It really depends on the teacher.

My kid's teacher gave straight 3s down the column in citizenship and the comments at the end were all clearly cut-and-paste comments.

My kid also got a 2 with no explanation in one of the sub-areas despite all the work in that area coming home having much higher scores. Got a 4 in all the other related sub-areas.

Last year, we got a lot more explanation from the teacher and things were much more aligned with what was coming home from school and the parent-teacher conferences.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can’t be perfect the first quarter, no where to go. Report cards are supposed to show growth.

This. A lot of teachers mark down in the first quarter so there is progress. Take this all with a big grain of salt. Also why is this in the AAP forum?

It has to do with learning and understanding how this applies to advance learning. Is this showing that the child needs more advanced work if they get 4s with lower effort?

I doubt it. My kid had solid 4's in citizenship and grades, does that mean he was working at the right level for him? The answer was no, he was in the 99th percentile in every diagnostic test that they gave. The 4 in citizenship just meant that he did his work, did what was asked of him, and didn't distract other kids. I would read a 3 similarly except that many be the child was a bit more chatty or fidgety. I would only be worried about 2's which tell me that my kid is not behaving appropriately in class and is probably distracting other kids regularly.

The committee is not looking at the citizenship/effort scores. They are glancing at the grades and looking at the test scores on the iReady/MAP and the HOPE scores.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can’t be perfect the first quarter, no where to go. Report cards are supposed to show growth.

This. A lot of teachers mark down in the first quarter so there is progress. Take this all with a big grain of salt. Also why is this in the AAP forum?

It has to do with learning and understanding how this applies to advance learning. Is this showing that the child needs more advanced work if they get 4s with lower effort?

I had effort grades on my report cards through HS in the 1980's, FCPS reintroduced them for MS and HS this year. I would guess that most parents ignored them when I was in school and parents will ignore them now. I know ES parents who shrug off low citizenship scores because "they are just kids" and "they will get better as they mature."

My kid finished his work quickly in ES. His teacher's had a list of activities that kids who finished assigned work could do. There were extra worksheets, that were more challenging, there was paper for drawing or writing a story, they could get books from the teachers' library in the classroom, and other offerings. I would be surprised to find an ES classroom that doesn't have different options for kids to complete once they finish their classwork.

Finally, plenty of parents post about sending their kid into school with a book to read in case their kid finishes their work early. I see that posted as a recommendation for parents who are getting calls and emails from teachers about their kids behavior being distracting when they have finished their classwork. The advice is to send in a book for the kid to read or look at the list of quiet activities that the teachers have listed for the kids to do.

The first thing we look at on my kids report cards are the citizenship/effort scores. We want to reinforce that his grades are important but what is most important is that he works to his potential and is not disrupting other kids learning. If he gets a C but he is making his best effort, then fine. We will look to work with him to help him understand the material. If he has an A and is disruptive, he is going to lose privileges because that behavior is unacceptable.

Anonymous wrote:My older brothers had all A’s, or the equivalent of, on tests and the like with no studying and all 2’s, or the eqvalent of a 2, in effort because they did nothing in class, didn’t participate, and let the teacher know that they thought he was an idiot. The letting the teacher know they thought he was an idiot was 8th-12th grade.

Smart kids can do well in school, even in advanced classes, with little effort. The grade does not reflect effort, it reflects mastery of the material. A kid can earn an A/4, show that they mastered the material, and still be disruptive or not doing other activities assigned when they are done with their work.

I would not be too worried about 3’s in effort, but maybe just ask your child what they do when they finish their work and suggest that they remember not everyone finishes as quickly and that they should find something to read or do whatever extra enrichments the teacher has set out for kids who are done. I would be having a conversation with my kid about behavior if I saw 2’s in the effort category.

Interesting.

First of, if they give "effort" grades in 8th-12th something is already off. It seems a useful feedback tool for elementary students, but in secondary education it has no place.

Second, "finding something to read" - how, exactly, do you do that in an age of censored Internet access and no textbooks? (I recall finishing my work way before the others did and spending hours sitting in school reading the textbook back to back, but my children today don't have textbooks and what they do on their Chromebooks is controlled by Dyno and Securly.)

Anonymous wrote:Can’t be perfect the first quarter, no where to go. Report cards are supposed to show growth.

This. A lot of teachers mark down in the first quarter so there is progress. Take this all with a big grain of salt. Also why is this in the AAP forum?

Anonymous wrote:Can’t be perfect the first quarter, no where to go. Report cards are supposed to show growth.

This is such a weird perspective. Some kids do actually achieve at high level every quarter and every year

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hello,

I’m a little confused by the report cards. My child is in grade 2 and has 4’s in most categories of a subject but a 3 in effort? What does that mean? Wouldn’t the 4s mean she’s making effort?

Damn. You were just waiting until midnight to log into ParentVUE for your second grader’s progress report? This is not normal.

No, man…. The school sent them home on Friday! 😂

I never out too much stock into these. It's 2nd grade and highly subjective.

Can’t be perfect the first quarter, no where to go. Report cards are supposed to show growth.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hello,

I’m a little confused by the report cards. My child is in grade 2 and has 4’s in most categories of a subject but a 3 in effort? What does that mean? Wouldn’t the 4s mean she’s making effort?

Damn. You were just waiting until midnight to log into ParentVUE for your second grader’s progress report? This is not normal.

MS report cards were available on line on Saturday, they might have been available on Friday night. I only looked because someone else had posted their kids report cards.

I would say that a second graders effort score is more a general topic, like in the FCPS thread, and not an AAP topic.

My older brothers had all A’s, or the equivalent of, on tests and the like with no studying and all 2’s, or the eqvalent of a 2, in effort because they did nothing in class, didn’t participate, and let the teacher know that they thought he was an idiot. The letting the teacher know they thought he was an idiot was 8th-12th grade.

Smart kids can do well in school, even in advanced classes, with little effort. The grade does not reflect effort, it reflects mastery of the material. A kid can earn an A/4, show that they mastered the material, and still be disruptive or not doing other activities assigned when they are done with their work.

I would not be too worried about 3’s in effort, but maybe just ask your child what they do when they finish their work and suggest that they remember not everyone finishes as quickly and that they should find something to read or do whatever extra enrichments the teacher has set out for kids who are done. I would be having a conversation with my kid about behavior if I saw 2’s in the effort category.

Anonymous wrote:Hello,

I’m a little confused by the report cards. My child is in grade 2 and has 4’s in most categories of a subject but a 3 in effort? What does that mean? Wouldn’t the 4s mean she’s making effort?

Damn. You were just waiting until midnight to log into ParentVUE for your second grader’s progress report? This is not normal.

Anonymous wrote:Hello,

I’m a little confused by the report cards. My child is in grade 2 and has 4’s in most categories of a subject but a 3 in effort? What does that mean? Wouldn’t the 4s mean she’s making effort?

Not necessarily. If a subject comes easily to your child, she might easily be able to get 4s on achievement without above-average effort.

Hello,

I’m a little confused by the report cards. My child is in grade 2 and has 4’s in most categories of a subject but a 3 in effort? What does that mean? Wouldn’t the 4s mean she’s making effort?