----- Original Message -----
From: Nira Artzy - arnira@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: NBA/30% component
It seems not only school administration has a problem with the discrepancy
between "magen" grades and the Bagrut grades. Mr. B., the head of O. Council
said at O. High School end-of-year party: "A teacher whose students fail
will have to deal with me", adding that "a teacher who gives low 'magen'
grades and thus fails them will have to give me explanations". According to
the item in Yedioth (21.6.06), the school principal gave him a letter of
resignation and the teachers left the party angrily. 81% of the students in
O. passed the Bagrut successfully, but that's not enough for Mr. B. He wants
teachers to raise grades so that O. will have a success of 95% .
I don't know what came of it, but it only shows what kind of pressures we,
the teachers, have to deal with. I know for a fact that the final grades
teachers give in all school subjects are usually raised to absurd levels,
regardless of what the student actually did throughout the year. This is
done for obvious reasons: the competition among high schools in every city
is fierce, the principals are under a lot of pressure to raise grades and
put the pressure on us. Now, apparently, the pressure comes even from city
councils.
Nira
------- Kathie wrote: I also identify with the feelings expressed by the staff at Ben Gurion High School. I even carry around the Chief Inspector's letter to principals last fall regarding the 30% allocation of the year mark as a ready reference because so many arguments arise with administrators, homeroom teachers, parents and pupils. However, when regarding the suggestion that a literature component be added to the Bagrut as a way of alleviating the discrepancy between what is tested in the Bagrut and what is assessed by the teacher, we have to remember that there were problems with this in the past - both when the reading program was tested in oral Bagrut and before that when literature was tested in the written Bagrut. I know there was once a proposal to include a narrative as one of the written texts in the Bagrut, together with question-tasks similar to what might be assigned in English lessons focused on literature. This could be a possible compromise. In the meantime, school principals will hopefully receive a reminder this year that the "30%" designated to the reading program and projects is still official policy.
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