ICU: The Great Debate Over Missing Assignments
Second semester at Platteview High School is different this year. The school board introduced a new system to prevent missing assignments. According to poweroficu.com, ICU is “The Power of ICU is a proven formula for student success, (that ensures). Every student completes every assignment is an attainable and measurable goal.” There is profound controversy among teachers, and students over ICU. Mrs. Ortis (a science teacher at Platteview) said “I like it, It makes my assignments come in, and I don’t have to track down students. Students grades seem to be higher, and I don’t have to worry about students not doing well in a class because they’re not turning in assignments.” Laura Sherman (a senior at Platteview) said “I don’t think it’s beneficial. I think it causing students to rely on teachers and parents, and that safety net is not ever lasting.”
Poweroficu.com states that “Completion + Quality + Assignments + Healthy Grading = Student Success.” This formula seems pretty simple on the website; however, there are so many components to how this process works. The online database sends messages or emails to parents and their student if a teachers submits that they have a missing assignment. The misconceptions about this process is that after students miss an assignment, they have three days to submit the assignment. This does not just include school days. That means students still have to submit missing work during weekends and snow days. ICU works on a rule of three: students have three days to submit late work and three missing assignments before action is taken by detentions or parent meetings. The website encourages “quality assignments;” that is, teachers should prioritize what they assign and when it’s due, but it also calls on students to complete assignments on time.
Students were very quick to judge this system, but this system is already benefiting out student body greatly. Some success stories shared on poweroficu.com claim that ICU is decreasing missing assignments by eighty three percent. These stories talk about “engaging students to work hard” and students proclaiming “I’m off the list!” when they turn in missing assignments. Administrators on poweroficu.com said, “The ICU team has been a tremendous resource and support as we continue to build a learning culture for our students.” Something to keep in mind, though, is that parents have the option to change who receives these notifications with a limit of two email addresses and one phone number for contact. The ICU system thus encourages parents to influence students to work harder at turning in assignments on time and to notify teachers when they have submitted late work.
We would like to hear your thoughts on ICU. Post your comments below.
Saprina Butler • Sep 30, 2018 at 4:07 pm
I think the text message sent out is poorly structured. I got the message and glanced at the phone and for a few seconds my heart sank. You see your childs name and the only all caps standing out for you is ICU. The number it comes from does not identify as school affiliated. Several other parents had the same momentary scare. The text needs restructured! What if you cause an anxiety related heart attack for someone who already has a pre existing condition. What if someone has a wreck? The program is great, the text is a liability! Yiu would think they would be better than scare tactics to grab a parents attention.
Katie Santee • Feb 12, 2018 at 11:39 am
Is it beneficial for high school grades? Definitely. However, in real life that safety net of parents and teachers forcing you to get things done will not always be there. In the real world you’re on your own, no one cares what you do or how you do it as long as it gets done. Yes there are deadlines to meet, but if they’re not met the student or person will face those consequences themselves and life will deliver those consequences. If students don’t want to do homework and don’t care if their grades are bad then let them make their own decisions on their own grades- good or bad. People need to get used to being responsible for their own actions.
Jacob Beier • Feb 11, 2018 at 8:52 pm
Well, I’m not sure of the ICU yet. There are quite a few good things about it. I feel well pressured to turn my assignments in, and it’s certainly going to bring up grades. However. I think the execution is the problem.
See, students don’t get any notification unless they call in and specifically switch emails to the student’s email. This is a problem for students who have parents who don’t necessarily care about their child’s grade. I think that in the beginning of the year, each student should write down their contact for the school. This way the school can actually contact the students about their assignments, so that they can get their stuff done. A sense of independence would also come through this. That way, students wouldn’t always have to rely on their parents for everything.
Jacob Muff • Feb 8, 2018 at 9:30 pm
I’ve heard multiple pros and cons about the program from both students and teachers. Personally, I think that the name is kind of confusing; a teacher saying “I’m gonna put you in the ICU,” sounds like a threat if you don’t know what they’re talking about. Do I think the program is beneficial? I don’t know yet, but I think it will be interesting to see if it produces results.
Christian Jewell • Feb 8, 2018 at 7:09 pm
Honestly, texting our parents THE SECOND we are on the ICU list is ridiculous. I can understand if your assignment is due within 1 day or you get a detention but it seems unnecessary my parents are notified the second I’m on the list. I’m giving 0 opportunity to turn it in the second I see I’m on the list. So if I have an assignment done but forget to turn it in, get added to the ICU list, my parents are on my like crazy. I can turn it in right then and there if it’s done, it’ll just be late. But my parents are notified even if it’s a few minutes late from being added to ICU. I like ICU but I think the notification to my parents the second I’m added is a bit too quick and undeserving for the students. I feel the notification to our parents should be pushed back a bit rather than a straight away notification before given our 3 day’s to make it up