Teacher purposely failed a student, what can I do?

[vadim2200]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Cleveland Ohio

HI.
Recently my wife who is enrolled in Cuyahoga Community Collage in Cleveland Ohio (in Nursing Program) finished her final exam in second semester. The next day final exam scores were posted, and after two hours her teacher went back to her old test (that they did 2 weeks before their final exam and they reviewed it) and removed 3 points, just enough for here to fail. He never sent any notification why he went back and removed these points from her. When she contacted other students she found out that he ONLY removed points from her. After she contacted him by sms he called back and Yelled at her and accused her of cheating and hung up the phone without answering why he did it. Then in our further email communications he stated that realized that he gave my wife double extra credit point and removed them.(On the test review 2 students proved that 2 question were graded improperly and he gave everyone in the class 2 extra points and sent out an email stating that after reviewing with other teacher they approved 2 extra points)
So my question is, Can a teacher go back to old tests after they have reviewed it and change grades?
We spoke with course manager and she told us if we want to do grade dispute we can do it, but there is no point since its going to take long time and my wife already reapplied to retake same class again. On the question if the teacher can go back and change grades she said that she doesn'tT know.
We then contacted collage Dean and she wrote back "Your examination grade was not changed to purposely cause you to fail NURS 1600. Your grade was changed to accuracy reflect the score that you earned on the examination" So the Dean also did not answered why teacher Only changed my wife's score. And she did not say anything regarding him blackmailing my wife with Honor Violation.
What can be done in this situation? Can I sue collage or the Dean or Teacher? or anything or get teachers license revoked. They all protecting this teacher and it seems there is nothing we can do, since Dean is on his side

 

[Zigner]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Cleveland Ohio

HI.
Recently my wife who is enrolled in Cuyahoga Community Collage in Cleveland Ohio (in Nursing Program) finished her final exam in second semester. The next day final exam scores were posted, and after two hours her teacher went back to her old test (that they did 2 weeks before their final exam and they reviewed it) and removed 3 points, just enough for here to fail. He never sent any notification why he went back and removed these points from her. When she contacted other students she found out that he ONLY removed points from her. After she contacted him by sms he called back and Yelled at her and accused her of cheating and hung up the phone without answering why he did it. Then in our further email communications he stated that realized that he gave my wife double extra credit point and removed them.(On the test review 2 students proved that 2 question were graded improperly and he gave everyone in the class 2 extra points and sent out an email stating that after reviewing with other teacher they approved 2 extra points)
So my question is, Can a teacher go back to old tests after they have reviewed it and change grades?
We spoke with course manager and she told us if we want to do grade dispute we can do it, but there is no point since its going to take long time and my wife already reapplied to retake same class again. On the question if the teacher can go back and change grades she said that she doesn'tT know.
We then contacted collage Dean and she wrote back "Your examination grade was not changed to purposely cause you to fail NURS 1600. Your grade was changed to accuracy reflect the score that you earned on the examination" So the Dean also did not answered why teacher Only changed my wife's score. And she did not say anything regarding him blackmailing my wife with Honor Violation.
What can be done in this situation? Can I sue collage or the Dean or Teacher? or anything or get teachers license revoked. They all protecting this teacher and it seems there is nothing we can do, since Dean is on his side

What part of "The grade was changed to accurately reflect the grade that was earned" is unclear?

 

[not2cleverRed]

No. This is not a legal problem. It is an academic problem.

(1) Your wife can appeal her grade. It can be worthwhile to do this, even if she is repeating the course. You want a black mark on the instructor's name? Well, successfully contesting a grade can do that - especially if the instructor does not have tenure. Hopefully you wife has been documenting everything.

(2) There is no teaching certification required for teaching at the college level.

(3) If 3 points is the difference between your wife passing and failing, then she is not a very strong student. Perhaps this is obvious to the faculty and staff as well. They do not want to pass students who cannot go on to passing the state exams.

 

[vadim2200]

After final exam grades were posted she had C 75.3% (passing) then 2 hours later he went back and removed 3 points from older test, and here grade dropped to 74.82% (still C but Failing) They need 75% to pass the class. Also the day they posted final exam score was the last day of semester.

 

[ecmst12]

When else could they post final grades besides at the end of the semester?

It sounds like the dean did review the situation and found that the grade was accurate. She can make an appointment to go over the information with the dean if she wants to. YOU can do nothing and should stay out of it.

 

[anearthw]

In regard to your question, yes, a college instructor can generally go back and change a grade to reflect accurate grading. As you were advised, she can dispute this (the long way) or re-take it, which is what she chose to do. An option was offered, but it seems your wife chose the reasonable route. Failing or passing by 1-3 points suggests a re-take would be a good idea anyways. No, you aren't going to get his license revoked (it's unclear what license you refer to, as nursing college instructors are usually not state-certified K-12, but industry professionals). Yes, you can sue the college or dean, although I have no idea what for - you aren't the student. Let your wife make her own decisions here. Seems like she chose the wiser route,

 

[vadim2200]

No. This is not a legal problem. It is an academic problem.

(1) Your wife can appeal her grade. It can be worthwhile to do this, even if she is repeating the course. You want a black mark on the instructor's name? Well, successfully contesting a grade can do that - especially if the instructor does not have tenure. Hopefully you wife has been documenting everything.

(2) There is no teaching certification required for teaching at the college level.

(3) If 3 points is the difference between your wife passing and failing, then she is not a very strong student. Perhaps this is obvious to the faculty and staff as well. They do not want to pass students who cannot go on to passing the state exams.

Since he is Master RN Nurse, can I file a complaint regarding his teaching practice to the Board of Nursing?
(2) My wife''s GPA is 3.78 this is the only hard class she had, everywhere else she did really good.
If the teacher would have removed these points from other students, then there would be at least 3 more who would fail out of 8 students.

 

[Proserpina]

Vadim, the answers won't change just because you ask on a different forum.

The bottom line is that you don't have a clue why the grade was changed and you've just told us yourself that your wife found this to be a more difficult class.

And please, don't start on the illegal discrimination thing here please.

Finally, reporting him for what? For making a CORRECTION?! Is that not just a wee bit vindictive of you, given the circumstances?

 

[Zigner]

Since he is Master RN Nurse, can I file a complaint regarding his teaching practice to the Board of Nursing?

For WHAT? There was nothing inappropriate done here. Furthermore, this is not YOUR matter to deal with. Your wife has chose to deal with this by retaking the course. Respect that decision.

(2) My wife''s GPA is 3.78 this is the only hard class she had, everywhere else she did really good.

That indicates that this is a difficult subject for her. She will better serve her future patients by retaking the course.

If the teacher would have removed these points from other students, then there would be at least 3 more who would fail out of 8 students.

Not your business.

 

[Proserpina]

. She will better serve her future patients by retaking the course.

.

That is an excellent point!

 

[Zigner]

After final exam grades were posted she had C 75.3% (passing) then 2 hours later he went back and removed 3 points from older test, and here grade dropped to 74.82% (still C but Failing) They need 75% to pass the class. Also the day they posted final exam score was the last day of semester.

Your numbers don't add up. Dropping 3 points from a test that is only a portion of the overall class grade won't change the overall grade by 1/2%.

 

[anearthw]

Since he is Master RN Nurse, can I file a complaint regarding his teaching practice to the Board of Nursing?
(2) My wife''s GPA is 3.78 this is the only hard class she had, everywhere else she did really good.
If the teacher would have removed these points from other students, then there would be at least 3 more who would fail out of 8 students.

A grade dispute does not fall under the Board of Nursing complaint process. That is for incompetent/unethical nursing practices, not subjective grade disputes.

Please don't put your wife's name "out there" in the nursing world as having a husband who will try and sue at anything. Just, don't. She's a good student and has worked hard. Let her re-take the class and move on.

 

[vadim2200]

Ok then I have one more question.

Why would a teacher blackmail her with plagiarism after asking him about her score change, and later in email he told her that he received several complaints from other students regarding her and another student cheating? When we talk to the Dean of the Collage she said that there are no indications of Honor Violation against her. Doesn't this seem a little strange for a teacher to do this?

 

[FlyingRon]

Ok then I have one more question.

Why would a teacher blackmail her with plagiarism after asking him about her score change, and later in email he told her that he received several complaints from other students regarding her and another student cheating? When we talk to the Dean of the Collage she said that there are no indications of Honor Violation against her. Doesn't this seem a little strange for a teacher to do this?

How on earth is this blackmail? Do you even understand what the word means or did you just decide to slander the professor to try and bolster your non-existent case?

 

[TheGeekess]

Ok then I have one more question.

Why would a teacher blackmail her with plagiarism after asking him about her score change, and later in email he told her that he received several complaints from other students regarding her and another student cheating? When we talk to the Dean of the Collage she said that there are no indications of Honor Violation against her. Doesn't this seem a little strange for a teacher to do this?

Sounds like to me that the professor did her a HUGE favor by not reporting the Honor Violations. That's a good way to be shown right out the door.