Students can miss class but still pass

Students can miss class but still pass
Attendance to affect grades less
BY LORI HIGGINS • FREE PRESS EDUCATION WRITER • JUNE 25, 2008
School districts across Michigan are increasingly altering long-standing rules that tie students' grades to how often they come to class.
The changes are prompted by a state policy that now allows students to test out of a class. But critics say the relaxed attendance policies risk sending the message to impressionable teens that getting to class isn't important.
The issue comes to a head Thursday in Huron Valley Schools, for instance, where the Board of Education is to consider a policy that removes language that says a student who misses 10% or more of a class will receive an F.
Other districts also making the move include Southfield Public Schools, Rochester Community Schools and Grand Rapids Public Schools. Plymouth-Canton Community Schools is in the early stages of discussions to possibly change the policy there. The Avondale School District made the change more than two years ago. And the South Redford School District did it a year ago.
"It's not about seat time anymore. It's about mastery," said Bill Zolkowski, principal at Thurston High School in the South Redford district, where attendance didn't suffer as a result.
It's also about aligning with the state rules that, as part of the new graduation requirements effective with the Class of 2011, allow students to test out of classes. Administrators say that state policy now makes it impossible for them to tell students they must put in the seat time to get credit in a class.
They say it's still vital to send the message that attendance and promptness are crucial to academic success, particularly since "students are now expected to perform in classes and courses that are much more rigorous than we've ever had in the past," said Bob Behnke, principal at Lakeland High School in the Huron Valley district.
But critics say that by eliminating these rules, administrators are sending the opposite message.
"You can't find me a 16-year-old who's not going to interpret a decision like this as 'Me being in class isn't important.' It's not going to happen. They're teenagers, after all," said Doug Pratt, spokesman for the Michigan Education Association, a state union that represents school employees.
Adam Nehesil, who'll be a senior at Milford High School in the Huron Valley district, said he likes the proposed policy. He predicts some students will view it as an excuse to skip classes, but said "most people, I don't think, will abuse it."
"It's not a permission" to skip "because you still have to go to class," said Nehesil, 17. "I still have to pass the class."
Parents weigh in
Parents were mixed in their views about the change.
"I think it's great," said Betty Robinson, whose son will be a sophomore at Southfield-Lathrup High School. She said some parents have long expressed anger over rules that denied their children passing grades if they missed a substantial number of days.
"I'm sure parents will love to hear about that," Robinson said.
Anne Lehker, whose twin daughters will be freshmen at Milford High, said she's not sure what to think about the proposed policy.
"A part of me says, 'No way, it's important for kids to sit in school every day.' " But she said education is undergoing an evolution that requires a reexamination of everything, including attendance policies.
"It's easy to be knee-jerk and say, 'Gosh, that's not how it was when I was a kid.' But that's the point. There are so many things about education that are so different now than when we were in school," Lehker said.
School policies questioned
In Rochester Community Schools, students who miss more than 13 classes will have their grades lowered. But they won't be denied credit, provided they've completed the necessary work to earn a passing grade. Debbi Hartman, spokeswoman for the district, said a student who can do passing work would go no lower than a D because of absenteeism.
Administrators say their schools still will have disciplinary consequences for students who skip often -- things such as detention, suspension or having to attend Saturday school. And some districts are trying to come up with incentives that illustrate the importance of coming to school regularly.
Donna Orr, a parent in the Huron Valley district and a substitute teacher, said she likes some aspects of the proposed policy. But others concern her.
Teachers want their kids to do well on tests and be successful. So what happens, she wonders, with students who miss a substantial amount of class time? Would teachers reteach what they missed? Do teachers provide extra review time before a test for them?
"It's a hard call," she said. "Part of it is building responsibility and letting them know they are accountable."
Zolkowski said eliminating attendance as a factor in determining grades hasn't resulted in increased absences. The school still averages an attendance rate of about 95%. Part of the reason, he said, is an increased emphasis on reaching out to families when students are tardy or absent. Zolkowski said the new policy is an improvement over what was previously on the books.
"It wasn't a good policy. It wasn't working. It wasn't changing student behavior. We think we've landed on something," he said.
Contact LORI HIGGINS at 248-351-3694 or lhiggins@freepress.com.