Broken Spirit Among LTHS Teachers?

LA GRANGE, IL – A top official at Lyons Township High School last week expressed disappointment with feedback from some teachers about new grading policies.

Patch filed a public records request for the feedback in question, as noted by Scott Eggerding, the school's director of curriculum.

Under the new policies, homework is no longer factored into grades and students are allowed to retake tests.

School officials say they want more consistent policies across both campuses. They also say the goal is for students to master subjects.

At a school board meeting last week, Eggerding rejected assertions that the school was failing to take into account teachers' feedback with the new grading policies. He also said some people do not want to change.

In response to the records request, the district provided a two-page letter that apparently contained comments from unnamed teachers, who took officials to task.

"Retakes, continual changes being made mid-year, and all of the additional responsibilities being put on our plate has broken the spirit and culture of LT teachers," the letter said. "We are shown a few success stories of the new grading policy and that overshadows the abundance of teachers vocalizing that they are drowning in work."

Eggerding said the "grading implementation team," a committee that includes teachers, has been crucial to developing grading policies.

But the teachers contributing to the letter were apparently unimpressed.

"Teachers are all aware that when they sit on a committee, they are there to serve the illusion of collaboration," one of the teachers said.

The teachers also contended that faculty are pressured to give students retakes of tests, even when students do not meet "extremely minimal criteria."

At last week's meeting, Eggerding said the teachers union commented on the new policies in its meeting minutes. But he said the union did not express those views to the grading team.

In response to Patch's records request, the school provided minutes from the teachers union's mid-March meeting.

According to those minutes, the union discussed concerns with the computer program for entering grades, calling it time-consuming. But the minutes did not indicate outright opposition to the policies.

That reflects the apparent approach of the union's president, Andrew Johannes.

At this week's school board meeting, Johannes said the school should include more teachers on the grading team. He also took issue with some of Eggerding's comments.

But in his speech, Johannes did not expressly say he was opposed to any particular new policy.

Last fall, parents launched a Change.org petition against the new grading practices. They are opposed to the idea of not allowing homework to be counted in grades. More than 1,700 people have signed the petition.