Case
The Uncooperative Parent

Sandra Hall*, a high school art teacher, received a call from the mother of one of her students. The mother requested an extension on her daughter's art project. The project was due the same day as an Advanced Placement exam, which the mother considered a higher priority. Ms. Hall said she could not make an exception for the student. Displeased that Ms. Hall refused to honor her request, the parent scoffed, "This is art, not brain surgery." in a phone conversation with the teacher. How "as a teacher" would you follow up after this statement?

Posted on: 03/02/13 | Views: 1196
Solution #1
Top Solution
I would politely remind the parent that, while she may not see the value of an education in art, many others do. And it would be unfair to the other students to allow an extension for her daughter and not the others. Grading of assignments, no matter the subject, must always be done fairly and uniformly.

I agree with this solution. Being consistant is key.

I agree with this solution. Being consistent and fair is important.

I agree as well. There are no exceptions in this case.

I found this study to be very interesting.

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Solution #2
I would tell the parent that it would not be fair to extend the deadline for just her student as other students are working hard on the assignment. Although the subject may not be important to her, it is important to me and many other students. Also, I would stress that I can not make a habit out making deadline extensions as that would also been unfair.
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Solution #3
If there was a late work policy enforced by the school or in the art class, I would remind the parent of those rules. If applicable, I would let the parent know that late work can be accepted with a penalty of a certain number of points off the grade. Finally, I would ask the parent to be respectful of all subject areas or refrain from sharing negative comments.
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Solution #4
There are two options which Ms. Hall can can choose to solve this problem: The first one would be to tell the parent that she is unable to extend the deadline for one student. If she did it for one, she would have to do it for all students. The grading policy is likely listed in the class syllabus, so she would tell her to refer to it if she needs more clarification. She would tell her art class has expectations and standards like all other high school classes. On the other hand, there is another option to assuage any tension. If Ms. Hall agreed with the parent and realized an extension might be necessary, she should make an announcement to the whole class and tell them she is extending the deadline by one week to help students prepare for their exams. That might help both the parent teacher find common ground. Parents are part of the team and they just want to help their children.
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Solution #5
i would advise the parent that even though she may not value art, your class does and it isn't fair that she gets an extension while the rest of the class doesn't.
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