Elem grades are useless

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hope you're self-aware enough to separate your general issues with grades and your disgust that your child has a terrible assessment in reading. That is extremely concerning, OP, particularly as the school is already doing its best.

Please tell me you're working with your child every day, and have paid for a private evaluation of your child. Is he dyslexic? There are many specific resources and reading methods for dyslexic children.

Yes. Done of all of this. MCPS is NOT using any methods proven to help children with dyslexia or dysgraphia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 7-year-old, who has 99% on their MAP-P and is proficient in both multiplication and division, got a B in math Apparently the B in math is because they already know how to borrow and to carry but refuse to carry the one on the bottom since they learned the normal way.

If you had a brain of your own, you’d realize just because your kid has a good MAP score, it doesn’t mean they understand the current lessons/module they are being taught currently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looking at my second grader’s report card and it’s disgusting. They teach science and social studies in alternating months but somehow have enough data to give each separate grades on a report card? And what the heck does “foundational skills” mean in the reading category? Kid got a D last quarter and again this quarter despite daily pull out with the reading specialist. At least our school doesn’t show the kids these awful repeat cards.

Ok, if your kid is getting extra support and still getting D's that's not normal.

You need to have conversations with the administration and teacher. Were there next steps they asked you to do on your besides the additional reading specialist support they're giving your child?

Some students have all of the supports in the world but they still can't meet grade level benchmarks.

AND THAT'S CONCERNING. Yet OP is displacing her frustration on grading in elementary school, instead of dealing with the problem.

I am dealing with problem. My child has made huge gains in reading yet the “foundational skills” category is graded at a D again. Doesn’t make sense given the teacher’s explanation of what the subcategory refers to.

[Anonymous]

OP,

If you want help on DCUM, you have to articulate your question clearly, and give all the relevant facts.

So: is this "progress" thanks to tutoring specific to dyslexia and at-home training with you?
Because MCPS does a terrible job with dyslexia, please don't count on them for anything at all.

What is the progress you've seen, and is it enough to move the needle in this assessment? For this answer, you need input from the teacher. Request an appointment so the teacher gives you her undivided attention, and say her first explanation was unclear. Your insistence will make the teacher realize you're not going to let up and she'd better pay attention to your kid. Sometimes quiet kids fall through the cracks. Maybe this assessment hits your child's weaknesses and he still has lots of work to do, maybe he just had a bad day, or maybe it's a little of both.

People were rude - I was one of them. But you brought this on yourself by not being clear in your original post. I've made this mistake too, and been treated exactly the same way. This is how you learn to express yourself concisely and factually.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, they are. I don't know why second-graders get letter grades at all.

Parent of a HSer. The county has been back and forth on giving grades in elementary. When my daughter started K, they had just returned to letter grades because parents complained about being blind sided once grades started in middle school. I don't think grades in the little grades have much value but I do understand the point of trying to understand how kids are learning before 6th grade.

OP - just email the teacher and ask.

[Anonymous]

I really would not worry about the grades before 6th grade. Sometimes it’s fitting a square peg into a round hole but people wanted grades so here we are. They are intended to give a parent a general idea of issues — but if you are a parent like OP that already has a good idea of what the issues are, they aren’t going to add anything. OP, from your tone, you sound offended about the grade. You need to let that go. You’ve got 10 more years of dealing with schooling for your dyslexic kid — it’s a long road and you need to leave any ego at the door now so you can focus on what’s important. What’s important is whether your kid is making progress, not a letter on a piece of paper that no one will ever see. In fact, bad grades are affirmatively helpful in the IeP proffers. MCPS regularly uses good grades as justification for denying services. The teacher may be trying to help you by not inflating the grade here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looking at my second grader’s report card and it’s disgusting. They teach science and social studies in alternating months but somehow have enough data to give each separate grades on a report card? And what the heck does “foundational skills” mean in the reading category? Kid got a D last quarter and again this quarter despite daily pull out with the reading specialist. At least our school doesn’t show the kids these awful repeat cards.

Ok, if your kid is getting extra support and still getting D's that's not normal.

You need to have conversations with the administration and teacher. Were there next steps they asked you to do on your besides the additional reading specialist support they're giving your child?

Some students have all of the supports in the world but they still can't meet grade level benchmarks.

AND THAT'S CONCERNING. Yet OP is displacing her frustration on grading in elementary school, instead of dealing with the problem.

I am dealing with problem. My child has made huge gains in reading yet the “foundational skills” category is graded at a D again. Doesn’t make sense given the teacher’s explanation of what the subcategory refers to.

Goodness, of course you can still get a D when receiving support. What did the teacher say when you asked?

And then people wonder why there’s grade inflation…

[Anonymous]

I don't think it's as arbitrary as grades don't matter in elementary school. I don't think that's true at all. Does their importance scale up as they move in grade and particularly from elementary to middle to high school? Yes.

I didn't find O, S and N method helpful. So I don't mind the A, B, C, grades again. And I'm honestly not sweating it if my kid gets a B rather than an A in elementary. I'll ask questions about the C. But I definitely would be concerned with a D or an E.

OP, they owe you a better explanation for the D than what you've been given. They need to explain in detail what the D signifies and what criteria your child would have to meet to improve that grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 7-year-old, who has 99% on their MAP-P and is proficient in both multiplication and division, got a B in math Apparently the B in math is because they already know how to borrow and to carry but refuse to carry the one on the bottom since they learned the normal way.

If you had a brain of your own, you’d realize just because your kid has a good MAP score, it doesn’t mean they understand the current lessons/module they are being taught currently.

An adv... The kid understands the material perfectly. The teacher is just a bit wacko and demands they carry ones underneath instead of the way everyone else does it and marks them wrong even when they get the right answer at least that's what she says but she won't share graded work. I even went and bought the eureka books in order to understand what was going on and found it didn't include the strange algorithm. She keeps the books at school and won't let them leave the classroom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 7-year-old, who has 99% on their MAP-P and is proficient in both multiplication and division, got a B in math Apparently the B in math is because they already know how to borrow and to carry but refuse to carry the one on the bottom since they learned the normal way.

If you had a brain of your own, you’d realize just because your kid has a good MAP score, it doesn’t mean they understand the current lessons/module they are being taught currently.

An adv... The kid understands the material perfectly. The teacher is just a bit wacko and demands they carry ones underneath instead of the way everyone else does it and marks them wrong even when they get the right answer at least that's what she says but she won't share graded work. I even went and bought the eureka books in order to understand what was going on and found it didn't include the strange algorithm. She keeps the books at school and won't let them leave the classroom.

Sounds like an awful teacher. It happens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 7-year-old, who has 99% on their MAP-P and is proficient in both multiplication and division, got a B in math Apparently the B in math is because they already know how to borrow and to carry but refuse to carry the one on the bottom since they learned the normal way.

If you had a brain of your own, you’d realize just because your kid has a good MAP score, it doesn’t mean they understand the current lessons/module they are being taught currently.

An adv... The kid understands the material perfectly. The teacher is just a bit wacko and demands they carry ones underneath instead of the way everyone else does it and marks them wrong even when they get the right answer at least that's what she says but she won't share graded work. I even went and bought the eureka books in order to understand what was going on and found it didn't include the strange algorithm. She keeps the books at school and won't let them leave the classroom.

Sounds like an awful teacher. It happens.

Refusing to share graded work is a red flag.

[Anonymous]

It’s babysitting, learning to stand in lines and sit without talking (mostly).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s babysitting, learning to stand in lines and sit without talking (mostly).

Grades are also very subjective in early ES. They never show any objective criteria. I wouldn't give it much thought and focus on standardized tests which are at least reasonably objective.

[Anonymous]

I am so sorry OP. Posters are so rude here. I am the parent who has a kid in ces. I misunderstood your problem. I thought it was once in a while blip in grades. I didn’t understand that the your child was already getting help. I tried to make you feel better by sharing that my own kids get lower grades on random assessments but not overall on the report cards. Then posters here flamed me and suggested that I pull my kid out of ces. Some people have less than perfect kids who sometimes get less than perfect grades which is completely normal but you won’t find them on dcum. Posters here are ready to criticize parenting and diagnose your child with disabilities. I doubt you will find any useful advice here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are. If your child is struggling get a reading evaluation privately if you can and get tutoring and supplement with the free tutoring.

We have done all of this already. Kid has dyslexia and dysgraphia. Poorly written IEP that doesn’t seem like it’s getting followed. All grades went up this quarter except science. Reading overall is a C but the “foundational skills” sub category shows a D. When I asked about the MP1 D in this area the teacher said it’s just a letter grade that reflects their MAP-R grade. If this is the case, why stamp another D down in foundational reading skills in MP2 when there wasn’t another MAP R test? No new testing showing up in documents.

While I am sacrificing everything I can for my kid with private specialists, tutoring and advocating MCPS co rubies to drop the ball. The reading specialist uses the same awful Benchmark BS in her pull out reading groups. My kid isn’t EML so she gets left behind a lot.

It sounds like you’ve got your answer. The D in Foundational Skills represents your child’s most recent MAP R score. It can’t change until the MAP R is taken again. Has your child taken the Winter MAP R? Even if your child has made huge gains, students are expected to make huge gains at the age, so your child could still be behind the average by the same amount as they were in the fall. A conversation with the teacher will tell you way more than the grades will. Stop focusing on the report card and ask the teacher and reading specialist to update you on dc’s progress.