Question for Parents on the Peoria.com Forums

For those of you with children..how often do you expect your child's teacher to return graded papers? My friend is a middle school teacher (30 students each in 5 sections) and she has a parent that is upset because she does not grade and return papers the next day. For example, some parents feel that an assignment turned in on Thursday should be graded and returned the next day (Friday).

I told her that is an unrealistic expectation that she should have to grade 150 papers in one night. I told her the only way they should be upset is if you waited a week (i.e. next Friday) to grade and return papers. Any thoughts?

I'd prefer once a week or every 2 weeks. Our children are younger so they have a paper every day for every subject.. sometimes 2 papers! (x3 kids!!) So, everyday, I go through folders, see graded papers, go over mistakes, then we file ALL graded papers in the trash. I do not have room to keep them all. And because our fridge was beginning to look like an art museum, we got the kids their own huge bulletin board and they can post their art for one week, then I clean it off.

I think we've killed an entire forest in just this semester.

most of the students in EP are bringing home Fri folders , containing notes from school and the previous weeks work.
It is nice to have all the papers once a week

As an educator and as a parent, I see all sides of this equation.Being married to an educator, I cann see even more sides to this issue. However, we are not in the primary grades, for that we are most grateful.

The reality is that teaching in the primary grades has become a challenge from beyond the beyond. There are many more forms that have to be filled out etc. etc. than years ago. Much of that was brought about by No Child Left Behind. Consequently, something gets sent to the back burner. In many cases it is the return of graded papers.

In primary grades, the return of graded papers within two weeks is the accepted norm. Perhaps, a bit longer if the paper counts towards a significant portion of the grade for the grading period. Sometinmes it does and so it has to be read, read again and maybe read the third time. In all honesty, this really doesnt become a major issue until high school and certainly college. Still, 150 papers for a primary grade teacher, a few days a week, is work overload. I am sure, much of it is dictated by No Child Left Behind. In any event, it is to the students advantage, in the long run, not to "rush to judgement" on graded papers.

It is just unrealisitc, for any parent, to expect that any paper turned in will be graded and returned the next day. The only possible exception would be some kind of pop quiz on a difficult subject matter. By grading those overnight, the teacher can get a very quick idea of how well the students are learning and understanding the class. In many cases, those kinds of exams dont count much towards the final grade.

I would say the papers should be returned to the students within 2-3 days of being handed in. I'm assuming the parent would like the homework returned to the student to see how the student did and to find out if their child grasped the subject matter. It would also depend on when the test was being taken. I would expect all material pertaining to the test to be returned so the student can use them as study guides.

One solution for the teacher might be to hand back homework on certain days of the week. I.E every Tuesday and Friday homework will be returned to the students, that way the teacher has some time to grade papers and the parent knows when to expect the homework to be returned.

I think once a week is fine. The more important matter is how the child is doing in school. Are they happy and do they seem to be progressing adequately? If the answer to both of those is yes, why would she even care? Don't sweat the small stuff.

Thanks all for your responses. I'm not sure why my friend is stressing about this. She is normally a very confident person, but I think she is letting this group of parents get to her. I personally think they are trying to attack and bully not realizing that their child is in middle school where teachers have more students than the primary grades. I told her to stay firm and that she has a life outside of school. If she doesn't want to grade papers at night she has that right. She normally has papers graded, entered into the gradebook, and returned within 2-3 days. A 2-3 day turnaround is fine in my opinion.

A 3 day turn around is very good.

The reality is that the higher the grade the students are in, the more the parents think they can bully their way around anything. The parents also tend to travel in packs and band together to bully. However, about 95% of it is to no avail.

As the saying goes, empty barrels make the most noise.

She should follow her instincts and try not to be unduly influenced by "group-think" - a condition that incidentally plagues our politicians.

I am going to go with once a week. But...

How are the kid's grades? Is the kid slipping? falling behind?

I do expect work to be in hand graded before the next big assignment is meted out. I expect all homework to be graded and in hand before a test and not the day before. If a kid is struggling at all, they need to have that more immediate feedback in order for them, along with their parent's hopefully, to sort it all out and recover.

If the kid is struggling there should be more of an effort to try and get the kid back on track.

But #2...

It does kind of depend on the class too.

Take math for instance. Kid works on assignment, turns it in. If you wait a week, the kid will be falling behind if they did poorly. Chances are the kid may not remember what they did exactly. The homework should be a point of discussion for moving forward.

So.. homework turned in, graded that night, next day if there were problems it is reviewed. Everything is fresh in people's memories. Math is a very linear discipline to teach and learn. Science, English, social studies, all allow for more digression while you wait for stuff to be graded.

A good episode to listen too... a little OT

"150 papers for a primary grade teacher"

Eh! Find a school with a smaller number. That really is too much for a middle school teacher. High School, yes. Middle school no way.

My 4th grader brings all her graded papers home on Friday, along with any notes, and the calendar for the next week, I like it that way, less chance of papers getting lost.

My 7th grader brings home papers whenever she feels like it, so not sure exactly how long it takes the teachers to grade and give them back to her. Her school sends home a weekly email telling what homework they will have for that week, and anything important that will be happening. I also email all her teachers every 3 weeks (or ask them whenever I work at her school) If she is missing any assignments.

Thanks again for the responses. It seems to me that most of you do not expect an assigment to be graded and returned the next day. Which was helpful to know. She teaches middle school English so the grading is more time consuming. I just think she's being too sensitive to a few parents and just needs to stand firm and understand you can't make everyone happy. There are worse teachers out there and doing worse things than not returning a paper the next day.

An English teacher requires more time for grading in case things have to be checked out at www.turnitin.com Starting in middle school kids, some times, find ways to take others words and pass it off as their own. There have been a few that have been caught at www.turnitin.com

I have to wonder if people in general realize what a day at school consists of. Here's a documentary that offers some clues.