Case
Should I or Should I Not

I am special education teacher in a co-teaching setting. Many of the students are failing science because the students are not turninbg in the assignments. In addition, their performance on quizzes are poor. I feel that we are not adeequately meeting the needs of all the students. Many assignments are started in class and the students have to take them home to complete. The general education teacher and I have sat down and discussed this issue but now it is time to provide students with grades. Should I modify the grades or not?

Posted on: 10/19/14 | Views: 934
Solution #1
The assignments themselves should be modified to accommodate the needs of the students through differentiation. I personally don't like to modify the grade itself, but ultimately, you know the students best. If you feel that they have shown an amount of growth according to their personal abilities, that is something you must consider. In the future, I would spend more time during the planning process to ensure that accommodations are made for each of your co-taught students.

I agree that the assignments are what need to be modified.

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Solution #2
Do you have a remediation class or any time that you may pull your students to allow them to do the work at that time? Sending a lot of homework home with SPED students is setting them up for failure. They forget or just don't do it, or lose it. I would grade them on what they did in class instead of the full assignment. I use to not give my students less than a 70 on any assignment, but I have stepped away from that. They get what they get, after other modifications.
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Solution #3
The assignments should be modified to fit the needs of the students. Some of the assignments may be too lengthy. Assign some work that can be completed in class so students don't have to complete it at home. At the school I teach at many students have to watch their younger siblings when they get home from school. You should not modify the grades, only the assignments. Provide students some work they can complete in class and this will also boost their confidence.
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Solution #4
Assignments need to be modified to meet the needs of the students. If the assignments have too many questions and students cannot answer them in class and the SWDs are the only ones not completing them then they need to be shortened for them. The first step would be parent contact to let adults know that students have had homework and not turned it in. One idea would be to use a service called remind.com - it allows the teacher to send messages to parents through mass media services. The next step would be to look for time to keep these students after school to help them complete the assignments if time isn't the only factor. The first option should never be to change the grade.

I like this solution. It is vital to find out why the students are not completing the work, and I would not alter their grades. I would probably offer extra credit for the completed homework assignments.

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Solution #5
I do not think you should modify grades. However, I feel that students should be able to make up their points by going over the material again with the teacher.
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