Does almost everyone at your K-8 get A's ?Are ERB's the only way to differentiate between kids?

[Anonymous]

DS is at a K-8 and has been consistently getting A's. Report card grades vary between 93-98. He's a good student, but I would not say he's super advanced academically from what I see when I help him with his homework. He's also not on the advanced Math track.

His ERB scores though are usually within the 50th-75th percentile when compared to other kids in private schools.
I have asked the school multiple times about the discrepancy but I was never given a straight answer. Other parents at our school have also shared similar experiences.
Are grades that inflated in all private schools now? Do they even matter? I do worry about outplacement when the time comes to move schools in 9th.

[Anonymous]

Our school is so cagey about ERBs. When they’re good, they share them with us while making a quiet fuss about how they don’t focus on scores. When they’re bad, they mysteriously never get shared unless you proactively request them. And somehow school has indoctrinated us and made both grades and ERBs a taboo subject among parents, so we’re all in our silos wondering what’s really going on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our school is so cagey about ERBs. When they’re good, they share them with us while making a quiet fuss about how they don’t focus on scores. When they’re bad, they mysteriously never get shared unless you proactively request them. And somehow school has indoctrinated us and made both grades and ERBs a taboo subject among parents, so we’re all in our silos wondering what’s really going on.

I am wondering if we are at the same school!
I have also asked the school multiple times where approximately is my child situated in comparison to his peers when it comes to grades and never got a decent answer. I am of course not expecting a class rank but just for them to tell me if he's average, above average, exceeds expectations, ... and was never able to get a straight answer.

[Anonymous]

We all must have ERBs on the brain because I started the thread below asking about them. I also all wonder if we are all the same school or if all schools are cagey about scores.

My kid is on the higher end of the ERB range (80-90%) but we are never told that our kid is particularly smart or advanced. I wish we could have a better sense of the distribution at our school so that I had a better sense of where we stood. I worry that we are going to be in for a bad surprise when it comes to the SSAT and HS placement.

If you went to a K-8th, when did your school start projecting to you the level of difficulty that would be appropriate for your kid?

[Anonymous]

Our school doesn't do ERBs and not every kids gets As.

[Anonymous]

Truly at this age you should not be trying compare kids like this. Focus on the growth of the student in front of you. I know we do it anyway, and I realize that for those seeking admission to competitive private high schools it may be an issue, but truly, these kids are still developing, still at their own paces and going though puberty. Who they are today may have little resemblance to who they become, especially relative to each other.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Truly at this age you should not be trying compare kids like this. Focus on the growth of the student in front of you. I know we do it anyway, and I realize that for those seeking admission to competitive private high schools it may be an issue, but truly, these kids are still developing, still at their own paces and going though puberty. Who they are today may have little resemblance to who they become, especially relative to each other.

Why I appreciate the general sentiment here, I am one of the previous posters whose kid is finishing up 6th grade. We are talking about visiting some schools in the fall of 7th and don’t know yet what would be good targets.

[Anonymous]

Grade inflation has absolutely hit private schools.

However, my kids' school has announcements at the end of year for the A and the separate A/B honor rolls, and, with the exception of one class run by a very laid back teacher in grade school, there are very few all As and a substantial number of kids also did not make it to A/B.

I'd love to see how my kids placed in terms of their ERB scores, relatively speaking, but the numbers are under lock and key. Never heard of a school willing to share them, except in exceedingly vague terms.

[Anonymous]

If you have concerns about your child’s ability the standardized testing will be a truer reflection of their skills than the school-based grades. Anyone can have a bad day, but odds are the info in the results is good data. Teachers in K-8 in my experience grade on effort and a wide spectrum of abilities can have an A.

[Anonymous]

Less than 15% of students in my daughters class have all As. Another 20-25% of the students have all As & Bs. 50 ish % don’t make honor roll at all. To me this seems like a typical curve in education. No extra credit or test remakes in middle school at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS is at a K-8 and has been consistently getting A's. Report card grades vary between 93-98. He's a good student, but I would not say he's super advanced academically from what I see when I help him with his homework. He's also not on the advanced Math track.

His ERB scores though are usually within the 50th-75th percentile when compared to other kids in private schools.
I have asked the school multiple times about the discrepancy but I was never given a straight answer. Other parents at our school have also shared similar experiences.
Are grades that inflated in all private schools now? Do they even matter? I do worry about outplacement when the time comes to move schools in 9th.

OP these are very good questions and observations.

My kids came through private schools and are at the upper end of high school now. Same experience in lower school years with grades and ERBs

What I found about the ERBs is, no matter how your current school tries to spin it, the one number that is important is your child’s rating among other private school kids in this area. That is his true peer group when looking at next schools and predicting how he will fare academically in middle and high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Less than 15% of students in my daughters class have all As. Another 20-25% of the students have all As & Bs. 50 ish % don’t make honor roll at all. To me this seems like a typical curve in education. No extra credit or test remakes in middle school at all.

There is no way that you know this unless you are a school administrator.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS is at a K-8 and has been consistently getting A's. Report card grades vary between 93-98. He's a good student, but I would not say he's super advanced academically from what I see when I help him with his homework. He's also not on the advanced Math track.

His ERB scores though are usually within the 50th-75th percentile when compared to other kids in private schools.
I have asked the school multiple times about the discrepancy but I was never given a straight answer. Other parents at our school have also shared similar experiences.
Are grades that inflated in all private schools now? Do they even matter? I do worry about outplacement when the time comes to move schools in 9th.

Here is a candid opinion. Yes, it does tell you that your child is not on the grade level. some private schools are watering down their curriculum and are just doing the very basic grade level work. ERBs at grade 4,5,7 6 and still ranging between 50-70% is telling your that your child is under performing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Grade inflation has absolutely hit private schools.

However, my kids' school has announcements at the end of year for the A and the separate A/B honor rolls, and, with the exception of one class run by a very laid back teacher in grade school, there are very few all As and a substantial number of kids also did not make it to A/B.

I'd love to see how my kids placed in terms of their ERB scores, relatively speaking, but the numbers are under lock and key. Never heard of a school willing to share them, except in exceedingly vague terms.

That information is printed on the score reports at my kids’ school.

[Anonymous]

Take ISEE/SSAT. That will tell you what schools to look at for HS.