When I started to work at Los Angeles City College ten
years ago, the English Department had devised what I
felt an absolutely ingenious system of parallel
'remedial' courses. Most of our students have spent
very little time with academic English, so one
semester of academic 'remediation' doesn't do a whole
lot for them. We used to be able to recommend a
parallel course for students who, in a sense, had kept
up their side of our bargain, come to class, done the
work, written the papers, and yet still were
struggling with 'college' English. At the time, I
thought, 'how wonderful! I don't have to fail good
students.' Essentially, the department had carved out
a kind of 'instructional space' for developmental
students that broke with the rigid 'Step A goes to
Semester 1, Step B goes to Semester 2 and if you can't
follow you fail' flow of student bodies in the writing
curriculum. Basically, this was a form of retention.
Then, about 3 or 4 semesters into the experience, the
Chancellor's Office told us to shape up and cut out
all the parallel courses. We were being very bad boys
& girls for keeping qualified students back, and a
student who passes a particular level is by definition
qualified to tackle the next.
Now my choices once again have narrowed. I have
little to offer students who need time & practice
beyond one-on-one talks where I try to tell them
something akin to, 'Here's how you write. Here's what
you're supposed to write like the next level up. What
do you think? Are you ready?' I'm a big believer in
people making informed decisions. Now, I find that it
is not at all easy to be honest when one is the bearer
of bad news. And I remember rather vividly one
student in particular, who told me, 'Man, I almost
dropped your course after you talked to me! I got so
depressed!'
Most of the time, I respect the decisions indicated to
me by my students. In Spring 99, though, I went
against that philosophy and failed a number of
students who had indicated they wanted to go on. Much
to my surprise, four of them showed up on my doorstep
this semester. I know I won't fail them a second
time. I don't think I could stand to be around myself
if I did. But there are so many other ways in which I
can and do fail them. I never have enough time for
them. I never give them enough practice. I never
give them enough feedback. I let the general 'sink or
swim' ed philosophy of the place solve far too many of
my dilemmas for me ...
Genevieve
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