Now and again I ruffle a few feathers. OK, more than a few. I don't
mean to, but I sometimes have a unique perspective on teaching. Lately, if you
want to get a good, heated discussion going, mention the phrase "attendance
policy" (I originally mistyped that as "attendance police"- I nearly left it
for entertainment purposes). Why, one
may wonder, is a mere attendance policy such a hot button issue? Well, it's
really pretty simple. Many of these policies have nothing at all to do with
learning. Seriously. Nothing. Here's a short list of some of the attendance
policies that I've encountered lately:
* Three strikes and a student's grade gets lowered. (An aside: I
don't know why the baseball analogy, and not football - 4 downs, or basketball
- 7 fouls before the double bonus. )No matter what level of work the student is
doing in class. No matter what the student is earning on tests or assignments.
The absentee student loses points and often an entire grade. Harsh.
* A second type is even more confusing, conflating behavior with
attendance. These policies usually have very elaborate points schema for how to
score "attendance".
* A third is mixing attendance with in-class participation. I know
the theory "if a student isn't there, he/she CAN'T participate". Yes, true,
however, the demonstration of the participation is what's important here.
When a faculty member develops a policy, it is usually with the
most noble of intentions. However, the policy sometimes has unintended
consequences. Let's review those that I mentioned.
The "three strikes" policy has a few permutations. Sometimes the
policy will state three "unexcused" absences, with no description of what an
excused absence actually is. This is sometimes intentional and leaves students
with the impression that as long as they tell you ahead of time, it's "excused".
Some faculty ask for some kind of documentation for the absence. After all,
medical/dental/psychological/legal professionals generally work a 9:00 - 5:00
day. In the case of a family death, I've seen faculty ask for death certificate
copies or newspaper obits. In a few horrifying instances faculty have asked for
the phone number of the medical professional or institution so they can
"check". Here's my advice, stay away, far, far, away, from asking for this type
of documentation. This is HIPPA territory. I even checked with one of our
university legal eagles. The bottom line - health and wellness issues are the
third rail of "excused absences". Do not touch. Yes, students may be...ummmm...obfuscating,
but, it simply isn't worth the possible angst it will cause you. And frankly, I
don't think I'm smart enough to decide if a sick child or an extra shift at
work is a good excuse or not.
Attaching in-class behavior with attendance is truly confusing.
Some policies take off attendance points if a cell phone rings, if a student is
texting, or if a student comes in late, as well as a standard deduction for
absences. What message is being sent by mixing up in-class behavior with
attending class? That these activities are the same? And are they? And worse,
how much valuable teaching/learning time is wasted with taking role and ticking
points off a roster as transgressions occur. You are a discipline expert. Do
you really want to document behavior instead of discussing viral replication?
The third policy substitutes a "fanny in a seat" for actual in
class work, and the students know it. If there is actual work required, no
matter what it is, and the student is a no-show, he/she will lose those points
for the day. They are thus automatically penalized for not attending. They are
also not practicing what you have decided that they needed to learn for the day
and will probably suffer the consequences on a future test or assignment.
An attendance policy is certainly discipline and course dependent. A studio course, or a limited meeting course, will certainly have different requirements. But, no matter what path one chooses it is in everyone's best interests
to describe your policy as clearly as possible. This is no place for grey areas
or fuzzy math. Also think about how the actual mechanics of the policy will
affect your teaching. The following is an example of a clear participation
policy, with the bonus of rewarding attendance.
* Students will earn participation points by taking part in daily
classroom activities. There will be, at least, one learning activity in each
class session, and these activities must be completed during the class period
in order to receive credit.
* Activities may include:
- Quizzes
- Short essays
- Problem solutions
- Mid-semester evaluations
- Etc.
If you find you are having behavior problems in your classroom,
sadly, you are not alone. Give SITE a call and we will be happy to help you
better manage these specific problems. However, with the policies above the
message seems to be that learning may be secondary. I know you don't believe
that.
Finally, food for thought.
Over 120 years ago, Harvard University issued a statement to
faculty that grades were to be assigned on the basis of academic achievement
ONLY, and no deductions were to be made because of absence, tardiness, and
other forms of student misconduct (Making sense of college grades: why the
grading system does not work and what can be done about it, Milton, Pollio, and
Eison, 1986).
Writers in the measurement field (Gronlund, 1990; Mehrens and Lehmann, 1991) advise against
including student behavior factors (e.g., students' effort, interest, attitudes,
improvement, class participation, and attendance) because they contaminate
[emphasis mine] the grade as a measure of achievement of the course objectives.
(Jacobs, & Chase, 1992)
And you didn't think I'd write an entry without mentioning course objectives, did you?
The student-run media organization Onward State has provided some excellent coverage of the past weeks' events via their webpage, liveblog, and Twitter feed (@OnwardState). Last week, student writer Dan McCool wrote a poignant piece voicing many students' hopes about going home for fall break. Yesterday, John Tecce followed it up with The Break that Wasn't - an article about his troubles connecting with loved ones outside Penn State:
Both of these pieces provide some insight as to what many of our students are continuing to experience as members of the Penn State community. As teachers, it's important for us to stay connected to these experiences so that we can attend to them if/when they affect the learning environment.
In the wake of the events, many faculty have implemented reflective writing assignments as suggested in the first Difficult Dialogues blog post we published. Although some students may be tired of discussing things openly in class (especially if course material doesn't overlap directly), short reflective writing can still be useful at this time to help students air out tension or angst that could impede the learning process. Sometimes having fears or concerns heard about a difficult topic or challenging assignment can be enough to move forward with learning. Of course, the Critical Incident Questionnaire discussed earlier or other Classroom Assessment Techniques can give you important information about where students may be hung up, or what could be impeding their learning.
As always, we're here to help. Feel free to contact us to schedule an individual consultation, a classroom observation, or to attend one of our many upcoming teaching workshops. Our services are always free and confidential.
NOTE: This post is republished here from a comment on the first Difficult Dialogues post here.
IMAGE: Ellie Skrzat, Onward State