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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It's super annoying to receive these report cards as a parent. Like, I my bar was already pretty low for DCPS, but when I get these report cards I just feel kind of depressed that the place I send my kid to school every day doesn't even really know who he is. For example, he got all 4s in ELA, which I know he's okay at but not amazing. Then he got a 3 in music, when he's amazing at music - has been in piano since he was 3 years old, and just has always been very musically gifted. Also, iReady scores didn't seem to show much correlation with report card.[/quote]

Yes, it's this exactly. I'd rather receive nothing at all.

We had a good PT conference where the teacher clearly "got" my kid and his strengths/weaknesses/interests. Without that, this very generic, maybe inaccurate report card would have been kind of alarming.[/quote]

Yeah, same exact feeling about the DCPS report card. Always depressing, even though our PT conferences are great and it's clear that the teacher really does know my kid as an individual and has a very nuanced understanding of how well they are doing in every single subject and sub-category. Somehow it doesn't come through at all via the report card.

my one solace is that our older son is now in middle school (at a charter, but still) and the assessements are SO MUCH more detailed. So, I know better information is coming, i just need to wait a few years. [/quote]

If you have good PT conference experiences and the teacher demonstrates real understanding and interest in your kid, I don't understand why the report card is "disappointing." Because there's not a narrative description by the teacher describing their impressions? If you get this at the conference who cares if it's in the report card?

I think some of you are expecting way too much of what is basically a way for schools and teachers to document whether a child is meeting grade level expectations. That's it. If you need more that's what PT conferences are for and most teachers are happy to provide additional feedback between conferences if you have questions or concerns-- I've only had one teacher in 5 years in DCPS who wasn't responsive to an email with a direct question requesting feedback on my child's academic performance or classroom behavior/experience. And that one teacher was very responsive in PT conferences-- she was just older and I think struggled with email communication. i
If the report card is your only interaction with the teacher, that's on you. [/quote]

This! 100%. Why are you getting so worked up about one means of communicating your child's performance, especially in elementary school? Don't you have bigger fish to fry?![/quote]

The issue is that they're NOT communicating about my child's performance. It's not individualized at all, and some of it doesn't even seem applicable to my kid.

For example, does my child who has been reading fluently for over a year really need to focus more on isolating the individual sounds in CVC words? Based on DIBELS, iReady, conference, and what I know about my child, the answer is "no", but why are they sending out nonsense that makes me have to second guess that?[/quote]

If there's something in the report card that contradicts DIBELS, i-Read, or your personal observation, then email the teacher and say "Hi I am just looking for clarification on this..." and explain the issue. There may be an explanation that clarifies it or it may be an error.

I mean what were your report cards like as an elementary student? I remember my report card and it was a literal card -- I got a letter grade for each subject but it was similar to DCPS's numbered system (something like "E" for exceeds expectations, "M" for meets expectations, etc,) and then the teacher would write one or two sentences about me on the back of the card. Usually the comment would pertain to behavior and social stuff -- "Larla has done a great job working collaboratively with peers this quarter. She is working on staying on task during independent work." That's it. It was not a 5 page printed document with narrative explanations for each grade, assessment scores, etc. If my parents had questions they would of course address them during PT conferences but honestly as long as I was at or above grade level I don't think they really spent ANY time thinking about my academics at all. One of my brothers was diagnosed with dyslexia in 2nd grade and there was a lot more back and for with him to get him the support he needed but I didn't have those kinds of issues in elementary so it was kind of a set it and forget it situation.

Elementary grades are information only and don't count for anything. If anything is unclear or if you are worried about anything, just ask. But otherwise it's basically checking a box and is really not that important.[/quote]

It's obvious to me that the teacher didn't try. I'm not faulting her, as the level of detail required seems unreasonable. I'm also not going to waste more of her time clarifying something we both already know is wrong.

The point is that doing it this way is misleading and a waste of everyone's time. I was being serious when I said I'd rather get nothing at all. At least I know now to just ignore it outright.[/quote]

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