Why do high schools pass and graduate students who don't do any work?
Schools push failing students through credit recovery and lenient grading systems—such as passing with just 25%—so that graduation rates look good. This leaves students completely unprepared, lacking basic skills and self-control, and expecting to pass without effort.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Writing students up for behavioral issues
- 2Sending students to In-School Suspension (ISS) or temporary suspension
- 3Sending students through credit recovery programs to make up failed classes
- 4Holding the line on grading policies despite administrative interference
- 5Giving strict zeros for missing work to shock students into changing their habits
- 6Requiring content mastery through multiple redos until standards are met
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“And the same thing is going to happen with my class, and probably most of her others. She'll fail them, take them during credit recovery, and then graduate.”source ↗
“So this student does nothing but cause behavior problems, but still is in all of our classes and will graduate, because it will make our graduation rate look good.”source ↗
“Over the last few years, there has been a significant increase in students who miss a bunch of work (often during the first month of the semester when we are laying the foundations) and think that they can still pass by turning in some work and maybe doing a stray extra credit.”source ↗
“Even if they theoretically know college is different, they don't know it in their heart because they've never actually been allowed to fail.”source ↗
“My school district just adopted a new grading system with a 1-8 scale. The score of a 2 converts to a D. So now you can pass with 25%”source ↗
“There are being trained to do very little and expect to pass”source ↗
“These are the kids that will get through high school with no skills, no knowledge, and no control over their own behavior.”source ↗
“Everyone involved knows it's bullshit.”source ↗
“Half of my freshmen this year in particular just don't seem prepared. We had to give 25% of about 350 intro Bio students their first zeros that stuck for not doing the pre-lab before lab 1.”source ↗
“It’s truly so sad how easy they have made it for kids to pass without putting in any effort.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 8Why won't students do the reading assignments?
- 2How to grade trash student work without sugarcoating it
- 6How do I know if my students actually did well on a test?
- 3What happens if you don't hit your wedding venue minimum?
- 4Why am I being forced to give minimum grades for missing work?
- 4Why can't I retain anything from McGraw Hill?