Texas District Adjusts Homework Grading Policy After Increase In Failing Grades

The Dallas Morning News (10/30, Unmuth) reported that at the beginning of this school year, the Irving school district "stopped counting homework toward grades." Since that policy has been in place, "the number of high school students failing at least one class [has] increased by more than one-third," from 3,412 students during the first six weeks of school last year to 4,597 this year. Irving is now adjusting the policy "by giving students the opportunity to increase their grade by submitting one portfolio of six samples that can include homework assignments." The Dallas Morning News notes that "The district initially stopped counting homework because administrators felt it didn't measure students' actual learning as much as other assessments."