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

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Can I ask a question a little off topic on grading here?
My son is in Kindergarten and while he is not gifted, he reads quite well and speaks well. His preschool and now his kindergaren teacher tell me he is doing very well and there are no concerns whatesoever.

He got an N on his report card for punctuation.  When I asked about this, the teacher said that it wasn't taught in the beginning of the year so all of his writing samples where he forgot a period at the end of a sentence would get an N for punctuation. Once it was taught, he did it and now gets a P on those assignments but they still average to an N.

This makes no sense.  Why grade writing samples for things that haven't been taught? We didn't emphasize it at home because it didn't seem like a big deal yet and it was never mentioned in school until a few weeks before report cards went out and at that point, he did what was asked. So he got an N because most of his writing samples were great otherwise but didn't have punctuation (even though he was never told to do that or even corrected).

This seems ridiculous.  It's only Kindergarten but is he going to get an N in second grade for not yet knowing Calculus?  I'm happy to teach at home but I had no idea this was something to focus on.

This new system is awful. I'm going to contact the teacher again and say this still doesn't seem right to me.  [/quote]

N stands for "not yet."  Is he putting in punctuation in his writing?  Nope, not yet.  It's on the report card because it's something that is covered later on.  And there are undoubtedly some children that ARE putting punctuation in their writing, even though it hasn't been taught yet.  The report card is a report.  I have tried to state this numerous times--the "grading" system is completely different and if you insist on attaching an ABCDE/OSN mentality, you will not understand it.  It's not about rewarding students, it is a REPORT to tell you what they have learned thus far.

If Calculus were in the curriculum for 2nd grade (not yet, possibly in 5 years it will be) and it had not been taught to him yet, he would get an N, because he was "not yet" proficient.

N does not mean he is doing poorly in the subject, it means he is not yet proficient.  And he is not yet proficient in punctuation.  It is not something you need to focus on at home.  His teacher will teach him, when that part of the writing curriculum arrives in the second semester.[/quote]

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