difficult child 3 overheard me complaining about how difficult it is to get Special Provisions for him, for his state-based exams. Because some wealthy kids in private schools have parents who can afford to buy off various medical specialists to write reports to justify special provisions for kids who don't need them, in order to give these kids every possible edge to get the best marks and get into the top uni courses, kids with genuine disabilities are now finding it almost impossible to get the provisions they need. We just did the two exams difficult child 3 had to do, this week. And again, it just wasn't possible for him to show what he could do, because we couldn't get extra time, one very important provision.
Anyway, he had overheard me talking to his SpEd teacher on the phone earlier this year just when he had an assessment task to write for English. He was supposed to write a letter of complaint, or a letter to the editor, or something similar. I was not allowed to help him AT ALL - not even to say, "Close your eyes and pick a topic at random." So he wrote a letter to the Board of Studies (those responsible for state exams and Special Provisions) complaining about how difficult it was and how this was unfair. It began well - he was fluent, he was persuasive. Then it degenerated almost into abuse. He clearly got facts wrong (although the teacher marking it would not have known this) and finished with, "If you don't want to deal with me about this, then you will have to deal with my mother. And she will MAKE you see reason. She's done it before to many others. You will not escape." Cue maniacal laughter, I thought, shuddering. Thankfully that letter was only for the teacher to mark, it was not to be sent on to its destination (or we would NEVER, ever get any Special Provisions!). I had to sit on my hands and say absolutely nothing to him about wrong facts, about threatening language, about anything. I just printed it, attached it to his paperwork and posted it off for him. We both signed the form that said it was all his own work.
The ultimate irony - the teacher said it was so good that I must have written it for him. So I emailed copy to SpEd, who immediately went on the warpath to make it clear that if I had had any hand in it, it would have at least been accurate.
So be aware - the teacher may give marks for passion in her writing. Not properly referencing it may not score highly on the grading.
What we worked out with difficult child 3's output in English this year - when the writing task was unlimited time (as in he had a couple of weeks to write it) and he could make it relevant to himself, he wrote brilliantly and got amazing marks. But when he had a time limit to his work and especially when he couldn't see how it was anything to do with him and he was not interested - almost zero. It's been a horrible year for me, but would you believe - they are passing him through, based purely on attendance and willingness to do the work. He's been present, in other words. They're not doing this specially for difficult child 3 - it is how this exam has been diluted in general across the state.
But from next year, the grading gets a lot more serious.
A child's ability to write with passion and fluency is sometimes all the teacher really cares about. On the plus side with your daughter's assignment - she completed it. She wrote with fluency and passion. She at least made an attempt to write something from the other point of view. She was as persuasive as she could be, with a very challenging topic choice. It certainly was controversial. All these will result in a better grade than you or I would have given. Credit is likely to be given merely because she made an attempt at a really difficult topic. The teacher may not realise she was serious - the teacher may even feel tis was written as an example of irony and this also would raise the marks.
On the minus side, she did not reference it properly (because no such references really exist). She wrote what she apparently genuinely believes to a delusional extent (the delusional is the problem here; writing what you believe is good). She also was unable to properly write a rebuttal. These will bring her grade down.
I will not be surprised if she actually gets a good mark for this. I would be disappointed, but remember - the teacher has to grade this according to the learning outcomes of this particular assignment, and also in accordance with the overall standard of the other students' work. And frankly, I am horrified these days at how low the standard seems to be.
Mind you, I suspect a copy of this will be getting passed around the staffroom - and possibly the teacher may be a lot more sympathetic to you in the future! But only if she realises this was serious.
Marg