I recently read an article supporting the policy of removing "F" as a grade. Instead, teachers would be giving out an "I" for incomplete. This allows for the student to make up any Homework or Assignment that he/she failed or neglected to turn in.

I am curious to what other teachers see on this issue.

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hmmm, i think incomplete only works for so long. eventually students need to understand the real consequences for actions, such as failure.
terrible idea; don't read that article.
Interesting. This is the first that I am hearing about this. I don't think this is a good idea. Why should students be given multiple chances to do an assignment that they neglected to turn in? Students need to learn responsibility. In the real world second chances are rare. We as educators cannot keep babying our students. As for students who fail an assignment, I think they should still receive an F for the assignment but have the opportunity to raise their grade if they make an effort to do better. This could be done by coming to tutoring sessions or doing extra assignments related to the assignment that they failed just so students are actually grasping the material and not just doing the work to up their grade.
this is very interesting, in my opinion I think it is great that the students get a second chance to do everything.
I agree with Geoff, this is a terrible idea. Kids know what an "F" means. Giving it the indefinite idea of incomplete is only going to reinformce the idea behind the student's not completing the assignment in the first place. F means there is a problem that needs attending and the student needs to recognize the reason they received the F. Teachers also need to see the F so they know where to reinforce their instruction or get help for their student. If the work is incomplete - then the student is incomplete!
I have heard a lot about this idea. We changed our grading scale to a 10 point scale this year. At the 7th grade level, we are definitely seeing more As and Bs because it is easier to get those grades. I don't agree and feel that I have made it harder to get those As and Bs in my classroom because I feel it is important they understand and can show their understanding of the concept at hand.

As for not giving Fs... I do not see a problem with students redoing things in order to show improvement/mastery of a skill. Since we have the standards we are to follow, I don't see a problem with giving them the chance to show that they can do it after more studying/trial.

However, I do not agree that come the end of a grading period, students can just be given an incomplete in order to redo or make up as much as they wanted. It would be different if they were absent for the last 2 weeks of the grading period because of illness and needed the time to make things up; but just to give them an incomplete instead of an F seems a bit unreal. If we are prepping our students for the real world (no matter what age they are), they have to learn there are deadlines. If we don't submit grades on time, or IEP paperwork on time, or finish writing an exam on time, we will see some sort of consequence. No matter what profession our students end up in, they will have deadlines. Why should we start giving them exceptions now??
I echo the sentiments, getting rid of an "F" as an option is a bad idea. Failure is the best way to learn. If you never fail you never truly learn.

I agree with teaching out students about deadlines, responsibility, etc. Also, what happens when you give an "I" and the student makes up the work, what grade do you give them? A "D", a "C"? What then does that say to the "D" or "C" student that did the work on time?

If I knew I could not turn anything in all year, then make up all the work as needed to pass, why would I bother to do the work when it is assigned? Getting rid of "F" gets rid of any incentive to do the work on time and undermines the desire to succeed and excel.

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