A student has been erratically attending class, has missed a majority of the exams, and has failed to complete most of the homework assignments. The work that has been completed has been of adequate quality, but the grade earned to date, based on criteria in the syllabus distributed at the start of the semester is a "E."

Discussions with the student reveal the following: the student is a single parent and is working a full-time job and an additional part-time job to cover family and school expenses. In addition, the student has been carrying a full class load in order to complete the final requirements to graduate at the end of this semester. The student is receiving a passing grade in all other classes except yours. An offer of an excellent job has been made to this student contingent upon graduation, and any delay in graduation will cause the job opportunity to be lost.

The student is a member of a minority group (i.e., Afro-American, Hispanic, Native American) female who is head of a single parent family. She has been specifically identified by the college administration as being "at risk." The administration has previously distributed a memo requesting that members of this targeted minority group be given special consideration and assistance.

Several options are:

• Give the student a failing grade.
• Give the student an "Incomplete" to be made up later even though this will result in loss of the job opportunity.
• Give the student a D- or whatever the minimum grade that will permit graduation.
• Give the student the grade that would have been earned had the student completed all of the work at the same level as the work actually completed.

Questions:

Which of the above choices would you make?

Are there any other alternatives?


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