New to DCPS report cards

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes. It's called the Common Core State Standards. DCPS report cards are standards based therefore each term is graded according to the end of the year standard.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:4 Exceeds grade level expectations
3 Meets grade level expectations
2 Approaches grade level expectations
1 Significantly below grade level

You also need to know that these refer to END of grade level expectations, so don't expect 4s at the beginning of the year.

THIS!!!! Unless a student is performing a year or two ahead of grade level don't expect all 4s before the 4th term.

Is it written anywhere from DCPS that the marks are against full year goal and not just term goal? I'm hearing conflicting information. I have a new Kindergartner. Thanks!

As I've been doing more research tonight, I get it more. From what I'm finding (from other Common Core school systems) is that the ratings don't seem to be against knowing the end of year material but that you're on track for end of year. I agree with other comments that having a 4 be common vs rare makes sense as there's always more to learn. Growing up if you had all As, then I think you're not being challenged. However, I think my spouse sees 2s and 3s on the report card and is equating it to "Bs and Cs" which is not an accurate comparison. From a California Common Core school system, I found this below which was helpful. One unanswered question to me is, how do you tell if your kid is a top, middle, or lower tier academic in the new paradigm?

A mark of “4”, Exceeds Achievement of the Standard, indicates the “next level” of student learning. A student’s progress exceeds standards because s/he has demonstrated mastery in terms of knowledge, but also applies that knowledge in ways that go beyond expectations. Typically, very few children would be at this level.

A mark of “3”, Consistent Achievement of the Standard, indicates that a student’s progress with skills and information meets expectations because success is independent and requires little or no adult support to demonstrate proficiency. A student at the top of his/her class, successfully mastering skills and content, may find themselves at level “3” all year, which indicates strong or excellent work, expected at grade level.

A mark of “2”, Moderate Achievement of the Standard, indicates a student’s progression with skills and information is in the expected range, but requires the support and assistance of others to show success at this time.

A mark of “1”, Limited Achievement of the Standard, indicates that a student’s progress with skills and information is below expectation. His/her instructional level is characterized by maximum teacher support.

Levels of proficiency are assigned to a student each trimester for their progress towards meeting the academic expectations of the particular trimester rather than their achievement of the final end of year expectation. In this way, a student may receive a 3 or a 4 for the meeting or exceeding standard expectations for the first trimester even though a student has not yet met the end of the year expectations outlined by the standard.

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately, teachers often feel under pressure to show significant growth for each student throughout the year. So, giving a bunch of kindergartners ones for the first quarter of the year sets them up to easily show growth when they’re able to show that a child reached a three or four by the end of the year. Teachers should of course score their students where they are, but the temptation is there to lowball your kids. If it troubles you, OP, push back, meet with the teacher and if you aren’t satisfied, ask to meet with the teacher. I agree that giving students ones without providing parents with feedback on what the problem is and how parents can support at home, is problematic.

[Anonymous]

I have a hard time believing the teacher said they don’t work on science and social studies. Especially because those subjects are easy to integrate into language arts.

Maybe your child just isn’t on grade level in those areas.

I also find it odd when people come here before, you know, talking to the teacher about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. It's called the Common Core State Standards. DCPS report cards are standards based therefore each term is graded according to the end of the year standard.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:4 Exceeds grade level expectations
3 Meets grade level expectations
2 Approaches grade level expectations
1 Significantly below grade level

You also need to know that these refer to END of grade level expectations, so don't expect 4s at the beginning of the year.

THIS!!!! Unless a student is performing a year or two ahead of grade level don't expect all 4s before the 4th term.

Is it written anywhere from DCPS that the marks are against full year goal and not just term goal? I'm hearing conflicting information. I have a new Kindergartner. Thanks!

As I've been doing more research tonight, I get it more. From what I'm finding (from other Common Core school systems) is that the ratings don't seem to be against knowing the end of year material but that you're on track for end of year. I agree with other comments that having a 4 be common vs rare makes sense as there's always more to learn. Growing up if you had all As, then I think you're not being challenged. However, I think my spouse sees 2s and 3s on the report card and is equating it to "Bs and Cs" which is not an accurate comparison. From a California Common Core school system, I found this below which was helpful. One unanswered question to me is, how do you tell if your kid is a top, middle, or lower tier academic in the new paradigm?

A mark of “4”, Exceeds Achievement of the Standard, indicates the “next level” of student learning. A student’s progress exceeds standards because s/he has demonstrated mastery in terms of knowledge, but also applies that knowledge in ways that go beyond expectations. Typically, very few children would be at this level.

A mark of “3”, Consistent Achievement of the Standard, indicates that a student’s progress with skills and information meets expectations because success is independent and requires little or no adult support to demonstrate proficiency. A student at the top of his/her class, successfully mastering skills and content, may find themselves at level “3” all year, which indicates strong or excellent work, expected at grade level.

A mark of “2”, Moderate Achievement of the Standard, indicates a student’s progression with skills and information is in the expected range, but requires the support and assistance of others to show success at this time.

A mark of “1”, Limited Achievement of the Standard, indicates that a student’s progress with skills and information is below expectation. His/her instructional level is characterized by maximum teacher support.

Levels of proficiency are assigned to a student each trimester for their progress towards meeting the academic expectations of the particular trimester rather than their achievement of the final end of year expectation. In this way, a student may receive a 3 or a 4 for the meeting or exceeding standard expectations for the first trimester even though a student has not yet met the end of the year expectations outlined by the standard.

I'm not sure when it starts, but the teachers also start doing assessment reviews - things like a child's measurement on reading scales and math skills - at our school, the teachers have gone over these during the conferences. Things like where the kid is on Dibels (reading assessment) and how they did on specific math assessments etc - which is where you can get the differentiation. Go back & meet with the teacher more and ask them to explain it (in the spirit of being curious vs. confrontational with teacher).
For social studies and science - it is not 'required' which is different than it is not 'done' at those ages.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a hard time believing the teacher said they don’t work on science and social studies. Especially because those subjects are easy to integrate into language arts.

Maybe your child just isn’t on grade level in those areas.

I also find it odd when people come here before, you know, talking to the teacher about it.

In my school there was a change in specials this year. Last year the kids had social studies and science in each advisory. This year they have no social studies (this is for 1st) and science on the 2nd and 4th advisory (2 classes a week.) This change was done to accommodate more science and social studies for the upper grades. Anyways, the teachers didn't introduce the standards for social studies in the first advisory so they gave N's. They plan to introduce American Symbols through read alouds in the new non-fiction units that are upcoming.

Just an example of how this could happen. Possibly they put in 1's instead of N's - Aspen is a beast to work with.

[Anonymous]

So one "concern" of my spouse is that they know kids in FCPS who are "getting 4s" even though they are not geniuses. I know VA is not Common Core. However, they seem to be doing standards based scoring (at least at young ages). Is FCPS (or perhaps that school in particular) inflating scores to look good or make the parents happy? My understanding thus far is that 3s and 2s are fine (K), that 4s are rare and 1s are concerning. However, my spouse has challenges with that given the FCPS "comparison".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So one "concern" of my spouse is that they know kids in FCPS who are "getting 4s" even though they are not geniuses. I know VA is not Common Core. However, they seem to be doing standards based scoring (at least at young ages). Is FCPS (or perhaps that school in particular) inflating scores to look good or make the parents happy? My understanding thus far is that 3s and 2s are fine (K), that 4s are rare and 1s are concerning. However, my spouse has challenges with that given the FCPS "comparison".

Schedule a meeting with your teacher to discuss. You and spouse should both attend.

But I am worried about your children's future mental health if there is this much comparison and obsession about grades in K.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unfortunately, teachers often feel under pressure to show significant growth for each student throughout the year. So, giving a bunch of kindergartners ones for the first quarter of the year sets them up to easily show growth when they’re able to show that a child reached a three or four by the end of the year. Teachers should of course score their students where they are, but the temptation is there to lowball your kids. If it troubles you, OP, push back, meet with the teacher and if you aren’t satisfied, ask to meet with the teacher. I agree that giving students ones without providing parents with feedback on what the problem is and how parents can support at home, is problematic.

omg no, do not do this!! are you seriously suggesting hard core lobbying the teacher to change your kindergartener's grade??

fwiw my DCPS K student's report card seems to correctly reflect where he is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unfortunately, teachers often feel under pressure to show significant growth for each student throughout the year. So, giving a bunch of kindergartners ones for the first quarter of the year sets them up to easily show growth when they’re able to show that a child reached a three or four by the end of the year. Teachers should of course score their students where they are, but the temptation is there to lowball your kids. If it troubles you, OP, push back, meet with the teacher and if you aren’t satisfied, ask to meet with the teacher. I agree that giving students ones without providing parents with feedback on what the problem is and how parents can support at home, is problematic.

omg no, do not do this!! are you seriously suggesting hard core lobbying the teacher to change your kindergartener's grade??

fwiw my DCPS K student's report card seems to correctly reflect where he is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unfortunately, teachers often feel under pressure to show significant growth for each student throughout the year. So, giving a bunch of kindergartners ones for the first quarter of the year sets them up to easily show growth when they’re able to show that a child reached a three or four by the end of the year. Teachers should of course score their students where they are, but the temptation is there to lowball your kids. If it troubles you, OP, push back, meet with the teacher and if you aren’t satisfied, ask to meet with the teacher. I agree that giving students ones without providing parents with feedback on what the problem is and how parents can support at home, is problematic.

omg no, do not do this!! are you seriously suggesting hard core lobbying the teacher to change your kindergartener's grade??

fwiw my DCPS K student's report card seems to correctly reflect where he is.

I'm not suggesting lobbying to change. I'm suggesting 1) the FCPS example mentioned may be not reporting correctly or measures differently 2) how do I correct my spouse incorrect perception that my smart K kid was accurately scored as 3s and 2s? I think the kid is doing great in academic and scored accurately.

[Anonymous]

Stop thinking about elementary school in terms of "grades" or class rank. This phase of education is about skills development. Focus on what kind of a learner your child is developing into. Your kid's elementary school "report card" is NOT going to be compared to anyone else's, even if you apply to private school eventually.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So one "concern" of my spouse is that they know kids in FCPS who are "getting 4s" even though they are not geniuses. I know VA is not Common Core. However, they seem to be doing standards based scoring (at least at young ages). Is FCPS (or perhaps that school in particular) inflating scores to look good or make the parents happy? My understanding thus far is that 3s and 2s are fine (K), that 4s are rare and 1s are concerning. However, my spouse has challenges with that given the FCPS "comparison".

If you are not in FCPS, why on earth does he care how some random school there handles report cards? Honestly, that is pretty messed up. Does he think all schools use the some method to communicate to parents how their chid is progressing? Does he think that there is some sort of national kindergarten ranking? Or is he just worried that his office mate's K-kid got all 4s and he can't prove your kid is smarter?

By the way VA is more Common Core than they want their parents to realize. The standards of learning are nearly identical (and lots of VA school use the same diagnostic software that CC schools use, like iReady). Stop listening to hype and focus on your own child.

[Anonymous]

I still want to know why OP hasn’t asked the teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a hard time believing the teacher said they don’t work on science and social studies. Especially because those subjects are easy to integrate into language arts.

Maybe your child just isn’t on grade level in those areas.

I also find it odd when people come here before, you know, talking to the teacher about it.

In my school there was a change in specials this year. Last year the kids had social studies and science in each advisory. This year they have no social studies (this is for 1st) and science on the 2nd and 4th advisory (2 classes a week.) This change was done to accommodate more science and social studies for the upper grades. Anyways, the teachers didn't introduce the standards for social studies in the first advisory so they gave N's. They plan to introduce American Symbols through read alouds in the new non-fiction units that are upcoming.

Just an example of how this could happen. Possibly they put in 1's instead of N's - Aspen is a beast to work with.

I’m confused. Maybe I don’t know what advisory means? So social studies and science are specials? Not part of the daily classroom schedule?

I’m not shocked science and social studies aren’t focused on. You can thank the government and testing culture for that.

[Anonymous]

An advisory in DCPS = a quarter of the school year.

What used to be 1st quarter, 2nd quarter etc is now 1st advisory, 2nd advisory.