I was pleased with the grades for the yellow pages advertisement and the 30 second radio advertisement. All student groups followed the rubric and all groups scored in the A-B range. Regarding the letters to the client, the grades were a little more varied. Most students did well. Those that did not score well on the letter assessment were ones that disregarded the rubric.

I was disappointed by the quiz grades. The notes (one page front and back) were given out at the beginning of the unit. The vocabulary was explained, discussed, and used during the project work. I began each class three days prior to the quiz with a review of the concepts that would be tested. Despite all this preparation, there were still a high number of failing grades. As mentioned in the overview, this class is an elective with a good number of students who are in the class simply because they did not want to take a foreign language. With the current school retake policy, many students feel they can take the first test and just see how they do. Several students did not mind admitting in front of the class that this was their strategy and that they did not study. To combat this, I urge them to study for the original quiz because it is more likely to be an easier format (matching, multiple choice). I give them full warning that the retake will always be more difficult as the format will change to fill in the blank and short answer.

After this particular quiz, I sent a general email to parents saying that I had returned the quiz, announcing the date of the retake, and asking parents to sign the original quiz in order for their child to take the retake. About half the students (22 out of 48) opted for the retake. In the end, I allowed  students to take the quiz even without parent signature simply so that they could improve their grade. Many of these were students who wanted to improve their grade from the B/C range. Five of the failing students opted not to retake the quiz.

I am frustrated at the lack of effort given to what I considered a quiz less difficult than those students would receive in their core courses. I continue to try and build the bridge with both parent and student to improve academic success.