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[quote=Anonymous]I have always been fine with the DCPS report cards. I think the key for me is that I don't view it as the definitive source for how my kid is doing. It's a data point.

There were times when my kid's grade didn't reflect, in my opinion, their aptitude in a subject. What I discovered in those cases was that my kid had other issues that were making it hard for her to demonstrate aptitude. She was very shy her first several years of elementary school and this led to lower grades in specials because the teachers spend less time with the kids -- they didn't know how to draw my kid out of her shell and often she would minimally participate because she felt uncomfortable with this teacher she didn't know that well. Those grades have improved as she's gotten more comfortable at the school and seen the same specials teachers year after year and also has she's gotten less shy generally.

Other grades have wound up being a flag that she needed help learning the technology they use in class -- we don't do much screen time at home and don't even have computers with a regular mouse. Turned out that was making it harder for her to participate in certain activities in school where they use computers.

When I want detailed info about my kid's reading or math levels, I look at their i-Ready assessments and DIBELS score, as well as discuss it at PT conferences. I don't view grades to be as useful in that respect because at this age kids are not producing a lot of "work product" to be graded. They are skill building and practicing and assessment tests are a better way to measure that. However if I saw a 1 or a 2 on any subject I would view that as a reason to contact the teacher and discuss the issue. And teachers will usually reach out in that case anyway. But generally my kid gets 3s and 4s and this lets me know she's generally on track, but I also seek out other resources to round out that picture.

A 2nd graders report card is just really different than a 7th or 11th graders report card. You have to know how to use it as a tool.[/quote]

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