Reply to MCPS report cards -- how common is ES?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My kid got one ES in a special (forgot which one...bc these report cards are so silly...2.0 essentially makes grades meaningless). [/quote]

I think that's the point.  Elementary school (in this school of thought, not saying I agree or disagree) is to acquire skills and show that you acquired them.  They need to learn the material.  If it takes them 10 tries or 2 tries, they need to become "proficient."  Once they have learned it, time to move to something else, or go deeper.  It's a different mindset than in MS/HS, where students learn the matieral and then get graded on what they choose to do.  In a perfect world in which all students learn everything they are taught, the grading system of MS/HS is really grading effort.  The elementary school system with these report cards is showing what they have actually learned.  The work study skills grades tell you about their effort, which is essentially they part the student has the most control over.  That's what I immedaitely turn to now when report cards come home.

It made a heck of a lot mroe sense to me once I started looking at this way.[/quote]

This is BS.  Are you saying that a grade in MS Algebra denotes how much effort you put in?  No, it is supposed to reflect that you acquired the algebraic skills, because if you don't acquire them to a high enough degree, you can not move on successfully to the next level of math.  All grades should denote whether skills have been met or they are meaningless.  Work study skills grades are useless, IMO, since they are just holistically given by the teacher and not based on any documented performance, meaning they are highly subject to bias. [/quote]

No, that is not what I am saying.  Sorry if I was not completely clear.  In MS algebra, the student receives a grade based his performance on assessments.  It's possible that he can fully comprehend the material, but choose to put forth no effort [i]on the test[/i], and therefore fail.  The teacher couldn't just say "But I know he knows it, he gets an A."  If the same student were in 3rd grade and put forth no effort on an assessment, it is the teacher's job to find another way for him to show that he knows the material (through the "mutiple and varied ways of assessment"), especially if the teacher is confident that the student has in fact mastered the material.  Obviously if the student receives an A in MS algebra, he has acquired the skills AND shown that he has acquired the skills.  But if he fails, it does not automatically mean that he has not acquired the skills; it means that he has not [i]shown [/i]that he has.  Similarly, a student in high school could have great understanding of social studies, but rush through essays or tests and not try very hard.  Therefore her grade reflects the effort she put into demonstrating what she knows.  In elementary school, she should receive a P (or ES) because she IS proficient in that concept.  The teacher just needs to find a way for her to demonstrate that.

The elementary report card is showing what the student has learned.  MS/HS is showing what the student has done.

Like I said, this is the way of thinking with the new report cards, not a perfect representation.  I don't find it meaningless, just different than it was in previous years.  If you look at it in this way, it makes more sense.  If you don't want to look at it in this way, you will be just as baffled/outraged/frustrated as before.
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