New FCPS report cards - no letter grades?!?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are working with kids at math or reading, you are going to be able to tell who is getting it and who isn't. The teachers don't have to "share" info. for a volunteer to figure it out.

If your child is doing his/her best, then be comfortable with that. It doesn't matter what other people's opinions are. Volunteers are going to have opinions based on what they see. True, it isn't a complete picture. But, everyone is entitled to their own opinions and they don't have to get your permission to have an opinion about kids/grades/schools.

They are entitled to their opinions, but they should be mature enough to keep them to themselves. I have found that many of the volunteer moms are busybodies who feel the need to share what they discover in the classroom with other mothers. I find it incredibly offensive that they gossip about early elementary school children with other mothers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are working with kids at math or reading, you are going to be able to tell who is getting it and who isn't. The teachers don't have to "share" info. for a volunteer to figure it out.

If your child is doing his/her best, then be comfortable with that. It doesn't matter what other people's opinions are. Volunteers are going to have opinions based on what they see. True, it isn't a complete picture. But, everyone is entitled to their own opinions and they don't have to get your permission to have an opinion about kids/grades/schools.

They are entitled to their opinions, but they should be mature enough to keep them to themselves. I have found that many of the volunteer moms are busybodies who feel the need to share what they discover in the classroom with other mothers. I find it incredibly offensive that they gossip about early elementary school children with other mothers.

My whole point is that they shouldn't be working on reading and math with the kids. It's fine if they do other, non-substantive, work with the kids, but they should not be taking the place of professional educators when they are not.

[Anonymous]

Whatever. I'm the one helping the kids who are FAR behind where they should be. My kid is the one who only gets to have a small group session with the teacher once a week b/c she's too busy meeting with the kids who are behind. So, it kind of IS my business if you "don't care what grades my kids get" b/c your failure to care and help YOUR child is taking instructional time away from MY child (and the other children) who are on target and whose parents must be helping them at home to get on (or above target). It's hard to be motivated to offer my time to help children who are behind when their own parents don't put in a similar effort. I'm assuming that it is not for lack of interest (on the part of the parent), but simply a lack of understanding of what they should be doing and lack of understanding that their child is behind. Frankly, I was shocked to find out how little teacher-to-student time was actually happening in the class. When I finally got my head around the reality that that's how it is in public school, then I personally took more responsibility for ensuring that my child met the benchmarks (and actually exceeded them). I believe a lot of parents haven't made that connection yet b/c they aren't in the classroom to see how little time their child actually gets in a small group with a teacher.

As for letter grades... why shouldn't a third, fourth, fifth or sixth grader be rewarded with an A if they are doing very well. I think letter grades can motivate students and can give students pride. It has nothing to do with bragging about my kid. Grades are the reward for good work.

How condescending you are. There are a lot of reasons why kids don't meet benchmarks (or actually exceed them as you so proudly state). You assume we're aren't doing what you're doing, we don't care or that we just don't 'get it'. You couldn't be more wrong - which is the problem with assuming. ...But, you really do need to mind your own business and stop assuming things about other kids and other parents.

Exactly. My oldest excels at every academic task he undertakes. My husband and I have absolutely nothing to do with that success short of reminding him to stop daydreaming so much. #2 struggles and every academic achievement is a result of hard work from both him and us. He gets overwhelmed easily, needs lots of one on one, and acts out when he has trouble understanding things. Based on your post, you would assume the oldest had parents who were highly involved and #2 had slacker parents. It is completely the opposite in our family. If you feel the need to be so judgmental about kids who struggle vs. those who excel, you shouldn’t be in the classroom as a volunteer.

[Anonymous]

Which report card gives you, the parent, more useful information about your child's Language Arts Grade?



This one:

Language Arts: C

or

Listens and speaks for specific purposes 4
Locates and uses information from a variety of sources 4
Reads with accuracy and fluency 3
Reads with understanding 3
Writes with purpose, clarity, and expression 2
Edits for usage and mechanics in own writing 1


You should assume that a 4 denotes expected skill for the age and grade. The objectives being highlighted on the report card are ones that are being taught that quarter, and teachers would expect children to mas-ter them. So you can think of a 4 as an A, a 3 as a B, a 2 as a C if you want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are working with kids at math or reading, you are going to be able to tell who is getting it and who isn't. The teachers don't have to "share" info. for a volunteer to figure it out.

If your child is doing his/her best, then be comfortable with that. It doesn't matter what other people's opinions are. Volunteers are going to have opinions based on what they see. True, it isn't a complete picture. But, everyone is entitled to their own opinions and they don't have to get your permission to have an opinion about kids/grades/schools.

They are entitled to their opinions, but they should be mature enough to keep them to themselves. I have found that many of the volunteer moms are busybodies who feel the need to share what they discover in the classroom with other mothers. I find it incredibly offensive that they gossip about early elementary school children with other mothers.

There has been no discussion of gossipping or telling other people who's kid is doing what on this thread. You may have concerns about that b/c your child is LD or you have seen people gossipping about low performers. In this thread, the PP expressed his/her opinion and didn't name names and never said he/she discussed specific students with other parents. He/She has made a conclusion that you don't agree with. A person who is exposed to a situation will usually process that and try to make sense of it by finding an explanation. You can say based on your experience, that your child is not behind for lack of parental interaction. However, I bet there are plenty of kids who could improve with more parental interaction. The fact that your child is not one of them does not negate the theory that a good portion of the kids who have not met benchmarks could meet them if they had more parental help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Which report card gives you, the parent, more useful information about your child's Language Arts Grade?



This one:

Language Arts: C

or

Listens and speaks for specific purposes 4
Locates and uses information from a variety of sources 4
Reads with accuracy and fluency 3
Reads with understanding 3
Writes with purpose, clarity, and expression 2
Edits for usage and mechanics in own writing 1


You should assume that a 4 denotes expected skill for the age and grade. The objectives being highlighted on the report card are ones that are being taught that quarter, and teachers would expect children to mas-ter them. So you can think of a 4 as an A, a 3 as a B, a 2 as a C if you want.

That looks remarkably similar to what we received for a Kindergarten progress report last year. All we had was a list of 5s and then a separate sheet with a marker "thermometer" for reading, and it showed a line a little further up the page for different marking periods. I guess my child did okay since she's going to start 1st grade tomorrow, but I have no idea what it all means.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There has been no discussion of gossipping or telling other people who's kid is doing what on this thread. You may have concerns about that b/c your child is LD or you have seen people gossipping about low performers. In this thread, the PP expressed his/her opinion and didn't name names and never said he/she discussed specific students with other parents. He/She has made a conclusion that you don't agree with. A person who is exposed to a situation will usually process that and try to make sense of it by finding an explanation. You can say based on your experience, that your child is not behind for lack of parental interaction. However, I bet there are plenty of kids who could improve with more parental interaction. The fact that your child is not one of them does not negate the theory that a good portion of the kids who have not met benchmarks could meet them if they had more parental help.

The condescending PP didn't say she gossipped but a number of us have experience with volunteers like her who "process" their situation by assuming things about parents and talking about it with other parents. I'm the PP who wrote about the volunteer assuming the OT was for the boy in the wheelchair. I've heard plenty of gossip from volunteers who sound identical to the condescending PP. There are many reasons why kids don't meet benchmarks. Parental involvement may help but isn't the biggest factor and lack of their involvement isn't always because they don't care. There are many barriers to involvement including languge and time, both of which are linked to socioeconomic level. Research has shown that the best indicator of academic success is the mother's education level and the family's socioeconomic level. It's easy to be judgmental when you've not been in someone else's shoes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: That looks remarkably similar to what we received for a Kindergarten progress report last year. All we had was a list of 5s and then a separate sheet with a marker "thermometer" for reading, and it showed a line a little further up the page for different marking periods. I guess my child did okay since she's going to start 1st grade tomorrow, but I have no idea what it all means.

For goodness sakes! If you didn't know what it meant, why didn't you ask?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For goodness sakes! If you didn't know what it meant, why didn't you ask?

I did ask, over several months and both in person and by email. The extent of the conversation with my DD's teacher at the meeting that I requested was "Don't worry, she's doing fine." Then I was pretty much dismissed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For goodness sakes! If you didn't know what it meant, why didn't you ask?

I did ask, over several months and both in person and by email. The extent of the conversation with my DD's teacher at the meeting that I requested was "Don't worry, she's doing fine." Then I was pretty much dismissed.

Then you should have asked the principal or the parent liaison. I don't understand why parents don't pursue things more when they don't understand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For goodness sakes! If you didn't know what it meant, why didn't you ask?

I did ask, over several months and both in person and by email. The extent of the conversation with my DD's teacher at the meeting that I requested was "Don't worry, she's doing fine." Then I was pretty much dismissed.

Then you should have asked the principal or the parent liaison. I don't understand why parents don't pursue things more when they don't understand.

I did ask the principal. That doesn't address the ineffectiveness of a Kindergarten progress report.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No. I just think that parents need (and want) more concrete feedback about what the child is doing compared to what they are expected to do. This focus on "Johnny is working on recognizing sounds" when actually 75% of the other Johnnys and Janes in the same grade are reading more complicated books does everyone a disservice.

I agree with this. We always get the "Child exceeds grade level" comment, and that doesn't tell us very much. She is in the AAP program, so that would be expected. I'd like to know if she is doing well to keep up with the other kids in her class!

[Anonymous]

What I really hate, that I see isn't on this new report, is the grade for Effort and the grade for Achievement. We had a couple of subjects where the Achievement would be an O, but the Effort would be an S. We never knew if we should be upset if the Achievement was higher than the effort, because if he is getting a top grade with less effort, what can we do?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Again.... whatever. I like the letter grades better, although I would like to see more personalized comments. Good luck to you and your student.

And, by the way, the kids I'm referring to are not designated "learning disabled."

Wow...you suck....

Please do us all a favor and stop volunteering in your child's class, b/c your anger and self-righteous, judgemental behavior is disgusting.

[Anonymous]

Our GS starts this grading next year. The thing I really dislike about it is personal -- DD will be in 6th grade - so she will have gotten used to letter grades, have to switch to the new system, and then switch back again to letter grades one year later in Middle School.

DS is in 3rd this year, so he'll have 1 year of letter grade, 2 of this system and then back to letter grades.

I realize many kids will be caught in in this flux while they switch over, but that doesn't make me feel any better...

I'm a bit nervous about this ratings system. I feel like this is very similar to the grading system in the lower grades (O, G, S, etc.). I feel like there is a little more pressure on kids to try harder with letter grades and prepare them for middle school and beyond. But I hope I'm wrong and my kids will try just as hard.