First grade report cards

[Anonymous]

We are foreigners and our older just finished first grade in DCPS. She has all threes and two fours. How do I interpret this? She's barely passing, about average or something else? It was her first time in a "real" school so it was a big adjustment for her, but she loved it and made friends. The teachers are all very nice but I have no way to discern how much she actually learned (except in math where I did look over some of her work sheets that came home).

[Anonymous]

It should say what the numbers mean. Look for a key.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It should say what the numbers mean. Look for a key.

It says a 3 is "grade level" but I'd like a sense of whether that means "meets bare minimum" or "is about average against expectations" or perhaps mostly threes is the best one can hope for? Different countries and systems have different ways of grading, eg in college in Canada you can easily have a, say, 80% average while in the UK system that is very rare and you'd really be knocking it out of the park with that average.

[Anonymous]

The 1-4 system is a mastery-based grading system, not curve based. So in theory everyone might start the year at a 1, move up to 2, then 3, as they all gain skills. (In my experience some specials teachers do this pretty nakedly.) A kid with all 4s at the beginning of the year would be way ahead of the class. All 1s and 2s by the end of the year, they’re not learning everything they need to. 3s and a few 4s means your kid is on track or better. It’s an inexact system not meant to convey how your kid is doing relative to others. For that you have to wait for 6th grade, when DCPS switches over to the more familiar A-F letter grades, or look to the regular standardized assessments your kid will start taking over the next few years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The 1-4 system is a mastery-based grading system, not curve based. So in theory everyone might start the year at a 1, move up to 2, then 3, as they all gain skills. (In my experience some specials teachers do this pretty nakedly.) A kid with all 4s at the beginning of the year would be way ahead of the class. All 1s and 2s by the end of the year, they’re not learning everything they need to. 3s and a few 4s means your kid is on track or better. It’s an inexact system not meant to convey how your kid is doing relative to others. For that you have to wait for 6th grade, when DCPS switches over to the more familiar A-F letter grades, or look to the regular standardized assessments your kid will start taking over the next few years.

Thank you so much!

[Anonymous]

The 1-4 system is very in exact. My 2nd grader rarely misses anything in math gets 3s because he shows mastery of the material but there is nothing that distinguishes him as advanced. My 4th grader who likes to doodle more advanced math problems in his spare time gets 4s. Both kids are bright and generally get 3s with a sprinkling of 4s. And a lot depends on the teacher and how they interpret the system. Your kid sounds like she’s doing well from the grades and what you wrote.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The 1-4 system is a mastery-based grading system, not curve based. So in theory everyone might start the year at a 1, move up to 2, then 3, as they all gain skills. (In my experience some specials teachers do this pretty nakedly.) A kid with all 4s at the beginning of the year would be way ahead of the class. All 1s and 2s by the end of the year, they’re not learning everything they need to. 3s and a few 4s means your kid is on track or better. It’s an inexact system not meant to convey how your kid is doing relative to others. For that you have to wait for 6th grade, when DCPS switches over to the more familiar A-F letter grades, or look to the regular standardized assessments your kid will start taking over the next few years.

I work in a DCPS and this is not how we use the 1-4 system at my school. First of all, we never give 1's. 2's are pretty rare and mean your child is well below grade level. 3 is grade level, 4 is above. In the beginning of the year everyone is basically a 3 unless they come in well below. For example, we hope a child comes in reading at a D, but sometimes we get A and pre A (doesn't know all letters and sounds) and that would be a 2. By the end of the year we hope a kid gets to J, so that is a 3. 2 levels below that gets you a 2.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 1-4 system is a mastery-based grading system, not curve based. So in theory everyone might start the year at a 1, move up to 2, then 3, as they all gain skills. (In my experience some specials teachers do this pretty nakedly.) A kid with all 4s at the beginning of the year would be way ahead of the class. All 1s and 2s by the end of the year, they’re not learning everything they need to. 3s and a few 4s means your kid is on track or better. It’s an inexact system not meant to convey how your kid is doing relative to others. For that you have to wait for 6th grade, when DCPS switches over to the more familiar A-F letter grades, or look to the regular standardized assessments your kid will start taking over the next few years.

I work in a DCPS and this is not how we use the 1-4 system at my school. First of all, we never give 1's. 2's are pretty rare and mean your child is well below grade level. 3 is grade level, 4 is above. In the beginning of the year everyone is basically a 3 unless they come in well below. For example, we hope a child comes in reading at a D, but sometimes we get A and pre A (doesn't know all letters and sounds) and that would be a 2. By the end of the year we hope a kid gets to J, so that is a 3. 2 levels below that gets you a 2.

What grade?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 1-4 system is a mastery-based grading system, not curve based. So in theory everyone might start the year at a 1, move up to 2, then 3, as they all gain skills. (In my experience some specials teachers do this pretty nakedly.) A kid with all 4s at the beginning of the year would be way ahead of the class. All 1s and 2s by the end of the year, they’re not learning everything they need to. 3s and a few 4s means your kid is on track or better. It’s an inexact system not meant to convey how your kid is doing relative to others. For that you have to wait for 6th grade, when DCPS switches over to the more familiar A-F letter grades, or look to the regular standardized assessments your kid will start taking over the next few years.

I work in a DCPS and this is not how we use the 1-4 system at my school. First of all, we never give 1's. 2's are pretty rare and mean your child is well below grade level. 3 is grade level, 4 is above. In the beginning of the year everyone is basically a 3 unless they come in well below. For example, we hope a child comes in reading at a D, but sometimes we get A and pre A (doesn't know all letters and sounds) and that would be a 2. By the end of the year we hope a kid gets to J, so that is a 3. 2 levels below that gets you a 2.

What grade?

First

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 1-4 system is a mastery-based grading system, not curve based. So in theory everyone might start the year at a 1, move up to 2, then 3, as they all gain skills. (In my experience some specials teachers do this pretty nakedly.) A kid with all 4s at the beginning of the year would be way ahead of the class. All 1s and 2s by the end of the year, they’re not learning everything they need to. 3s and a few 4s means your kid is on track or better. It’s an inexact system not meant to convey how your kid is doing relative to others. For that you have to wait for 6th grade, when DCPS switches over to the more familiar A-F letter grades, or look to the regular standardized assessments your kid will start taking over the next few years.

I work in a DCPS and this is not how we use the 1-4 system at my school. First of all, we never give 1's. 2's are pretty rare and mean your child is well below grade level. 3 is grade level, 4 is above. In the beginning of the year everyone is basically a 3 unless they come in well below. For example, we hope a child comes in reading at a D, but sometimes we get A and pre A (doesn't know all letters and sounds) and that would be a 2. By the end of the year we hope a kid gets to J, so that is a 3. 2 levels below that gets you a 2.

What grade?

First

I've been pushing my two year old too hard lol

[Anonymous]

I've had 3 kids go through DCPS elementary and the 1-4 scale means different things to different teachers. Some start all kids at 2s, some start all kids at 3s. Some move most kids to 4s by the end of the year, some move 1 kid out of 20 to a 4. It varies a lot by teacher (even teachers within a grade).

I would focus on the comments and any end-of-year 2s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 1-4 system is a mastery-based grading system, not curve based. So in theory everyone might start the year at a 1, move up to 2, then 3, as they all gain skills. (In my experience some specials teachers do this pretty nakedly.) A kid with all 4s at the beginning of the year would be way ahead of the class. All 1s and 2s by the end of the year, they’re not learning everything they need to. 3s and a few 4s means your kid is on track or better. It’s an inexact system not meant to convey how your kid is doing relative to others. For that you have to wait for 6th grade, when DCPS switches over to the more familiar A-F letter grades, or look to the regular standardized assessments your kid will start taking over the next few years.

I work in a DCPS and this is not how we use the 1-4 system at my school. First of all, we never give 1's. 2's are pretty rare and mean your child is well below grade level. 3 is grade level, 4 is above. In the beginning of the year everyone is basically a 3 unless they come in well below. For example, we hope a child comes in reading at a D, but sometimes we get A and pre A (doesn't know all letters and sounds) and that would be a 2. By the end of the year we hope a kid gets to J, so that is a 3. 2 levels below that gets you a 2.

Yep this is the problem - my school however does do it like the pp said (not you) and the teacher explained it to me. My kid started out with a lot of 2s and now has all 3s and 4s - quite a lot of 4s actually. But DCUM said my kid was doing horrible and 2s were so bad (even at the beginning of the year). You really should ask the teacher these specific questions to get their own interpretation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 1-4 system is a mastery-based grading system, not curve based. So in theory everyone might start the year at a 1, move up to 2, then 3, as they all gain skills. (In my experience some specials teachers do this pretty nakedly.) A kid with all 4s at the beginning of the year would be way ahead of the class. All 1s and 2s by the end of the year, they’re not learning everything they need to. 3s and a few 4s means your kid is on track or better. It’s an inexact system not meant to convey how your kid is doing relative to others. For that you have to wait for 6th grade, when DCPS switches over to the more familiar A-F letter grades, or look to the regular standardized assessments your kid will start taking over the next few years.

I work in a DCPS and this is not how we use the 1-4 system at my school. First of all, we never give 1's. 2's are pretty rare and mean your child is well below grade level. 3 is grade level, 4 is above. In the beginning of the year everyone is basically a 3 unless they come in well below. For example, we hope a child comes in reading at a D, but sometimes we get A and pre A (doesn't know all letters and sounds) and that would be a 2. By the end of the year we hope a kid gets to J, so that is a 3. 2 levels below that gets you a 2.

I teach 1st grade in DCPS and frequently give 1's. 2's are most common though. 3's are rare.

Just goes to show how inconsistent things are in the district.

[Anonymous]

It’s very hard to interpret as a parent. But it’s elementary school so I don’t worry about it unless it’s a 1 or 2.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 1-4 system is a mastery-based grading system, not curve based. So in theory everyone might start the year at a 1, move up to 2, then 3, as they all gain skills. (In my experience some specials teachers do this pretty nakedly.) A kid with all 4s at the beginning of the year would be way ahead of the class. All 1s and 2s by the end of the year, they’re not learning everything they need to. 3s and a few 4s means your kid is on track or better. It’s an inexact system not meant to convey how your kid is doing relative to others. For that you have to wait for 6th grade, when DCPS switches over to the more familiar A-F letter grades, or look to the regular standardized assessments your kid will start taking over the next few years.

I work in a DCPS and this is not how we use the 1-4 system at my school. First of all, we never give 1's. 2's are pretty rare and mean your child is well below grade level. 3 is grade level, 4 is above. In the beginning of the year everyone is basically a 3 unless they come in well below. For example, we hope a child comes in reading at a D, but sometimes we get A and pre A (doesn't know all letters and sounds) and that would be a 2. By the end of the year we hope a kid gets to J, so that is a 3. 2 levels below that gets you a 2.

I teach 1st grade in DCPS and frequently give 1's. 2's are most common though. 3's are rare.

Just goes to show how inconsistent things are in the district.

Do you teach at a school where most kids are very behind? My DD is in 1st grade and has never gotten anything below a 3. Mostly 4s to start the years and all 4s to end it. She’s ahead of grade level, but not exceptionally so. I sort of assumed 2s were reserved for kids who were way behind? My impression was that they’re rare for UMC kids.