Middle schooler failing - no word from school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not FCPS, but I noticed on my child's most recent report card it says in small print at the bottom "If your child fails a class, contact your child's counselor."

That note is on the report card. We don't get report cards anymore here in APS.

There are notes on the report card in parentvue

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sit down with your kid and his ipad and go through it together.

1) Go through studentvue/parentvue looking at the details for each assignment where he got a bad grade. Some teachers put in missing work as getting 50% of the points, so take that into account. Make a list of all assignments that are missing or need to be redone.

2) Go through Canvas and go through each classes page as well as the to do list, announcements, and mail. Make a list of all past assignments that are missing or need to be redone as well as upcoming work and tests.

3) For all assignments that your kid claims to have turned in that are marked as missing, sit there as your kid sends a message to the teacher asking about it. (You might need to dictate).

4) For all tests and quizzes that need retakes, similarly have your kid write to the teacher in canvas asking about it.

5) For unfinished work and upcoming tests, look at the list and prioritize how work will get done. You might need to help them study if they haven't had to study for tests before. Teach them how.

6) Check in daily with kid/ipad until grades improve. Slowly back off and let them take over, but continue to check parentvue frequently. Yes, middle school students should be able to do this on their own. But many need help, and this is the time to teach them how.

7) Consider if there are any underlying issues. If he's having issues with one or two classes, you might want to arrange a call with the teachers. If you suspect ADHD or learning differences, you could ask the school to assess him for special ed or get him assessed privately. If there are one or two areas that he needs help in, think about hiring a tutor.

I'd insert a different step for step one: Tell your child you're aware of their first quarter and current grades and it seems they aren't doing as well as they are capable of doing, and ask them why/what's the difficulty. Give them an opportunity to acknowledge/admit they're not doing their best and see what insight they have and level of responsibility they take for it. If it's all the teachers' or somebody else's fault, you have some additional work to do with your child to address that (trust me!). Then make a plan for the child to pursue with your oversight....

This is all solid advice.

I would add that if you have Csnvas and ParentVUE, the school has legally informed you of your child’s failures.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not FCPS, but I noticed on my child's most recent report card it says in small print at the bottom "If your child fails a class, contact your child's counselor."

That note is on the report card. We don't get report cards anymore here in APS.

There are notes on the report card in parentvue

Extremely unhelpful notes. Same notes that were on paper report cards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Obviously OP should reach out. But if there isn;t a requirement for counselors to document they have reached out to parents in these instances, there should be. It is frustrating to me that there is all this talk about equity in APS and then the school is depending on parents to reach out in situations like this. Obviously some parents have a lot more bandwidth to reach out than others.

I'm so sick of everything coming back to "equity." this has nothing to do with equity. Any family whose student, regardless of background, should be contacted. The policies and procedures should be the same for every student. The "inequity" part is that some parents take the initiative and others don't.

I hate the way they use “equity”. Really equity should mean that students who need more help, get more help. Passing everyone along without the kids learning anything doesn’t help anyone, least of all the kids who are failing and will end up leaving school with no skills.

That's correct! That's exactly what it means. People have gone off the rails and drifted far from this premise. Bottom line is, the schools are unable to provide each individual child with all the specific help they need. So, to keep things "equitable" (aka, on a level playing field), they reduce the expectations and standards for everyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With no scores below 50% (eg no 0s for missing assignments), mandatory retakes for anything under a B, how is anyone failing?

Retakes are mandatory in that we have to allow them. But a bunch of kids won’t bother doing the retake. They do not care. I will give an assignment and they say “what will my grade be if I don’t do this?” I tell them I don’t play number games like that. Do it or don’t and then deal with what the result is. You cannot imagine the amount of support we have to give to some kids to even pick up a pencil and LOOK like they’re attempting something. The kids who are gonna do it will do it and do fine but the ones who are failing even with all the buffers and protections we have in the policy to prevent failing are TRULY doing absolutely nothing despite reminders, redirects, help from teacher, retakes, etc. It’s wild. I don’t call anymore. It has never once resulted in the kid changing their behaviors. It just becomes me having to explain what I have done to justify why the kid won’t write down two sentences for an exit ticket.

I would want to know if my kid were behaving this way, what the actual heck, sorry you deal with this. It must be frustrating on so many levels.
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You might but the main thing I am told when I call home to inform them is “they said they did their work” or “I can’t do anything while they’re at school.” It is what it is.

+1, the amount of parents who say “well, they said they did they assignment” is crazy. If I’m reaching out then a) I’ve asked them multiple times and 2) they still have not done it yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am surprised the guidance counselor has not reached out. What is the point of guidance counselors if they don't reach out to parents in a situation like this? There could be something serious going on at home (parent in hospice etc) that could lead to a student failing classes and the parents not noticing.

It like many parents, OP has noticed and not done anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not FCPS, but I noticed on my child's most recent report card it says in small print at the bottom "If your child fails a class, contact your child's counselor."

That note is on the report card. We don't get report cards anymore here in APS.

There are notes on the report card in parentvue

Extremely unhelpful notes. Same notes that were on paper report cards.

What note would be more helpful?

[Anonymous]

You can go into your child’s iPad and canvas and see what has been submitted and what hasn’t. Also some kids submit blank or wrong assignments hoping to buy more time so the teacher thinks it’s a system error and asks for a resubmit. And so it will show as submitted when in fact it was not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not FCPS, but I noticed on my child's most recent report card it says in small print at the bottom "If your child fails a class, contact your child's counselor."

That note is on the report card. We don't get report cards anymore here in APS.

There are notes on the report card in parentvue

Extremely unhelpful notes. Same notes that were on paper report cards.

What note would be more helpful?

Specifics about my child's behavior or work quality or lack of effort or lack of work or whatever that would help illuminate the issues going on - or why they're doing so well. Rather than vague notes about what material they worked on that quarter. Something that explains "making progress" or other vague grading categories. For older children, just write that they are always late with their assignments, they don't complete them, don't do them, or are not understanding specific topics/concepts, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not FCPS, but I noticed on my child's most recent report card it says in small print at the bottom "If your child fails a class, contact your child's counselor."

That note is on the report card. We don't get report cards anymore here in APS.

There are notes on the report card in parentvue

Extremely unhelpful notes. Same notes that were on paper report cards.

What note would be more helpful?

Specifics about my child's behavior or work quality or lack of effort or lack of work or whatever that would help illuminate the issues going on - or why they're doing so well. Rather than vague notes about what material they worked on that quarter. Something that explains "making progress" or other vague grading categories. For older children, just write that they are always late with their assignments, they don't complete them, don't do them, or are not understanding specific topics/concepts, etc.

Your child’s teacher has 140+ kids. The report card comments are part of the grade entry system, not the teachers choice. And you have the chance to see them at conferences. But #1 send them an email. Don’t play some petty “who emails first” game here. Help your child.