Reply to Parents of difficult students asking for private school recommedation paperwork

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Here is how I begin negative narratives at my private school ([b]we aren’t allowed to write truly negative narratives for report cards or recommendations, but I’m sure the code is clear to other educators[/b]).

“Larlo is a confident, outgoing student with many good ideas.”

If he’s truly a nice kid, you could swap “friendly” for “confident.”

2.  “Larlo has made progress this semester in Skill A (name it in detail) and Skill B (name it).

[b]“Has made progress” is code for “was in the classroom and had a vague idea of what was expected of him,[/b] and he occasionally submitted enough poorly written material to indicate that he’s absorbed a bit of the vocabulary he heard in class discussions happening around him.”  It doesn’t mean good progress, and it doesn’t mean mastery of the material.

Feel free to wax descriptive when describing a few skills you taught: this can take up several lines of narrative.

3.  “Larlo is a pleasure to have in class and I wish him the very best of luck for the future.”

Not a lie because I’m sure he’s a pleasure to SOMEONE in the classroom for…comic relief?  A low bar that can allow hard-working other students the chance to feel good in comparison?  Also, this takes up another line and closes the narrative “compliment sandwich” structure my administration insists upon using to obscure all relevant criticism or advice.[/quote]

Not to detract from OP's original question but this has me worried that teachers can't write negative report cards. I went back to re-read my DC's report card after this because it has comments like "made progress in xxxx". Is that really code for he is below average in those subjects? I really don't understand why schools can't be open with parents especially when paying the huge tuition. [/quote]

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