The teacher gave a fake grade report

[Anonymous]

Recently I had a parent conference with my kid's reading teacher. The teacher gave me a grade report with letter "s" all over the place, which she claimed stands for "satisfactory". Today I received the official report and it is really different from the one I got earlier, with the "s" replaced by numericals, in particular, there are "2" for many of the subjects (I learned "2" means "begin to understand"). So the first report I got on the conference is a fake.

Also last year my child did very well in reading and I am surprised by the slide in the grades.

Most troubling to me is that the teacher is not forth-coming in our conference. I am thinking of complaining to the school management. Any idea about how I shall proceed?

[Anonymous]

When my DS was in 1st grade the teacher told the kids that S meant Super! It was several years before he clued in that it only satisfactory. At the time, I thought it was dishonest and I resented her for it. Now, i realize that it really didn't matter in the long run so why even go down that road with young kid.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks for the input. But the teacher's action just did not sound right to me, didn't it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

OP here. Thanks for the input. But the teacher's action just did not sound right to me, didn't it?

You're right. It sounds like she did a bait and switch maneuver.

[Anonymous]

No, it doesn't sound right. But think back to what your "grades" were in elementary school. Can't remember? Neither can I.

And I'm a successful attorney who graduated magna cum laude from a top school.

My point is only that it doesn't matter and probably not worth the fight. If we were talking high school, then I'd be all over it, but elementary school? No.

[Anonymous]

Before jumping to conclusions, think about the possibilities. Is this teacher new or new to the grade? If so, perhaps she didn't understand or know what type of grade to give. I made a mistake my first year teaching and got P and E mixed up (progressing and emerging) on my first few report cards. The principal and other admin review them and caught the error before I had any conferences. Also, admin in many schools usually expects that most students aren't going to start off the first quarter with the highest marks unless the student actually demonstrates it all the time. If a kid has already mastered everything in the first quarter, they really need to be placed elsewhere like GT, etc. Assume this was an error and talk to the teacher about it in a non-confrontational way and go from there.

[Anonymous]

Which grade?

[Anonymous]

Maybe you child's performance changed since your meeting, as the material got more difficult. Just ask the teacher.

[Anonymous]

I don't know why there was a discrepancy in the reports of how well your child is understanding the material (S vs. 2), but the reason why there was a difference between the letters and numbers is because MCPS is transitioning from the letter-based grading (O, S, U) to numbers (1, 2, 3, 4), and at our Back-to-School NIght they said that grades might be done either way or both ways as they transition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, it doesn't sound right. But think back to what your "grades" were in elementary school. Can't remember? Neither can I.

And I'm a successful attorney who graduated magna cum laude from a top school.

My point is only that it doesn't matter and probably not worth the fight. If we were talking high school, then I'd be all over it, but elementary school? No.

can't see the point, ms. successful attorney.

[Anonymous]

OP here and thank everyone for your input.

My child is in 2nd grade and the conference happaned this week. The grade reports have been always in numericals (1-4). The report she gave us and the one I received yesterday are supposed to be identical. For these reasons I don't think it is an error.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here and thank everyone for your input.

My child is in 2nd grade and the conference happaned this week. The grade reports have been always in numericals (1-4). The report she gave us and the one I received yesterday are supposed to be identical. For these reasons I don't think it is an error.

Before trashing the teacher, I would suggest giving her a call so you have the opportunity to ask her these questions yourself. Tell her you're a little confused by what you heard during the conference and what came home on the report card, and you want to make sure you have an accurate understanding of how your child is progressing. Give her the opportunity to explain the discrepancy and go from there.

[Anonymous]

Are you in Montgomery County? Looks like there are two grading systems in place:

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/info/grading/reportcards.shtm

The traditional report cards for 2nd grade use the letters, while the newer standards-based report cards (used at 25 schools) use the numbers.

[Anonymous]

Also many teachers tend to give 2s at the beginning of the year, as grade-level tasks are just being introduced, and thus leaving room for growth the rest of the year. Of course, if the child is exceptional in some areas I would expect to see a 3 or 4 anyway, first advisory or not (but those cases are rare, despite what every parent wants to think about his/her child!)