FCPS (ES) report cards

[Anonymous]

Just wondering if anybody else finds these so subjective and based on the mood of the teacher when he/she is working on them. I know it's 3rd quarter, but looking at my kids' last night the number rubric seems so odd. For example, DD went from a 4 to a 3 in a few of the music sections - um, ok? And DS went from a 4 to a 3 in reading maps - huh? He loves maps, draws them in his free time, enjoys looking at them (like in a brochure, etc.) so it just seems like these 1,2,3, and 4 so arbitrary and subjective.

Growing up in FCPS, the teachers would have their black grade book with all the scores/numbers (prototype of a spreadsheet) from worksheets, tests, quizzes and all the points were added up at the very end of a quarter. Now my kids are bringing home stuff in their Tuesday take home folder with an occassional 3 or 4 marked on the sheet, most of the worksheets with nothing marked on them (I assume they go over it in class?), and tests with only 10 questions so (missing 1 or 2 questions automatically puts you in the "B" or "C" range).

I can't speak for MS or HS, but just think ES is so wacky with grading (and other things too).

[Anonymous]

The numeric ratings are based on how well the kid did on the materials taught that quarter. So, maybe my kid got a 4 in Q1 math because it was a lot of review, but now they've moved on to fractions, with which DC is struggling, and performance in math for Q2 drops to a 2 based on the challenges with that quarter's materials.

The 1-4 ratings scale is explained on the report cards. I don't love it (probably, admittedly because I better understand the numeric/letter grading system), but I also find that using standards-based grading and detailing the various dimensions gives me a better idea of where my kid is struggling or excelling. Take the old "conduct" grades -- that's covered by the first section of the FCPS elementary school report card. If I just got an average of DC's "conduct" grade, they would be a C student. Standards-based grading shows me that they are having trouble following directions, listening actively, and completing assignments on time, but they are doing a great job being a good class citizen and planning/achieving goals.

The part about them that drives me the craziest is the comments section. They are clearly selected from some sort of menu with my kids' name in it and give me no additional information that I can't glean from their homework and the rest of the report card. I don't think it would kill elementary school teachers to actually write a short, personalized note for each student like mine had to back in the good old days. I'd rather read "Child asks interesting and insightful questions but needs to work on waiting until classmates are done speaking to contribute ideas." than "Child is studying fractions. Child is improving in reading analog time."

[Anonymous]

LOL, I read my first child's report card that "Larlo is a friendly member of our classroom community" and thought, great! Then I read my second child's report card that "Larlo is a friendly member of our classroom community" and thought, hmm. Less excited now.

I agree, the FCPS report cards are basically useless. If your child is really struggling (like a 1 or 2) then you probably would know from the teacher already.

[Anonymous]

I agree with the concern about 10 question tests. I've never understood why teacher give those because it really leaves no room to make mistakes. Luckily elementary school grades mean nothing so I just ignore them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:LOL, I read my first child's report card that "Larlo is a friendly member of our classroom community" and thought, great! Then I read my second child's report card that "Larlo is a friendly member of our classroom community" and thought, hmm. Less excited now.

I agree, the FCPS report cards are basically useless. If your child is really struggling (like a 1 or 2) then you probably would know from the teacher already.

Haha, we went from "Larlo is a friendly member of our classroom community" to "Larlo is a contributing member of our classroom community" and I'm wondering if I should read anything into it, LOL.

[Anonymous]

I don't think FCPS elementary report cards give any useful information.

Also, "effort" grades are so subjective as to be meaningless. My child with an IEP consistently puts forth more effort than my other child for whom school is easy, but it's not reflected in grades.

The IEP student feels bad at report card time because citizenship and effort grades are always lower.

[Anonymous]

Elementary reports cards are useless. If your child is having trouble academically or socially, you'll find out long before the report card comes home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Elementary reports cards are useless. If your child is having trouble academically or socially, you'll find out long before the report card comes home.

Especially in primary grades. When I taught first, I hated doing them. I kept asking my principal if I could just write every parent a letter. No luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Elementary reports cards are useless. If your child is having trouble academically or socially, you'll find out long before the report card comes home.

Especially in primary grades. When I taught first, I hated doing them. I kept asking my principal if I could just write every parent a letter. No luck.

They take forever (or what seems like forever) to complete.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:LOL, I read my first child's report card that "Larlo is a friendly member of our classroom community" and thought, great! Then I read my second child's report card that "Larlo is a friendly member of our classroom community" and thought, hmm. Less excited now.

I agree, the FCPS report cards are basically useless. If your child is really struggling (like a 1 or 2) then you probably would know from the teacher already.

Don't necessarily equate a 1 or a 2 to a bad grade. For example, the new FCPS writing rubrics have expectations listed for the end of grade level, so a student isn't expected to meet the criteria for a 3 or 4 at the beginning of the school year. At the top of the student rubric it reads something like "I'm on my way" for a 2 and "I'm starting to get it" for a 1. I'd have to look at the exact wording.

[Anonymous]

I recommend just cutting to the chase. Each report card should just say, on track to get into UVA or not. Nothing else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I recommend just cutting to the chase. Each report card should just say, on track to get into UVA or not. Nothing else.

Just one line with two boxes to check: Jail or Yale

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Elementary reports cards are useless. If your child is having trouble academically or socially, you'll find out long before the report card comes home.

Especially in primary grades. When I taught first, I hated doing them. I kept asking my principal if I could just write every parent a letter. No luck.

They take forever (or what seems like forever) to complete.

Hence all the teacher workdays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Elementary reports cards are useless. If your child is having trouble academically or socially, you'll find out long before the report card comes home.

Unfortunately, we've not found that to be the case. The communication from our kids' teachers has generally been piss-poor unless we initiate it or ask a question. This is most irritating as it relates to the kid with the IEP and the teacher/case manager who didn't bother to let us know he was having trouble with something pretty basic until an offhand comment at a meeting halfway through the school year that I had to ask a follow-up to get any information on. It was an easily solvable problem that I could have given several low-effort solutions for and even helped with myself, had someone bothered to tell me. That they never emailed us (or figure it out themselves, really) was ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

I hate doing report cards. They don't reflect what the students' strengths and weaknesses are. There isn't much room for flexibility. I wish we could just do a narrative report for each child.