Critically thinking about the Lee Clarion
Lee University might as well have New York Times writers in the education department.
An article review rubric used this semester for Intermediate Grade Methods (ELE 412) rates student writing on a scale using newspapers as definitions of quality.
The New York Times ranks highest on the scale (3), followed by the Tennessean, the Cleveland Daily Banner and finally, the Lee Clarion (0). Below each paper is a label reading “exemplary,” “proficient,” “progressing” and “not yet,” respectively.
The rubric charged the Lee Clarion with ignoring format, foregoing summaries and including inappropriate story topics among other mistakes.
“Critical thinking is not evident,” read one of the defining points, followed by “six or more mechanical errors were made.”
It’s likely true that neither the students enrolled in the Intermediate Grade Methods class nor the editors of the Lee Clarion have ever written a piece for the New York Times.
However, it is doubtful that the ELE 412 students have been published in a major metropolitan daily newspaper, while select Lee Clarion editors have been published in The Washington Times and the Cincinnati Enquirer.
It may be that the faculty members who created the rubric unknowingly criticized other students at the university that employs them.
By devaluing the articles printed in the Lee Clarion and at LeeClarion.com, the faculty behind the grading sheet essentially ridiculed a student publication at their school.
What teacher would rank majors, athletics or student clubs on such a grading scale, even describing the lowest possible option as a student group at a university they were called to teach at?
The Lee Clarion has made six or more mechanical errors in an issue, yes, but even major newspapers make more mistakes than that every day.
If the faculty who created the rubric remain convinced that article format and critical thinking are ignored by the Lee Clarion staff, we encourage them to engage in a dialogue with our editors as we continue to strive for excellence in every article, video and photo that the Lee Clarion publishes.
The same teachers may want to rethink the labels they use on such a rubric in the future, perhaps reformatting them to labels used in many similar classes, such as: exceptional, superb, good, etc.
The connections made to the Lee Clarion, perhaps only out of ignorance, serve to shatter the self-esteem and confidence of hard-working student writers striving for excellence.
