Response to "Delpit"

Schools today are set up for the student to meet standards. Teachers and students alike are taking advantage of the way student learning is measured. I have heard stories of teachers changing answers on standardized tests so the grades would reflect student learning. This action only hurts students because they will be passed on to the next level and will miss out on the previous knowledge. The article we had to read for class explained a case of a teacher being passive with a student's learning progress. The girl had learned however that not participating in the writing lesson would be frustrating enough for the teacher that she could get out of doing the work and also cover up her limitations in both speech and reading. As teachers, we can not give our students "permission to fail" because that will set a precedent that will only hurt them in the future. We need to fight through that hopeless feeling when students give up too quickly and remind ourselves that what they need is practice, not permission to fail.