Should parents be fined for truancy?

@Linkat,

I think too in your case, Mo is now going to a school where you need to apply/be accepted so they are setting rules they feel help out students in a situation like Mo. It is easier to set such rules and demand regular attendance in these situations - situations where the parents/students want to go to this particular school. You already have a situation where parents are involved so it can be done in this situation.

I think that is in part why I mean you need to use common sense and allow the schools to use judgment. Taking away the judgment leads to things like a kindergarter getting expelled because he has a plastic knife to cut his sandwich, but the school says no weapons/knives...common sense tells a teacher this isn't a weapon or maybe just take it away if you feel he could hurt someone.

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@boomerang,

boomerang wrote:

In the age of standardized testing it seems that if a kid could just show up for those tests, and pass, that the school shouldn't get too wigged out about truancy.

since the studies are showing that a big part of the benefit of education is socialization/development of EQ, I think the community should get extremely wigged out about truancy. I think that the ability to pass courses is only one component of education. Important, but not necessarily what is going to make a difference in a student's future.

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@DrewDad,

It also puts a burden on the teachers - if the student is simply taking a week vacation and the teacher gives the kid the school work to do while on vacation or arranging makeup afterwards. So a casual vacation can impact the teacher's time and taking time away from the other students.

That being said - with common sense - if it was a once in a lifetime sort of thing (not just accomodating a parent's preference to go on vacation this week vs. school vacation week) - dad has a conference in Italy - chance for the kid to experience a different culture - use common sense. Also, if you charge and/or grades are impacted by taking time away from school - a parent can decide if it is worth taking the kid out of school or not.

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@Linkat,

That's an interesting thought -- what should and should not be an excused absence.

I completely agree that teacher's aren't able to use common sense anymore -- I'm not saying they don't have it -- just that they don't have any flexibility. There was an interesting discussion on an education forum that I visit the other day, it was about using rubrics to grade, and students taking risks on assignments.

Teachers mostly hated the rubric and thought that simply meeting the conditions of the rubric should result in a C grade. They wanted their students to take more risks and be more creative in their approach to assignments.

(Some) students thought that meeting the conditions of the rubric should always result in an A grade. They didn't understand why "style" should matter, thinking a bone dry, basically unreadable paper that met the conditions of the rubric were all that counted.

And don't even get me started on zero tolerance policies. Teachers seem to hate them as much as the students and parents do. (One of the things that most amazed Mo about his new school is that they had knives in the cafeteria.)

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@ehBeth,

Education can take place outside of school. I know a lot of home schoolers and unschoolers who have kids that are very well socialized. I think there are social problems when kids are homeschooled for medical or religious reasons though.

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@boomerang,

Yeah - my daughter has had rubics for projects - but the ones I've seen have been very broad and always have a creativity and neatness and proper language/spelling, etc. on it. I think it makes sense if you include these as well

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@boomerang,

boomerang wrote:

Education can take place outside of school. I know a lot of home schoolers and unschoolers who have kids that are very well socialized. I think there are social problems when kids are homeschooled for medical or religious reasons though.

There are social problems when parents irresponsibly homeschool, which is too common for my blood.

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@boomerang,

boomerang wrote:

Teachers mostly hated the rubric and thought that simply meeting the conditions of the rubric should result in a C grade. They wanted their students to take more risks and be more creative in their approach to assignments.

If non-academic factors are included in the grade, then they have to be spelled out in the rubric. That's what a rubric is for.

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@DrewDad,

Quote:

A scoring rubric is an attempt to communicate expectations of quality around a task. In many cases, scoring rubrics are used to delineate consistent criteria for grading. Because the criteria are public, a scoring rubric allows teachers and students alike to evaluate criteria, which can be complex and subjective. A scoring rubric can also provide a basis for self-evaluation, reflection, and peer review. It is aimed at accurate and fair assessment, fostering understanding, and indicating a way to proceed with subsequent learning/teaching.

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@DrewDad,

Yeah, I know how they work.

The teachers were saying that meeting the basic requirements should be a "C", the students thought it should be an "A".

I've seen a few rubrics and there appears to be some wiggle room in how to interpret several factors.

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Excuse me, what is EQ? I could guess but..

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@ossobuco,

It's like IQ, but the E stands for emotional.

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@boomerang,

Ah, that was my guess, thanks.

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Quote:

Should parents be fined for truancy?

Absolutely NOT.
Education shud be deemed an OPPORTUNITY, not a duty, like military conscription.

FORCING people to DO things that thay don 't wanna do
is deeply unAmerican. We r supposed to be the Land of the Free. Let 's remember that.

David

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@Ticomaya,

Even in my school life, my teachers provided many suggestions, to lead a bright future.

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@boomerang,

It shud be unConstitutional to hold anyone criminally responsible
for the conduct of another man.

David

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Should parents be fined for truancy?

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