david taus

Ripples into the Future

music: Martin Sexton- 4/15/2004, Iowa City, IA

We had an honors assembly at school on Friday. The students who made honor roll or high honor roll were recognized and stood up to receive applause from the staff and student body. It was a nice occasion, and I think it did what it was supposed to, that is, place an amount of social capital on getting good grades. I realized as I watched, though, that many of the students I had were kept from higher categories because of my class. A couple students who otherwise could have had high honors (all A’s) received a B in my class and therefore were kept from the highest category. And some of the students who otherwise had all A’s and B’s earned a C in my class and were kept from the higher bracket.

So what. Right? I’d tend to agree. So what. It’s a certificate printed out on the same printer used to print research papers and xeroxed. I’d tend to agree when construed as such, but after I thought about it I realized there’s more to it than that. Grades in school determine, more or less, life outcome. School is our society’s sorting mechanism; those who do better in school enter the job market at a higher level than those who do not do well at school. College graduates earn more, on average, than those who have not graduated college. same for high school. And college admissions hinge on grades in high school. I have a student who ended up earning a C in my class, the only C she got, and she wants to be a doctor. How is a C in biology going to look when applying to pre-med programs? Am I limiting a young person’s chances by giving them these grades? Am I, in part, responsible for their life outcomes? I consciously chose not to pursue medicine or politics for exactly this reason.

It is undeniably true that what we do today will affect our tomorrow. I can live with that as far as my own future is concerned. I can also live with the standards I set for myself. But now I’m in a position to impose these standards on over 60 young people and evaluate them accordingly. The standards are in part determined by the State, and I just an executor, but I’d like to not shunt off all responsibility. I’m acting autonomously for the most part as a teacher; what I deem important is the determinant of these students’ grades. And for the most part, they aren’t getting there. Two A’s, eight B’s, 12 C’s, 17 D’s, 25 F’s for the first quarter. Standards may be standards, but something else needs about how I’m doing this needs to be fixed. If I’m even partially at fault for these grades, is it fair to have these kids be evaluated by them for the rest of their academic careers? These seemingly small decisions I’m making really have that much impact on these kids’ futures? It’s a question that I’ve tossed around uncomfortably all weekend. It’s a tough thing to begin to reshape the way one goes about doing their job they do. I’m only beginning to think about how.

Perhaps I’m blowing it out of proportion. Perhaps the decisions I make and the standards I hold don’t noticably cast ripples into the future. But I don’t think so.

      It is more than a job,
      It is a commitment and an excellence in working with children
      that will change, guide, and develop young lives.
     You have a tremendous opportunity
     and responsibility.

     -YMCA Employee’s Handbook

Posted by davidtaus at December 12, 2004 11:47 PM