New versus old grade cards for Elementary School

[Anonymous]

Is it true that the teachers are more liberal to give O's in the old grade cards, but not that much when they are supposed to give ES in the new grade cards? It is extremely frustrating when an academically advanced kid gets no learning/challenge whatsoever from school, finishes the homeworks in less than 1 minute, but come home with all the P's. Any teacher who cares to comment?

[Anonymous]

The new report cards are standards-based. The old report cards are not. Outstanding does not equal exceeds standard. Exceeds standard means that your child not only met the standard for whichever measurement topic is being reported on, but (s)he showed an understanding above and beyond that standard. Children are graded based upon their current levels--so, if your child is being instructed at a third grade reading level in first grade, for example, the grades reported are based on those third grade expectations.

This is just an aside--it is very different from the way we were graded as kids, and it takes a while to get your mind around. A lot of parents think that because their child "gets" everything on homework (which is not supposed to be so challenging that it can't be completed independently). that means they are not being challenged in school.

[Anonymous]

There was just recently a post about this:

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/199927.page

[Anonymous]

There was just recently a post on this:

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/199927.page