Under the rules:

* Students who get failing scores of 50 to 55 in class will “automatically” get 15 points for a passing 65 to 70 grade if they pass a Regents exam. Kids who score a minimum 65 on the Regents “should receive a passing grade” in the class. The same practice forced a Bronx principal to resign.

* A final grade of 60 to 64 “will be changed automatically” to a passing 65.

* Students who fail a class “will be assigned ... a work product not to exceed five pages” or “alternative project.” Livid teachers say pupils who cut class or blew off studying get a “packet” of work or take an online multiple-choice “credit recovery” program.

My rage and ire is tempered by the fact that most high school assignments are just busywork assignments anyway. The majority of your grade is not based on how much you learned or how competent you are, but whether or not you turned in the worthless homework assignments.

I know if you've got a student who gets As on all of his tests, his teachers will still threaten to fail him unless he turns in homework.

I know if you've got a student who gets As on all of his tests, his teachers will still threaten to fail him unless he turns in homework.

I would reword the last statement of your comment to:
The majority of your grade is not based on how much you learned or how competent you are, but or even whether or not you turned in the worthless homework assignments.

Sad but true. One of my ex-girlfriends (most recent actually) is a HS Biology teacher for a low SES (PC term for poor as you can be) school. I used to think Private School was a waste...not any more. Not after seeing how much of her life she put in to those kids and seeing 1) how much the students do not care and 2) how much administration does not care as long as they get their money.

I believe in homework. If you memorize the material for the test, odds are you wont retain it for long after the test. The repetition of homework is what turns temporary knowledge into long term knowledge.

Memorizing material and understanding material are very different. I understood my math and sciences and didn't need meaningless homework assignments. Believe what you want. You may have needed them, but others didn't and don't.

I believe in homework. If you memorize the material for the test, odds are you wont retain it for long after the test. The repetition of homework is what turns temporary knowledge into long term knowledge.

Not all people require the same level of repetition to learn a skill, but I challenge anyone here to flawlessly, consistently perform a NEW college level skill without repetition, based only on a lecture and then retain that same level of skill 1 year later.

Not all people require the same level of repetition to learn a skill, but I challenge anyone here to flawlessly, consistently perform a NEW college level skill without repetition, based only on a lecture and then retain that same level of skill 1 year later.

Someone isn't following the discussion very well...

No. Someone made blanket statements.

Hi, my name is Corolinth. I never did any homework in my Physics classes. I work as a TA in an engineering department, and one of my job duties is to teach those topics to struggling first and second year students. I also never did any homework in my Algebra classes, and I recently gave a two hour classroom lecture on matrix operations.

What did I just win?