06-28-2009, 04:15 PM
I will say this is the only year where I felt the pressure to pass students. My department chair was given everyone's percent of failure overall by Dr. Hamlin and his administrative team. The DC was responsible for "having a conference" with every teacher who had higher than 10% failures. During my conference, I presented data that showed I had or had tried to get in touch with parents. My DC said he understood that I had done my part, but the administration was sick of excuses and only wanted results. It sounded like the DC's were getting pressure from Hamlin.
Why did I decide this year to through my ethics out the window? When a union rep tells me that more teachers this year have had letters put in their permanent files because Hamlin didn't like what they were doing, I get scared. When most of the people who applied to be Peer Counselors get rejected because they have over 10% failures, I get scared. I've been at WHS for several years. This was the first year I've been hounded about grades.
I want to say the reason my failure rate seemed high was because I taught some "repeater" courses. I invite the community to come observe a class of students who are repeating. Most of the students in my repeat classes failed half or more of their other courses. Their attendance was horrible. When they came to class, they refused to do work. I followed the attendance procedures, and I contacted parents. I did do my part. But I can only do so much because I have students who want to learn, and I need to teach them.
Why did I decide this year to through my ethics out the window? When a union rep tells me that more teachers this year have had letters put in their permanent files because Hamlin didn't like what they were doing, I get scared. When most of the people who applied to be Peer Counselors get rejected because they have over 10% failures, I get scared. I've been at WHS for several years. This was the first year I've been hounded about grades.
I want to say the reason my failure rate seemed high was because I taught some "repeater" courses. I invite the community to come observe a class of students who are repeating. Most of the students in my repeat classes failed half or more of their other courses. Their attendance was horrible. When they came to class, they refused to do work. I followed the attendance procedures, and I contacted parents. I did do my part. But I can only do so much because I have students who want to learn, and I need to teach them.