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I don't understand why this policy is so often compared to awful ones. It is the same as averaging the student's letter grades to come to a final grade, instead of averaging percentages. It makes missed work a normal F instead of a super-duper F. As an unknowing-ADHD kid who struggled with getting homework done, especially when I knew the material already, that would have been an incredible blessing that hurt my learning not at all.
Because it means that failing is virtually impossible. Which means everyone graduates, which makes the high school diploma a useless credential, which means now people need a college degree to stand out. Rinse and repeat.
No, 50% brings down your average pretty quickly, if you get 50% frequently; it just doesn't tank the overall grades of students who get them on a "shit happens" basis.
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High school diplomas were a heavily discounted credential long before I ever heard of that policy, which was well after I was out of school. (Though I think I did have a teacher or two who used letter grades in their gradebooks; I didn't appreciate them enough at the time.)
Sincere question: If you are worried that this will make it impossible to fail, what do the distribution of a failing student's assignment and test grades look like without it? Are these students getting Cs on the homework and the teacher is relying on a 30% test grade to counterbalance them, or what?
Yeah; what does this mean in practice and what is a passing grade?
Why not do it like this: no grade lower than a 50 for missed homework, but you need a 70 or better to pass? The B student who doesn't give a shit about homework and aces the exams still gets to pass; exams still own students who don't know the material.
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