Elementary report card useless?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FYI the platform caps any comment at 300 characters and there is a criteria of what must be in each comment.

And all the small comments are standardized. I need to have a strength and focus for each subject but the choices aren’t great and they are almost all worded positively (at least for my content). So for a kid who gets a 1 and is super far behind, I can only include positives. Or 300 characters. 🤷‍♀️

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's super annoying to receive these report cards as a parent. Like, I my bar was already pretty low for DCPS, but when I get these report cards I just feel kind of depressed that the place I send my kid to school every day doesn't even really know who he is. For example, he got all 4s in ELA, which I know he's okay at but not amazing. Then he got a 3 in music, when he's amazing at music - has been in piano since he was 3 years old, and just has always been very musically gifted. Also, iReady scores didn't seem to show much correlation with report card.

Yes, it's this exactly. I'd rather receive nothing at all.

We had a good PT conference where the teacher clearly "got" my kid and his strengths/weaknesses/interests. Without that, this very generic, maybe inaccurate report card would have been kind of alarming.

Yeah, same exact feeling about the DCPS report card. Always depressing, even though our PT conferences are great and it's clear that the teacher really does know my kid as an individual and has a very nuanced understanding of how well they are doing in every single subject and sub-category. Somehow it doesn't come through at all via the report card.

my one solace is that our older son is now in middle school (at a charter, but still) and the assessements are SO MUCH more detailed. So, I know better information is coming, i just need to wait a few years.

If you have good PT conference experiences and the teacher demonstrates real understanding and interest in your kid, I don't understand why the report card is "disappointing." Because there's not a narrative description by the teacher describing their impressions? If you get this at the conference who cares if it's in the report card?

I think some of you are expecting way too much of what is basically a way for schools and teachers to document whether a child is meeting grade level expectations. That's it. If you need more that's what PT conferences are for and most teachers are happy to provide additional feedback between conferences if you have questions or concerns-- I've only had one teacher in 5 years in DCPS who wasn't responsive to an email with a direct question requesting feedback on my child's academic performance or classroom behavior/experience. And that one teacher was very responsive in PT conferences-- she was just older and I think struggled with email communication. i
If the report card is your only interaction with the teacher, that's on you.

This! 100%. Why are you getting so worked up about one means of communicating your child's performance, especially in elementary school? Don't you have bigger fish to fry?!

The issue is that they're NOT communicating about my child's performance. It's not individualized at all, and some of it doesn't even seem applicable to my kid.

For example, does my child who has been reading fluently for over a year really need to focus more on isolating the individual sounds in CVC words? Based on DIBELS, iReady, conference, and what I know about my child, the answer is "no", but why are they sending out nonsense that makes me have to second guess that?

If there's something in the report card that contradicts DIBELS, i-Read, or your personal observation, then email the teacher and say "Hi I am just looking for clarification on this..." and explain the issue. There may be an explanation that clarifies it or it may be an error.

I mean what were your report cards like as an elementary student? I remember my report card and it was a literal card -- I got a letter grade for each subject but it was similar to DCPS's numbered system (something like "E" for exceeds expectations, "M" for meets expectations, etc,) and then the teacher would write one or two sentences about me on the back of the card. Usually the comment would pertain to behavior and social stuff -- "Larla has done a great job working collaboratively with peers this quarter. She is working on staying on task during independent work." That's it. It was not a 5 page printed document with narrative explanations for each grade, assessment scores, etc. If my parents had questions they would of course address them during PT conferences but honestly as long as I was at or above grade level I don't think they really spent ANY time thinking about my academics at all. One of my brothers was diagnosed with dyslexia in 2nd grade and there was a lot more back and for with him to get him the support he needed but I didn't have those kinds of issues in elementary so it was kind of a set it and forget it situation.

Elementary grades are information only and don't count for anything. If anything is unclear or if you are worried about anything, just ask. But otherwise it's basically checking a box and is really not that important.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's super annoying to receive these report cards as a parent. Like, I my bar was already pretty low for DCPS, but when I get these report cards I just feel kind of depressed that the place I send my kid to school every day doesn't even really know who he is. For example, he got all 4s in ELA, which I know he's okay at but not amazing. Then he got a 3 in music, when he's amazing at music - has been in piano since he was 3 years old, and just has always been very musically gifted. Also, iReady scores didn't seem to show much correlation with report card.

Yes, it's this exactly. I'd rather receive nothing at all.

We had a good PT conference where the teacher clearly "got" my kid and his strengths/weaknesses/interests. Without that, this very generic, maybe inaccurate report card would have been kind of alarming.

Yeah, same exact feeling about the DCPS report card. Always depressing, even though our PT conferences are great and it's clear that the teacher really does know my kid as an individual and has a very nuanced understanding of how well they are doing in every single subject and sub-category. Somehow it doesn't come through at all via the report card.

my one solace is that our older son is now in middle school (at a charter, but still) and the assessements are SO MUCH more detailed. So, I know better information is coming, i just need to wait a few years.

If you have good PT conference experiences and the teacher demonstrates real understanding and interest in your kid, I don't understand why the report card is "disappointing." Because there's not a narrative description by the teacher describing their impressions? If you get this at the conference who cares if it's in the report card?

I think some of you are expecting way too much of what is basically a way for schools and teachers to document whether a child is meeting grade level expectations. That's it. If you need more that's what PT conferences are for and most teachers are happy to provide additional feedback between conferences if you have questions or concerns-- I've only had one teacher in 5 years in DCPS who wasn't responsive to an email with a direct question requesting feedback on my child's academic performance or classroom behavior/experience. And that one teacher was very responsive in PT conferences-- she was just older and I think struggled with email communication. i
If the report card is your only interaction with the teacher, that's on you.

This! 100%. Why are you getting so worked up about one means of communicating your child's performance, especially in elementary school? Don't you have bigger fish to fry?!

The issue is that they're NOT communicating about my child's performance. It's not individualized at all, and some of it doesn't even seem applicable to my kid.

For example, does my child who has been reading fluently for over a year really need to focus more on isolating the individual sounds in CVC words? Based on DIBELS, iReady, conference, and what I know about my child, the answer is "no", but why are they sending out nonsense that makes me have to second guess that?

If there's something in the report card that contradicts DIBELS, i-Read, or your personal observation, then email the teacher and say "Hi I am just looking for clarification on this..." and explain the issue. There may be an explanation that clarifies it or it may be an error.

I mean what were your report cards like as an elementary student? I remember my report card and it was a literal card -- I got a letter grade for each subject but it was similar to DCPS's numbered system (something like "E" for exceeds expectations, "M" for meets expectations, etc,) and then the teacher would write one or two sentences about me on the back of the card. Usually the comment would pertain to behavior and social stuff -- "Larla has done a great job working collaboratively with peers this quarter. She is working on staying on task during independent work." That's it. It was not a 5 page printed document with narrative explanations for each grade, assessment scores, etc. If my parents had questions they would of course address them during PT conferences but honestly as long as I was at or above grade level I don't think they really spent ANY time thinking about my academics at all. One of my brothers was diagnosed with dyslexia in 2nd grade and there was a lot more back and for with him to get him the support he needed but I didn't have those kinds of issues in elementary so it was kind of a set it and forget it situation.

Elementary grades are information only and don't count for anything. If anything is unclear or if you are worried about anything, just ask. But otherwise it's basically checking a box and is really not that important.

It's obvious to me that the teacher didn't try. I'm not faulting her, as the level of detail required seems unreasonable. I'm also not going to waste more of her time clarifying something we both already know is wrong.

The point is that doing it this way is misleading and a waste of everyone's time. I was being serious when I said I'd rather get nothing at all. At least I know now to just ignore it outright.

[Anonymous]

NP: I didn't get ONE PERSONALIZED SENTENCE on my DCPS third grader. I never do. It's one of the main reasons I don't donate to PTA and don't volunteer. If my school has no skin in the game, neither do I.

At my other child's DCPS charter, I get daily grade/homework updates, thoughtful feedback, a general, genuine feeling that his teachers know who he is. I donate above the requested amount and always make sure to stay involved.

Those of you making excuses for DCPS teachers need ask yourself why. It's the teacher's job to provide feedback on our kids at report card time. I shouldn't have to "seek it out" if I care enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP: I didn't get ONE PERSONALIZED SENTENCE on my DCPS third grader. I never do. It's one of the main reasons I don't donate to PTA and don't volunteer. If my school has no skin in the game, neither do I.

At my other child's DCPS charter, I get daily grade/homework updates, thoughtful feedback, a general, genuine feeling that his teachers know who he is. I donate above the requested amount and always make sure to stay involved.

Those of you making excuses for DCPS teachers need ask yourself why. It's the teacher's job to provide feedback on our kids at report card time. I shouldn't have to "seek it out" if I care enough.

The comments are standardized and teachers do not have control over what comments are made available. Complain to your school’s admin or DCPS Central Office.
- teacher who would love to leave individualized comments for every student but is forced to use the same 15 comments for every report.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP: I didn't get ONE PERSONALIZED SENTENCE on my DCPS third grader. I never do. It's one of the main reasons I don't donate to PTA and don't volunteer. If my school has no skin in the game, neither do I.

At my other child's DCPS charter, I get daily grade/homework updates, thoughtful feedback, a general, genuine feeling that his teachers know who he is. I donate above the requested amount and always make sure to stay involved.

Those of you making excuses for DCPS teachers need ask yourself why. It's the teacher's job to provide feedback on our kids at report card time. I shouldn't have to "seek it out" if I care enough.

But my kids' teachers didn't design the report cards, so why would I hold them against them?

My kids' DCPS teachers have gone out of their way for them time and time again. Even the worst classroom teacher any of my kids have ever had once sent my daughter home with a helpful book about a specific hobby she has, so she clearly knew my kid despite being a bad teacher. The best teachers? Incredible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP: I didn't get ONE PERSONALIZED SENTENCE on my DCPS third grader. I never do. It's one of the main reasons I don't donate to PTA and don't volunteer. If my school has no skin in the game, neither do I.

At my other child's DCPS charter, I get daily grade/homework updates, thoughtful feedback, a general, genuine feeling that his teachers know who he is. I donate above the requested amount and always make sure to stay involved.

Those of you making excuses for DCPS teachers need ask yourself why. It's the teacher's job to provide feedback on our kids at report card time. I shouldn't have to "seek it out" if I care enough.

But my kids' teachers didn't design the report cards, so why would I hold them against them?

My kids' DCPS teachers have gone out of their way for them time and time again. Even the worst classroom teacher any of my kids have ever had once sent my daughter home with a helpful book about a specific hobby she has, so she clearly knew my kid despite being a bad teacher. The best teachers? Incredible.

This. It sounds like some people just don't understand the nature of DCPS report cards and are expecting something teachers aren't even enabled to do. Teachers cannot write their own personalized narrative for report cards. DCPS standardizes the whole thing and they have to select from pre-written statements.

BUT that doesn't mean the teacher won't give you personalized feedback. I get good feedback at PT conference. Also while my kid goes to aftercare most days, I do after school pick up one day a week and I generally check in with the teacher on that day -- sometimes with a specific question or sometimes just "how's it going?" and I always get useful info this way.

Charters operate differently.

Also if you are refusing to give money to the PTA because you don't like how the report card system works, you fundamentally don't understand how DCPS is funded or what PTAs are for. The PTA doesn't have anything to do with DCPS procedures (though there are places you can go to complain or give feedback if you are motivated) nor do they hire or provide oversight of teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's super annoying to receive these report cards as a parent. Like, I my bar was already pretty low for DCPS, but when I get these report cards I just feel kind of depressed that the place I send my kid to school every day doesn't even really know who he is. For example, he got all 4s in ELA, which I know he's okay at but not amazing. Then he got a 3 in music, when he's amazing at music - has been in piano since he was 3 years old, and just has always been very musically gifted. Also, iReady scores didn't seem to show much correlation with report card.

Yes, it's this exactly. I'd rather receive nothing at all.

We had a good PT conference where the teacher clearly "got" my kid and his strengths/weaknesses/interests. Without that, this very generic, maybe inaccurate report card would have been kind of alarming.

Yeah, same exact feeling about the DCPS report card. Always depressing, even though our PT conferences are great and it's clear that the teacher really does know my kid as an individual and has a very nuanced understanding of how well they are doing in every single subject and sub-category. Somehow it doesn't come through at all via the report card.

my one solace is that our older son is now in middle school (at a charter, but still) and the assessements are SO MUCH more detailed. So, I know better information is coming, i just need to wait a few years.

If you have good PT conference experiences and the teacher demonstrates real understanding and interest in your kid, I don't understand why the report card is "disappointing." Because there's not a narrative description by the teacher describing their impressions? If you get this at the conference who cares if it's in the report card?

I think some of you are expecting way too much of what is basically a way for schools and teachers to document whether a child is meeting grade level expectations. That's it. If you need more that's what PT conferences are for and most teachers are happy to provide additional feedback between conferences if you have questions or concerns-- I've only had one teacher in 5 years in DCPS who wasn't responsive to an email with a direct question requesting feedback on my child's academic performance or classroom behavior/experience. And that one teacher was very responsive in PT conferences-- she was just older and I think struggled with email communication. i
If the report card is your only interaction with the teacher, that's on you.

This! 100%. Why are you getting so worked up about one means of communicating your child's performance, especially in elementary school? Don't you have bigger fish to fry?!

The issue is that they're NOT communicating about my child's performance. It's not individualized at all, and some of it doesn't even seem applicable to my kid.

For example, does my child who has been reading fluently for over a year really need to focus more on isolating the individual sounds in CVC words? Based on DIBELS, iReady, conference, and what I know about my child, the answer is "no", but why are they sending out nonsense that makes me have to second guess that?

If there's something in the report card that contradicts DIBELS, i-Read, or your personal observation, then email the teacher and say "Hi I am just looking for clarification on this..." and explain the issue. There may be an explanation that clarifies it or it may be an error.

I mean what were your report cards like as an elementary student? I remember my report card and it was a literal card -- I got a letter grade for each subject but it was similar to DCPS's numbered system (something like "E" for exceeds expectations, "M" for meets expectations, etc,) and then the teacher would write one or two sentences about me on the back of the card. Usually the comment would pertain to behavior and social stuff -- "Larla has done a great job working collaboratively with peers this quarter. She is working on staying on task during independent work." That's it. It was not a 5 page printed document with narrative explanations for each grade, assessment scores, etc. If my parents had questions they would of course address them during PT conferences but honestly as long as I was at or above grade level I don't think they really spent ANY time thinking about my academics at all. One of my brothers was diagnosed with dyslexia in 2nd grade and there was a lot more back and for with him to get him the support he needed but I didn't have those kinds of issues in elementary so it was kind of a set it and forget it situation.

Elementary grades are information only and don't count for anything. If anything is unclear or if you are worried about anything, just ask. But otherwise it's basically checking a box and is really not that important.

It's obvious to me that the teacher didn't try. I'm not faulting her, as the level of detail required seems unreasonable. I'm also not going to waste more of her time clarifying something we both already know is wrong.

The point is that doing it this way is misleading and a waste of everyone's time. I was being serious when I said I'd rather get nothing at all. At least I know now to just ignore it outright.

This comment makes no sense. If you think the report card is both important and incorrect, and that the teacher didn't try, then it's not wasting her time to reach out and get it addressed. And how do you know she knows it's wrong? It sounds to me like you just want to complain anonymously online but that you don't actually care enough to make even a minimal effort to address it.

If on the other hand you think report cards are extraneous and not that helpful, then just ignore it and don't get worked up. The teacher doesn't have discretion of whether or not to do it and also other parents DO care about report cards, so you wishing you didn't get one isn't relevant. No one is making you look at it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's super annoying to receive these report cards as a parent. Like, I my bar was already pretty low for DCPS, but when I get these report cards I just feel kind of depressed that the place I send my kid to school every day doesn't even really know who he is. For example, he got all 4s in ELA, which I know he's okay at but not amazing. Then he got a 3 in music, when he's amazing at music - has been in piano since he was 3 years old, and just has always been very musically gifted. Also, iReady scores didn't seem to show much correlation with report card.

Yes, it's this exactly. I'd rather receive nothing at all.

We had a good PT conference where the teacher clearly "got" my kid and his strengths/weaknesses/interests. Without that, this very generic, maybe inaccurate report card would have been kind of alarming.

Yeah, same exact feeling about the DCPS report card. Always depressing, even though our PT conferences are great and it's clear that the teacher really does know my kid as an individual and has a very nuanced understanding of how well they are doing in every single subject and sub-category. Somehow it doesn't come through at all via the report card.

my one solace is that our older son is now in middle school (at a charter, but still) and the assessements are SO MUCH more detailed. So, I know better information is coming, i just need to wait a few years.

If you have good PT conference experiences and the teacher demonstrates real understanding and interest in your kid, I don't understand why the report card is "disappointing." Because there's not a narrative description by the teacher describing their impressions? If you get this at the conference who cares if it's in the report card?

I think some of you are expecting way too much of what is basically a way for schools and teachers to document whether a child is meeting grade level expectations. That's it. If you need more that's what PT conferences are for and most teachers are happy to provide additional feedback between conferences if you have questions or concerns-- I've only had one teacher in 5 years in DCPS who wasn't responsive to an email with a direct question requesting feedback on my child's academic performance or classroom behavior/experience. And that one teacher was very responsive in PT conferences-- she was just older and I think struggled with email communication. i
If the report card is your only interaction with the teacher, that's on you.

This! 100%. Why are you getting so worked up about one means of communicating your child's performance, especially in elementary school? Don't you have bigger fish to fry?!

The issue is that they're NOT communicating about my child's performance. It's not individualized at all, and some of it doesn't even seem applicable to my kid.

For example, does my child who has been reading fluently for over a year really need to focus more on isolating the individual sounds in CVC words? Based on DIBELS, iReady, conference, and what I know about my child, the answer is "no", but why are they sending out nonsense that makes me have to second guess that?

If there's something in the report card that contradicts DIBELS, i-Read, or your personal observation, then email the teacher and say "Hi I am just looking for clarification on this..." and explain the issue. There may be an explanation that clarifies it or it may be an error.

I mean what were your report cards like as an elementary student? I remember my report card and it was a literal card -- I got a letter grade for each subject but it was similar to DCPS's numbered system (something like "E" for exceeds expectations, "M" for meets expectations, etc,) and then the teacher would write one or two sentences about me on the back of the card. Usually the comment would pertain to behavior and social stuff -- "Larla has done a great job working collaboratively with peers this quarter. She is working on staying on task during independent work." That's it. It was not a 5 page printed document with narrative explanations for each grade, assessment scores, etc. If my parents had questions they would of course address them during PT conferences but honestly as long as I was at or above grade level I don't think they really spent ANY time thinking about my academics at all. One of my brothers was diagnosed with dyslexia in 2nd grade and there was a lot more back and for with him to get him the support he needed but I didn't have those kinds of issues in elementary so it was kind of a set it and forget it situation.

Elementary grades are information only and don't count for anything. If anything is unclear or if you are worried about anything, just ask. But otherwise it's basically checking a box and is really not that important.

It's obvious to me that the teacher didn't try. I'm not faulting her, as the level of detail required seems unreasonable. I'm also not going to waste more of her time clarifying something we both already know is wrong.

The point is that doing it this way is misleading and a waste of everyone's time. I was being serious when I said I'd rather get nothing at all. At least I know now to just ignore it outright.

This comment makes no sense. If you think the report card is both important and incorrect, and that the teacher didn't try, then it's not wasting her time to reach out and get it addressed. And how do you know she knows it's wrong? It sounds to me like you just want to complain anonymously online but that you don't actually care enough to make even a minimal effort to address it.

If on the other hand you think report cards are extraneous and not that helpful, then just ignore it and don't get worked up. The teacher doesn't have discretion of whether or not to do it and also other parents DO care about report cards, so you wishing you didn't get one isn't relevant. No one is making you look at it.

This was our first report card. I didn't know what to expect. The comments in this thread have helped me understand why it seemed so off (clearly not a unique experience, clearly driven by the limitations of the system) and now I know to ignore it in the future.

[Anonymous]

This has helped me to feel a little better. My 1st grader got all 3s from her classroom teacher, but for one 2, and 4s from his specials teachers. It came as a bit of a shock because he was all 4s across the board with his teacher last year, and he tests way above grade level on iready and the others, and the teacher had positive feedback (including about how he is above grade level) at the conference. The teacher does seem the type to not give out 4s willy nilly, but the 2 has really thrown me--I will reach out about that.

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately they really are useless, beyond flagging a serious issue / kid who is really struggling. I had two kids go through DCPS elementary with very different report cards (one mostly getting 4s and the other mostly 3s and some 2s). Now they are both in charter middle and their elementary grades were predictive of nothing. The kid who had lower scores in elementary is doing much better in middle.

[Anonymous]

I think a related and very valid complaint is the lack of parent teacher conferences. Two a year is not adequate. In elementary when I was young (80s) there was a conference after each report card, so more real time possibilities for parents to discuss issues raised by the report cards.

[Anonymous]

I'm jealous of people who had personalized P-T conferences. My conference was 8 minutes and the teacher just reiterated what they're currently learning (e.g. "in math, all of the children are learning...."). None of it was personalized to my kid. The teacher's only comment about my kid was "she's doing fine! No worries! She always behaves."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm jealous of people who had personalized P-T conferences. My conference was 8 minutes and the teacher just reiterated what they're currently learning (e.g. "in math, all of the children are learning...."). None of it was personalized to my kid. The teacher's only comment about my kid was "she's doing fine! No worries! She always behaves."

This is pretty much my experience too. I try to ask questions to get more but just get general assurances that he’s doing fine, and I don’t really know what specifically to ask (because I’m not a professional!).

[Anonymous]

Please - if your report card does not reflect your child, make sure you send an email to the teachers stating your concern.

I had a hearing with DCPs regarding my child's learning needs and the special education coordinator pulled out the report cards as evidence that my child was performing on grade level.

Fortunately, I had an email that was able to counter the narrative that the school was presenting.