Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Teacher who doesn't read student essays

Another part of the picture is that many kids and parents don't really value high quality writing. I regularly assign rough drafts and then the students have to submit a final draft in which they respond to all of the feedback they have received. Many do not make much effort. It's hard for teachers to be enthusiastic about spending large amounts of time on feedback that isn't read or taken seriously.

That doesn't mean students shouldn't GET good feedback. The best teachers make the effort and push students to read and consider it in some way (e.g., by requiring revisions). Students can learn to value it more. However, I can understand why some teachers get discouraged.

One thing that may help is to show the teacher that your child really cares about the feedback and will learn from it. I try to provide good feedback to all of my students, but always provide much more to those students I know will take it seriously.