Pittsburgh school board wants to set 50% as the lowest score.

I don't like this idea at all.

Pittsburgh Public Schools officials say they want to give struggling children a chance, but the district is raising eyebrows with a policy that sets 50 percent as the minimum score a student can receive for assignments, tests and other work.

The district and teachers union last week issued a joint memo to ensure staff members' compliance with the policy, which was already on the books but enforced only at some schools. Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers President John Tarka said the policy is several years old.

While some districts use "F" as a failing grade, the city uses an "E."

"The 'E' is to be recorded no lower than a 50 percent, regardless of the actual percent earned. For example, if the student earns a 20 percent on a class assignment, the grade is recorded as a 50 percent," said the memo from Jerri Lippert, the district's executive director of curriculum, instruction and professional development, and Mary VanHorn, a PFT vice president.

I ran into this during my last speaking test here. One of my coworkers asked me what the lowest possible score would be and I said "um, zero," and she laughed and said "impossible." With the stress on the wrong syllable, of course. And so students who attempted to answer but were way off got the same score as students who stared at their shoes and said nothing. I made adjustments to account for partial answers, and since the students had plenty of time to prepare, and were tested on basic phrases from the textbook and from my class, perhaps wrong answers earning the same as no answers would have been perfectly justified. But I didn't lke the idea of it.

I agree with Pittsburgh's rationale a little bit:

The district and union insist the policy still holds students accountable for performance.

"A failing grade is a failing grade," district spokeswoman Ebony Pugh said.

At the same time, they said, the 50 percent minimum gives children a chance to catch up and a reason to keep trying. If a student gets a 20 percent in a class for the first marking period, Ms. Pugh said, he or she would need a 100 percent during the second marking period just to squeak through the semester.

"We want to create situations where students can recover and not give up," she said, adding a sense of helplessness can lead to behavior and attendance problems.

But how about giving people the grades they earn? I'd rather parents and teachers work to prevent students from earning 20s in the first place, yet holding them accountable when they do. Ms. Leonardi, below, brings up a good point:

Judy Leonardi, a Stanton Heights resident and retired district home economics teacher, said she objected to the notion that a student could "walk in the door, breathe the air and get 50 percent for that."

"I don't think it sets kids up properly for college, for competition in life," she said.

To Ms. Leonardi, a 20 percent score means a student isn't trying or needs more help with the material. Automatically putting 50 percent in the grade book, she said, doesn't help the student in either case.

"To me, it's morally wrong," she said.

Give the full article a read.