Alan
On Thu, 13 Mar 1997, Sharon Smith wrote:
> Y'all will never know how much you are encouraging me! Recently in a
> faculty meeting we were informed we would 'hold the bar and maybe even raise
> the bar' on standards for passing. Unfortunately as instructors we are
> evaluated by how our students do on the final exam and how the students
> evaluation us (the administration reads the final exam results and all
> comments on student evaluations. They are concerned that General Ed
> instructors aren't given all A's in all categories by all the students!). I
> mentioned that 'out of 19 students in a COLLEGE ALGEBRA class given a simple
> (beginning algebra level) factoring test, only 3 passed'.
>
> My question to our president was "If I hold the bar and even raise the bar
> and more students fail will this administration still see me as a good
> instructor? If all the students don't grade me at the 'A level' on
> evaluations because they are too immature to see that not receiving full
> credit on a late paper is a consequence of their behavior, not mine will I
> still be seen as a good instructor?" He lowered his head and didn't
> respond. FAculty members have said they are feeling the same pressure and
> frustrations, but no one has had the courage to speak up. I told them to be
> prepared to pay my bills when renewal of contracts comes up in a few weeks!!!!
> Hearing y'all tells me this is a national, not a local problem. It may take
> awhile for our administrators to recognize it and realize there are NO quick
> fixes.
>
>
>
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