Names Have Been Changed

Scene One: My Classroom, The Day After The Last Day of School
The new athletic director and head football coach approached me on Friday, May 18 and asked me to raise a student's grade from 69.7 to a 70. He explained that Derrick would be ineligible to play football if he had a “D” for a yearly average in any class. I told Kyle that I would look at Derrick's grade, but he pressured me for an immediate answer. I finally told Kyle that I did not feel, ethically, I could raise Derrick's grade. I explained that the student had four missing assignments (none of which he had asked about making up), and he had not done well on his last three major tests. Derrick's behavior in my class this year was also an issue. The coach said he "respected" my opinion, although he did not agree with it. I thought our conversation was over when he left my room.

Scene Two: School Hallway, An Hour Later
Later, the coach stopped me in the hallway and asked if I would let Derrick come in and do some of the work he had missed. I told him that I would be willing to allow the student to make up the work, but he would have to do it correctly. He would have to demonstrate that he knew the material covered in the assignments. Kyle said he would call Derrick's mother and ask if she could bring her son in to do the work, either today or Monday, whichever day was best for me.

Scene Three: School Hallway and Faculty Workroom, A Short Time Later
After talking to Kyle, I talked to another faculty member about the situation and said I was upset. I felt I was being pressured to do something that I didn’t feel was ethical. If Derrick had really cared about his grade in my class, I reasoned, he could have approached me weeks ago and asked about raising his average. As his coach, Kyle could have talked to me before today, before I had submitted my grades. Now, I felt that responsibility had been unfairly placed on my shoulders. I was being pressured when the student should have been taking responsibility for his own actions and behavior. I also felt I was being manipulated by someone who should have known better.

The more I thought about it, the more uneasy I became with my decision. I stopped Kyle in the hallway and said that I was uncomfortable with having Derrick make up work at this point. Chris said that this wouldn’t have been an issue if Atlas (the contractor that manages our electronic gradebook program) hadn’t changed the way grades were rounded. Before this year, every grade at .5 and above was rounded up to the next whole number. I told Kyle that, since this was my first year teaching, I didn’t have experience with that system, and that it certainly wasn’t my practice to go through grades and “round up” every student who had a .5 or higher to the next grade. I told Kyle that I had a student with a 79.9 who came to me the last day of school and asked about extra work. I gave her an assignment and she earned her “B.” Then, Kyle said that it was unwritten policy “from administration” that we would round up grades. I told him that I was aware that it might happen on a case by case basis, but I wasn’t aware that it was policy. Finally, Chris had seen another faculty member helping me take some things to the dumpster, and he said something to the effect that “we help each other out around here,” making a connection between changing Derrick's grade and working cooperatively with a colleague. I was hurt, angered, and insulted by this remark. Kyle followed me into the workroom where our heated conversation continued in front of three colleagues.

Scene Three: Back in My Classroom
I decided to go against my initial reaction and strong personal feelings. I called Derrick's mother and said she could bring her son to the school at 8 a.m. Monday morning. He would make up the missing assignments, and we would see if he would play football in the fall. I sent an e-mail to Kyle informing him of my actions.

I talked to six faculty members about this situation. Not one of them backed the coach, although a few were sympathetic to "the way things had been done" with electronic gradebook policies in the past. One colleague suggested I report to the principal what happened. Except for the headings and this last paragraph, my written statement is pretty much what I've shared here. I'll turn it in on Monday.