Why Johnny Cant Fail Summary

Professor Peters
English Comp 1
Christy Isbell

Summary 2 Why Johnny Can’t Fail In “Why Johnny Can’t Fail”, Jerry Jesness explains what really goes on behind closed doors at many schools. He confesses that he himself, and many others of his ilk, are guilty of passing children who are unprepared to move forward. It is all a matter of the “floating standard”, and it is destroying public education. In his beginning years, Jesness believed in giving appropriate grades. However; once he started failing students, the principal and parents took notice. He soon found himself having a meeting with both over the given grades. He argued that the children received appropriate grades due to plagiarized work and forged assignments. For the next few weeks, Jesness was watched everyday by the principal. “Every spitball, every chattering student, every bit of graffiti was noted”, he says. Every time he sent a student to the office, it was just more “evidence” that “he could not handle a classroom.” Making it impossible for him to teach, Jesness left his teaching career for one year. Upon returning to his teaching career, Jesness realized he would have to give in to the floating standard. He discovered once he stopped trying to teach children more than they wanted, he gained the cooperation of his students and fellow coworkers. Grades reflected silly things such as participation and showing up. He admits “students who needed to be pushed lost out, but that was the price of harmony.” It is now normal for teachers to push grades to passing over the summer and reduce the work level for children just to make themselves look good. Teachers that gave their students the best grades looked the best. This is all in efforts to keep their schools up and running. If students don’t pass tests, the schools will eventually be shut down. Therefore; teachers get by with giving students easy work. If the students don’t want to read a book, the teacher puts in the movie. When multiple choice tests become too hard to handle, the teacher assigns a true or false test instead. When all else fails, students are able to do an arts and crafts projects for extra credit. This is not giving our children knowledge, Jesness argues. Jesness then overviews the “fixed standard.” He claims that state testing such as the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) does not allow children to learn to their full potential. He says “the TAAS is helping solve one problem, while creating another.” Teachers have to cut out important material just to practice TAAS test taking skills. Test taking skills are so stressed that the truly important material is left behind. English teachers argue that reading short stories followed by multiple choice answers is far less sufficient than reading, comprehending and interpreting a novel. Jesness says parents should be able to put their kids in school without standardized tests. Those who want assurance that their kids are succeeding in class material should be “offered the guarantee that said tests would provide.” Ultimately, parents should have the choice between a fixed standard, to a floating standard.