Pass or Fail

Term 2 started this week. We had a great break in May and now it's back to work.
On the last day before break, learners (the Namibian word for students) came in to pick up their report cards. I had just finished putting in two grueling days in the computer lab where I used spreadsheets and a mail merge to print off 700 report cards. At first, it looked like a simple task since the mail merge had already been created by a volunteer last year. What I didn't realize is that it had not actually been used. Through trial and error, I discovered that every course was using a different grading scheme (for example, in Grade 11 English classes, even a score of 100% will only earn you a C!)

The real difficulty came with a box called Pass/Fail where I was to indicate whether or not the learner was currently in a passing or failing position. Sounds simple, right? Unfortunately, every teacher had a different definition of what was required for a Pass. Despite the fact that Pass/Fail statistics are gathered each term and used to compare schools within the country, there is not a standard method of evaluation. After several spontaneous staff meetings and support from my department head, I implemented a common system for the school. Apparently my requirements were a lot stricter than previously. Both teachers and learners were shocked to discover that obtaining an E in every course (that's generally 40-50%) would be considered a fail. When implemented school wide, our pass rate dropped from 75% to 52%. It's important to note here that this statistic has no actual value since we still have two more terms this year. Hopefully, our learners will consider this a kick in the butt and they'll work harder next term.

I'm happy that we're raising the bar a little. We've attached a letter along with our statistics so that the Ministry of Education will understand why our school seems to have performed so terribly this term. I hope we don't get intimidated into dropping our standards back to improve the perceived results.