Recently, I sat down with one of our counselors and discussed the numerous reasons for so many freshman failures and failures in general. Of course, the normal reasons sprang up: student apathy, teacher ineffectiveness, absences, disconnections from school, and more.
The one that bothered me the most, surprising as it may seem, is a failure to turn in enough work.
I honestly couldn’t believe this would be one of the top reasons. I mean, really, why is the simple completion of paperwork considered such a problem? Aren’t content knowledge and skill mastery the real aims? If students don’t need to complete every practice assignment before a test or project, why should they?
I don’t want to create failing grades in my classes. I don’t want to create unnecessary barriers.
I have started to change my teaching to reflect this. This year I still gave points for the practice assignments, but I excused any missing practices and low scores on practices if mastery was shown on the test, paper, or project. Students bought in more, and I actually had fewer missing assignments (even with my new policy). Students told me they realized that the practices couldn’t hurt them, so they had no reason not to complete them or at least to attempt part of them.
With the anxiety level lowered, students attempted more and performed at higher levels.
I think I will make this a more formal practice next semester.