July 16, 2008 – Fun With Transcripts: When is a “B” Really a “D”?
July 16, 2008 – “Mr. Smith told me that he would change my grade if I turned in my missing work within three days of the end of school last spring. So I am not going to worry about the ‘D’ that is on my transcript.”
Question: in how many different ways can the above student’s confidence be seriously misguided? Let’s see:
1. Mr. Smith never told the student he would even consider changing a grade.
2. Mr. Smith told the student he had two days, not three, in which to turn in the missing work.
3. Mr. Smith did indeed give the student three days, but that included the weekend, not just “working days.”
4. The student lost track of the days and turned the work in after four days, when Mr. Smith had closed down for the summer.
5. The student turned in the missing work to the wrong teacher.
6. Mr. Smith misled the student about the extension because the student had been a pain-in-the-neck all year.
7. Mr. Smith turned in his grade book immediately after the end of school and promptly retired to Tahiti, where retroactively adjusting students’ grades is not a high priority of his.
SENIORS, go over your official transcript with a fine-toothed comb early in September. Fix any problems immediately. Do NOT assume that problems will magically resolve themselves, no matter how sure you were last spring that they would!
“I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse.”