Media blogger Jim Romenesko reports that the school's principal is giving teachers some leeway with the policy. "One concession we’ve made is if it’s the same error that’s repeated in the paper, the teacher has the discretion to say, for example, 'I’m going to take these five run-on sentences and count them as one error,'" Kim Gill told Romenesko. Otherwise, it sounds like tough nuts for the kids if they're sloppy. And, Gill claims, students have come to accept the policy because "[T]hey realized it was in their own best interest."
But over at the school's Our Times newspaper, intrepid reporter Kyle L., a senior, writes of a student body in turmoil. Kyle reports that some students don't think the school's curriculum has prepared students well enough for such stringent standards.
From Our Times: "The writing curriculum in the past has not been up to par, and these new rules felt far too demanding in lieu of the writing instruction students have received thus far. 'I understand that it is a college prep thing,' one student told me, 'but we haven’t been taught well enough for it.'"
A parent told the paper, "It seems that we are incorporating new assessment procedures before we incorporate new teaching strategies and writing curriculum."
And now I'm going to ask our copy editor to evaluate whether I could pass at Christian Academy.
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Let me clarify, I know the school has the student's best interests at heart, we, as students, are just not completely sure we are ready for the changes.
I am the original writer of the article being discussed. I want to thank you for showing more of the student's side of this. Since the article got out the school has grabbed it and not really allowed the voice of the student's to be heard at all. They have refused to show any negative side of this when there are still many concerns for students and parents. I'm glad this is out there to show the other side.
It has been interesting to watch the healthy debate Summit Christian Academy’s new writing policy has inspired. Many of the comments reflect our own internal discussions prior to the policy being implemented for juniors and seniors. One additional fact that has not been pointed out is that the policy has nine components to ensure fairness for all students.
George Orwell once stated, “If people cannot write well, they cannot think well, and if they cannot think well, others will do their thinking for them.” Whether you support or oppose our new policy, we are confident that we are offering skills for our students that will give them an edge in the highly competitive marketplace.
If you would like more information about Summit Christian Academy, we ask that you check us out at Summit-Christian-Academy.org
Ok, now if LS R7 can adopt the same policy.
To Graduate Assistant and Justthefactsmaam, I pretty much agree. I returned to CMSU (Now UCM) in 2005 to finish a degree that went on hiatus back in 1989. I think I was probably the only person that had papers handed back in general studies class with few to any marks on them other than the letter "A". I wish I could say I was proud of this, but I am not. For one, on my first run through it would probably have been at best a B+ -- I could find multiple errors after I got the paper back. I chalked up the fact that it wasn't marked to a tired, overworked professor or GA that ended up grading it. For another it disturbed me that some of the other papers would actually get passing grades. I noticed the same unstructured approach to the way kids wrote and organized code in my programming classes. Unfortunately its not much better in the business world.
To Ben Palosaari -- Your copy looks good. Unfortunately that isn't the norm for most print news these days, and has been on the decline for published books. It bothered me in books I would read in the 80's and 90's, now its so bad from some publishers that I don't bother to read books anymore because I find myself reading the same paragraph over and over again trying to figure out what they are trying to convey. It the rest of the content is good, then I can eventually figure it out from the overall context. If not, then the book finds a new home.
Kudo's to this school.....rather they learn it now than flunk out of their Freshman English class, or get their college term papers rejected. Sooner or later they are going to have to adjust to the demands of the real world.....why not start early.
Dear Balbonis - the private school offers a smaller ratio of students to teachers; and typically people who go there don't use phrases like "nutjob Christians" because they're taught to have a little more class. Also, it's faith-based (not that you care), which means the kids who go there are also learning more about their faith and how it relates the world. Since there is a separation of church and state, it's nice for families to have this alternative option.
As a Graduate Assistant at the University of Central Missouri, I am super appreciative of this new policy. I have students turn in papers with an average of 25-50 spelling and grammatical errors. When I mark them down for it, they will insist that they received high marks in their English classes in high school. I'm sorry, but high school teachers (and administration) do not do students ANY favors by being lenient on expectations. It only sets the student up for failure (and a lot of confusion) at the collegiate level.
Why would anyone in Lees Summit go to a school other than the Lees Summit public school system? Is it a school for nutjub christians or an 'alternative' school for kids who cant cut the mustard at the public?
Those schools look like mini college campuses (suck it KCMOSD). I seriously wonder what they offer students that the public schools don't.
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