Vignette 4: What Counts?

In this vignette we are introduced to Mr. Sanchez, a parent, who is upset with his son's mark in LA.  His son usually does well and has been coming home with outstanding work yet his mark on his report card doesn't reflect that.  After talking with the teacher and hearing that the student was marked down due to his behaviour the parent went to the principal to clarify the school's grading policies.


Self Refection
As a parent I would have been equally upset with the mark on the report card.  I don't feel a mark should be changed or altered because of behaviour issues.  I feel it is important for the teacher to keep the behaviours out of the mark.  There could be a number of reasons why the behaviour was occurring in class but to punish by taking marks away is unacceptable.
As a teacher I would not evaluate a student's academic achievement with anything else but academics.  I'm not saying that behaviour, effort and motivation don't matter but I feel there are better ways to address those issues.  I think communication with parents is important and if issues are arising during instruction it would be my responsibility to communicate that to the parents on an ongoing basis.  There are so many factors that can influence behaviour and I don't think its fair to take marks away.  I, myself would rather have a one on one conversation with the student to see what the possible reason behind the behaviour could be and how I could help the student be more successful.  I think that would be a more beneficial way of looking at things in the end.