Well, last week I finally found out who my daughter’s case manager is, and met with him. He seems very knowledgeable about her needs (she has OCD) and willing to help. We have a 504 meeting tomorrow.
Meanwhile, today I got her first progress reports. She has a D in math! She’s been doing 45 minutes of homework every night in Algebra, seems to understand the material, and got 85% on the two chapter tests she’s had. However, there have been 3 small quizzes on algebraic properties (like commutative property, associative property, etc) which EACH counted the same as a chapter test. She did poorly on two of them, so that has hurt her grade.
The other problem is that the teacher takes off 1/2 point from the quarter grade for each time the student is late to class. “Late” is defined as not in the seat before the bell. There are only 3 minutes between class, and her previous class is at the other end of the building. She needs to stop at her locker so she can have all the stuff she needs for the evening, since it is last period and the busses leave immediately after school. She’s been late 9 times so far, and her quarter grade has dropped 4.5 percentage points as a result. According to my daughter, she’s never been more than 30 seconds late. Now, if she gets 100% on everything and is never late again, the best she can do is a C+.
My daughter the perfectionist is responding by “quitting”. Why try, if your grade doesn’t reflect what you understand? I feel like crying myself. I thought she was really doing well this year. What do I do now?
Of course, since the meeting is not till tomorrow, none of her teachers are aware of her OCD or any needed accomodations. I really wanted her to get off to a good start in high school, and I thought that was happening in spite of the late timeline on the 504 plan, but now I feel I’ve dropped the ball.
Re: frustrated again!
Not only that, but her OCD sometimes makes it hard to be on time. She’ll need to go back to a previous class to go through the doorway “just right”, or she’ll manufacture an excuse to go to the locker so she can touch the door a certain number of times….and her meds make her more social (less inhibited) as a side effect, so social time in the halls can take up more time than most kids.
On the other hand, it’s just plain impossible to get across the school through crowded halls, stop at a locker, and still get to class on time in 3 minutes. And have you lifted a kid’s backpack lately? They’re carrying around 30-50% of their body weight, just trying to have all the stuff they need! Arrrrghhh!
So, how do I work with this teacher?
Re: frustrated again!
Case manager could talk with her. Would the case manager do that?
Your point about the weight of backpacks and crowded halls is well-taken but those problems are sadly systemic. All schools have them and no one is willing to take a good hard look at the many injustices and just downright silly things that are going on in schools today.
This teacher’s grading policies, though, are different and unusual and not any kind of accomodation or modification appropriate to a student with OCD.
Ask the case manager if a talk with this teacher falls in his domain. If he/she says no, ask others. Ask the school psychologist, the guidance counselor, the principal. Always ask nicely.
If you need to go through the formal process, I wouldn’t hesitate. Does this teacher know your daughter is OCD? Does she believe her grading practices will somehow “cure” a student of their OCD?
Good luck.
I’d be frustrated too. I’ve heard of schools giving detention for lateness but taking off from a course grade for lateness to class is a new one for me.
If the grade is supposed to reflect how much she’s learned in class being late has nothing to do with it. This is a poor practice and if it were my school to run, I wouldn’t allow it.
Is she in high school? Those grades will represent her learning to colleges. Colleges don’t particularly care if a student is late to class. They do care if the student has mastered the material. Lowering her grade based on lateness suggests to the colleges that she didn’t understand the material which isn’t true.
My son’s school puts latenesses on the transcript so the college can see the student’s lateness record but doesn’t allow lateness to alter a course grade.