teachers: how many 3rd grade students got straigh As in your class this past year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Second poster--I really hope you're a parent and not a teacher. A child who gets 1's is failing, not "out to lunch."

Failing and "out to lunch" are the same. If you are mentally not there or trying, you are going to fail.

"Mentally not there"? What the h*ll does that mean? Children might fail a subject for any number of reasons, language issues among them. No need for the name-calling, especially when referring to kids.

(And before you insinuate...no, none of my kids has received a 1.)

There are a lot of different things a child is rated on - organizational skills being one. My dd got mostly 2's and 3's and one 4, but she got mostly 1's in organizational. The comments you are making about 1's is very rude. If my dd's class size hadn't been 29 kids with many boys with behavioral issues, perhaps her teacher could have worked with her on her organizational skills. Anyway, first grade is finally over, and I am going to work on getting dd some extra help with the area she has 1's in.

This is what we saw for our DC in a FCPS elementary. During the year, DC received 95-100% on every exam except for two. With the bonus questions, DC regularly scores greater than 100%. On the report cards, DC only received all 4s in math. This is a subject DC received pull-outs with the AART. For the rest of the subjects, DC received a few 4s in some subsubject areas, but mostly 3s. I guess DC didn't show mastery of the subject in class, only on the tests. Therefore, DC only received 3s despite scoring 95-100% on the tests. DC received many 2s in the behavior/organizational sections, with a few 1s. I wouldn't say most students are earning all 4s. DC's teacher stated at the back to school night that most students would not earn a 4 in a subject since the standard was so high.

[Anonymous]

FCPS elementary grades are not based on percentages. Even when we were on an O,G,S, N scale the grades were not percentage based.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A=4
B=3
C=2
D=1

Nobody fails anymore...... can't have that...

No, despite most parents wishes, they do not equate to letter grades. It is about Mastery.

Ummm... Yes. Letter grades also represent mastery (nice word without an objective definition)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FCPS elementary grades are not based on percentages. Even when we were on an O,G,S, N scale the grades were not percentage based.

I agree the grades are not based on percentages. However, it's hard to understand how a child that receives 100% on the test of the subject matter doesn't get a 4. If its about mastery, isn't getting every question on the test correct mastery?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS elementary grades are not based on percentages. Even when we were on an O,G,S, N scale the grades were not percentage based.

I agree the grades are not based on percentages. However, it's hard to understand how a child that receives 100% on the test of the subject matter doesn't get a 4. If its about mastery, isn't getting every question on the test correct mastery?

Most likely more than just the one assessment was used in figuring the grade. If the student wasn't consistent for all indicators assessed under a particular standard, or if the student required assistance on the assessment or remediation, those could be reasons why the grade(s) wasn't a 4.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS elementary grades are not based on percentages. Even when we were on an O,G,S, N scale the grades were not percentage based.

I agree the grades are not based on percentages. However, it's hard to understand how a child that receives 100% on the test of the subject matter doesn't get a 4. If its about mastery, isn't getting every question on the test correct mastery?

Most likely more than just the one assessment was used in figuring the grade. If the student wasn't consistent for all indicators assessed under a particular standard, or if the student required assistance on the assessment or remediation, those could be reasons why the grade(s) wasn't a 4.

As a parent, I don't really get caught up in whether the grade is a 3 or a 4. Especially in elementary school, I don't think it matters in the long run. However, if the schools are doing other assessments, then shouldn't we as parents know about them? I always feel like its the Wizard of Oz and the teachers don't want the parents to pull the curtain back and see what it going on. We only see the work and tests that come home. If those all show "mastery," then I don't understand as a parent where else in the curriculum they are assessing. The teacher doesn't give assistance on the test - the students are given a test and they complete it. If the students are not getting 4s because they didn't understand the topic while they were being taught, then I'm not sure what would be the point of teaching. Shouldn't the student not know the subject before it's taught? They should learn the material then be assessed after the teacher teaches it. It just makes one wonder as a parent what it is the school is looking for. If I can't figure it out, I certainly can't be disappointed when my kid can't.

[Anonymous]

You can always ask for a conference with the teacher after a report card. A teacher can answer specific questions a parent has about how the child's learning has been assessed and suggest ares of improvement. My child's teachers have always been very open to discussing student progress with the parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS elementary grades are not based on percentages. Even when we were on an O,G,S, N scale the grades were not percentage based.

I agree the grades are not based on percentages. However, it's hard to understand how a child that receives 100% on the test of the subject matter doesn't get a 4. If its about mastery, isn't getting every question on the test correct mastery?

Most likely more than just the one assessment was used in figuring the grade. If the student wasn't consistent for all indicators assessed under a particular standard, or if the student required assistance on the assessment or remediation, those could be reasons why the grade(s) wasn't a 4.

As a parent, I don't really get caught up in whether the grade is a 3 or a 4. Especially in elementary school, I don't think it matters in the long run. However, if the schools are doing other assessments, then shouldn't we as parents know about them? I always feel like its the Wizard of Oz and the teachers don't want the parents to pull the curtain back and see what it going on. We only see the work and tests that come home. If those all show "mastery," then I don't understand as a parent where else in the curriculum they are assessing. The teacher doesn't give assistance on the test - the students are given a test and they complete it. If the students are not getting 4s because they didn't understand the topic while they were being taught, then I'm not sure what would be the point of teaching. Shouldn't the student not know the subject before it's taught? They should learn the material then be assessed after the teacher teaches it. It just makes one wonder as a parent what it is the school is looking for. If I can't figure it out, I certainly can't be disappointed when my kid can't.

I agree with the previous post. Ask the teacher.
If you already did, what did the teacher say?

[Anonymous]

At my daughter's Arlington elementary this past year I would say about 6-8 kids in 3rd grade got all A's each grading period and maybe 20-25 others got all A's and B's. They posted the names of the kids in the front hall at school and my daughter was on the A's and B's list and always pointed it out to me when a new list was posted. She was very proud of making the homor roll. Almost all the kids with straight A's were girls.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS elementary grades are not based on percentages. Even when we were on an O,G,S, N scale the grades were not percentage based.

I agree the grades are not based on percentages. However, it's hard to understand how a child that receives 100% on the test of the subject matter doesn't get a 4. If its about mastery, isn't getting every question on the test correct mastery?

While this can be true sometimes, such as in areas that we don't often revisit after assessing until we review for SOLs. However, in areas that continue to be regularly revisited (such as regrouping in addition and subtraction), students could get 100% on a test but then demonstrate a week later in classwork or homework that they haven't mastered the concept. In such a case, I definitely would not give them a 4 for "computes with accuracy." Likewise, it's very hard to give a 1 in the new standards based system. You can almost always argue that a student "sometimes" demontrates a certain quality or understanding of a concept. It was much easier to give an N, since that simply means the child "needs to improve" in an area.

[Anonymous]

We has the same case the a 4 grade because the mere fact of performing to the standard as a 3 and this particular item the student either did or did not perform...so they either received a 1 (did not ) or a 3 (did)... a little wierd but if strictly interpreted made sense in an odd way.

[Anonymous]

Performing to standards or not has a baseline....how about the kid that gets 3's and 4's on the academic subject (Math, Science, Social Studies, Lang. Arts, Reading), but does not perform up to standards in turning assignments in on time. And on Organization. She missed two assignments, and got a one for the quarter. I guess I should ask the school what the standards are for HW.

I had issues with the teacher....mostly from a comment on a test admonishing my DD to study harder. The test was the day after major surgery when I was in the ICU.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Performing to standards or not has a baseline....how about the kid that gets 3's and 4's on the academic subject (Math, Science, Social Studies, Lang. Arts, Reading), but does not perform up to standards in turning assignments in on time. And on Organization. She missed two assignments, and got a one for the quarter. I guess I should ask the school what the standards are for HW.

I had issues with the teacher....mostly from a comment on a test admonishing my DD to study harder. The test was the day after major surgery when I was in the ICU.

Can't expect teacher to read your mind. Did teacher know this when child took test?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Performing to standards or not has a baseline....how about the kid that gets 3's and 4's on the academic subject (Math, Science, Social Studies, Lang. Arts, Reading), but does not perform up to standards in turning assignments in on time. And on Organization. She missed two assignments, and got a one for the quarter. I guess I should ask the school what the standards are for HW.

I had issues with the teacher....mostly from a comment on a test admonishing my DD to study harder. The test was the day after major surgery when I was in the ICU.

In the FCPS elementary schools, we are not supposed to use homework in the figuring of the achievement grade, only the effort grade.

[Anonymous]

No, homework isn't used for a grade. However, it is a piece of information. If a child has forgotten a math concept and it's evident in HW, it shows that further instruction/review is needed. On the other hand, perfect homework could just mean that a child got help. Homework isn't graded, but the the information factors into the overall picture of a child's abilities and needs.