academies) than the students passing through them.

Yes; schools and universities are now run like businesses or factories - headmasters and Vice-Chancellors now see themselves as chief executives producing business plans and corporate mission statements. Meanwhile, the views (and morale) of those who work in them count for zilch!

 

[essbee]

Yes, academics are given targets - 'key performance indicators' - by Uni' managers (who have never taught or marked an assignment in their lives), one of which is to award more 2.1s and 1sts every year, to keep fee-paying student 'customers' happy, and also improve their Uni's league table performance in order to attract more students in the future - students (or parents) will ask at Open Days what per centage of a Uni's students are awarded 1sts each year, and if the answer is 'not many' (because the Uni is rigorous about academic standards), then the students will go elsewhere.

In other words, the 'free market' in Higher Education, and competition between Universities to attract fee-paying students, is placing academic staff under intolerable pressure to award more high grades - it is not actually raising standards, as politicians like to claim. On the contrary, more and more students expect high grades and good degrees automatically because they are paying £9,000 - when they are told they must work hard for good grades, they are outraged; their sense of 'entitlement' and self-importance is quite frightening!

Our whole education system is f******d, because of constantly meddling politicians who keep moving the goalposts and reorganising everything every year, and arrogant/bullying managers who refuse to listen to teachers and lecturers who try to point out the absurdities and problems - yet whenever anything goes wrong, it is the teachers and lecturers who get blamed, and slagged off by the media.

I'm looking forward to early retirement!

Couldn't agree more with this.

 

[Theatre of Trees]

Yes; schools and universities are now run like businesses or factories - headmasters and Vice-Chancellors now see themselves as chief executives producing business plans and corporate mission statements. Meanwhile, the views (and morale) of those who work in them count for zilch!

BACA is a case in point. The acronynym stands for Brian Aldridge Community Academy after the bloke who runs the school - perhaps by naming it after himself he sees Brian Aldridge as the community. I work as a supply these days and I refuse to do any work at that school and it isn't because of the pupils.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

That's what happens when you allow the man who started Capita to run schools.

 

[gjh1971]

BACA is a case in point. The acronynym stands for Brian Aldridge Community Academy after the bloke who runs the school - perhaps by naming it after himself he sees Brian Aldridge as the community. I work as a supply these days and I refuse to do any work at that school and it isn't because of the pupils.

a small point, but it stands for Brighton Aldridge Community Academy. The Aldridge in the name is Sir Rod Aldridge

 

[beorhthelm]

its not fair. dont know what "report" entails these days, but it was always considered a fairly serious disciplinary measure, after persistent bad behaviour/detentions. how can being punished be an encouragement for acedemic acheivement, i'd imagine this would be counter-productive for a lot of teenagers. sort of practice to complain to the school and raise in the media as its no way to improve education standards.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

A friend who is a teacher posted this on Facebook the other day.

 

[Theatre of Trees]

a small point, but it stands for Brighton Aldridge Community Academy. The Aldridge in the name is Sir Rod Aldridge

You are correct, God knows why I thought it was Brian. Still has its name in the title though.

 

[Super Steve Earle]

its not fair. dont know what "report" entails these days, but it was always considered a fairly serious disciplinary measure, after persistent bad behaviour/detentions. how can being punished be an encouragement for acedemic acheivement, i'd imagine this would be counter-productive for a lot of teenagers. sort of practice to complain to the school and raise in the media as its no way to improve education standards.

Damn right - who but a teacher would have thought that was a good idea!

 

[Acker79]

Welcome to the world of education where the statistical results of A*-C grades are far more important to the schools (particularly academies) than the students passing through them.

But the grades achieved were an A and a B falling in that range.

A friend who is a teacher posted this on Facebook the other day.


View attachment 69831

I've seen that before, and I agree with the sentiment, but it isn't applicable. We're not complaining about a poor grade, we're complaining about a good result being punished.

 

[Elvis]

This is all to do with the latest fad, Key Performance Indicator ( KPI ). They have been introduced to replace the old system of levels to monitor a pupils progress. It is supposed to be a more accurate method to judge student performance. I have a meeting on Monday to explain all, so I should know more about it.

One of the main criticisms of the old format is that it did not push the more able students e.g. schools are so obsessed with the 5 GCSE ( Maths and English incl ) that a top end student who was deemed to be easily capable of achieving this may have not been as much as possible as all the attention went on the C/D boundary pupils. In response to the OP maybe his niece was put on a performance report to make sure she reaches her potential. If that is the case then this should have been fully explained to her. She is rightfully upset, not a good performance from the school.

 

[Napier's Knee]

Yes, academics are given targets - 'key performance indicators' - by Uni' managers (who have never taught or marked an assignment in their lives), one of which is to award more 2.1s and 1sts every year, to keep fee-paying student 'customers' happy, and also improve their Uni's league table performance in order to attract more students in the future - students (or parents) will ask at Open Days what per centage of a Uni's students are awarded 1sts each year, and if the answer is 'not many' (because the Uni is rigorous about academic standards), then the students will go elsewhere.

In other words, the 'free market' in Higher Education, and competition between Universities to attract fee-paying students, is placing academic staff under intolerable pressure to award more high grades - it is not actually raising standards, as politicians like to claim. On the contrary, more and more students expect high grades and good degrees automatically because they are paying £9,000 - when they are told they must work hard for good grades, they are outraged; their sense of 'entitlement' and self-importance is quite frightening!

Our whole education system is f******d, because of constantly meddling politicians who keep moving the goalposts and reorganising everything every year, and arrogant/bullying managers who refuse to listen to teachers and lecturers who try to point out the absurdities and problems - yet whenever anything goes wrong, it is the teachers and lecturers who get blamed, and slagged off by the media.

I'm looking forward to early retirement!

Exactly right. I was offered, and too, 'voluntary' severance earlier this year. Best thing I ever did. The whole HE system has been destroyed - and it's going to get worse.

 

[Fungus]

Ludicrous.Bean counter wankers. Needlessly upsetting people. Happens to STAFF in my game (uni), though thanfully not me yet (low expectations I expect....).

Happens to staff outside of Uni too. The result is you have to reduce your employer's expectations, which screws everyone.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

I've seen that before, and I agree with the sentiment, but it isn't applicable. We're not complaining about a poor grade, we're complaining about a good result being punished.

I posted it to bear out what Pete in Black was saying.