A father sent an email checking his view of how to talk with a teacher about grading his daughter’s group project. Perhaps others will find interest in this exchange. His email, my response, and his report of the conference with the teacher follow, edited by me.
Father’s Email
I stumbled on your posting at The Tablet PC Web Site Blog … and would like to ask your advice as an educator.
I am a single father raising two young girls, 6 and 9. Having raised 3 older kids that are grown and out of the house, I have never been one to question the teacher or complain about grades or procedures.
But this last week my 4th grade daughter who normally gets A’s on her assignments (and on the honor role) brought home a D- and told me it was a group project they had been working on for 3 weeks, 3 kids to a group and it weighs in as 50% of her grade.
She also said that many of the groups received low grades, C’s and D’s. The thing that is bothering me most is that her 3-member group included the most disruptive student in the class, who typically receives low grades and this played a part in their ability to work together and it sounds like it effected their quality of work.
I don’t question the need for mixing and balancing skill levels in groups, I am questioning it when it plays such a heavy part on the grade (like 50%) and my daughter has received a D-.
The teacher made it clear to the students that there is no extra credit or make-ups to bring up the grade on this project, it is what it is.
Do you have any suggestions for me? I am planning to ask for a meeting with the teacher next week — but I don’t know if or how much I am out of line with my thinking. Thanks for any direction you can provide.
My Response
I recognize the problem you described. I don’t like group projects; never have as a student or teacher. They penalize good students who wind up carrying the teacher’s role.
Joan and I told our children plus our grandchildren who run into the same situation to either take the lead to make the project come out with a top grade or take their lumps when they rely on others to make the project work.
And yes, we talked with teachers, respectfully, directly. Most wound up telling about their problems vs. doing anything differently in the future.
One redeaming feature for your daughters: their grades in elementary school don’t carry any further, so they can chalk it up as a lesson in how to work with others irrespective of the grade their receive on this project.
Father’s Report of Meeting with the Teacher
I met with the teacher yesterday afterschool, here’s a short summary of what was discussed:
1. I started out telling her I am not one of these parents who expects my kids to get straight A’s and be on the honor role. I explained this is only the 2nd time with raising 5 kids (3 grown now) that I have addressed a grade issue with a teacher and all of my kids usually made the honor role.
2. I explained, and the teacher agreed, my daughter is not a C, D or F student. She does well in all subjects and a couple she is advanced in and used to tutor other classes. My concern was having this assignment pull the grade down to where a C for the quarter might be diffucult to achieve, since the assignment included 4 parts, of which she received a C-, D-, F and the oral presentation which I didn’t know about. To the better, the teacher told me the oral presentation was done well and scored high. She then mentioned the oral presentation would be weighted as 75% of the grade.
3. I also told her that when it comes to group projects I would expect there to be a balance of what kids are working together (not the same ones assigned together everytime). And I’m not suggesting that its unfair that my daughter work with students who are difficult or don’t get good grades. I would expect her to learn to work with difficult kids sometimes. However, when it comes to an assignment that gets weighted as 1/3 to 1/2 the quarter grade — it seemed unfair for my daughter to be tied to working with a student who is difficult (in this case, one that argues and gets bad grades). I would rather have seen my daughter work independently on an assignment that has this much weight on her grade.
4. The teacher told me many of the groups received low grades and it came about in that they did not follow directions. I feel she sandbagged them a little but taught them a lesson. Apparently there was a poster section of the assignment and they could not work on the poster until they had the other 3 sections completed. When one or two groups started working on the poster the other groups wanted to do the same. The teacher emphasized not to start the poster until the other sections were done — the kids being kids said the other sections were done so they started working on posters and the teacher collected the previous sections. As you might guess, many of the kids didn’t complete their previous sections and that is where the bad grades came about.
Overall, the meeting went well with the teacher. It was low-key and I took something home from it — to share with my daughter that she needs to better read, listen and follow directions. I didn’t talk to her much about working with difficult kids. I don’t want that to become the issue or be a discussion topic with her peers at school.
Again, thank you for your input. It is reassurring to hear its more common place that I thought — rather than my initial feeling that my daughter was being singled out unfairly.
You’re welcome to post this if you like on your blog. I wasn’t sure how to put it up. I would like to omit my name if you do.
Tablet PC Response
Kudos, Father. You honor your daughter with your interest and approach. Keep up the good work.