"I think older teachers tend to be little more generous in giving out good grades. "


OP here: It's interesting that you said this. Last year's kindergarten teacher was an older one with a lot of experience and this year's first grade teacher is a recent graduate. My child was praised a lot last year, and this year the teacher is much tougher and stingy with the praise. FWIW, my child responds much better to praise and verbal encouragement than strict discipline.

If the teacher thinks the kid is really outstanding, he/she will give out Os, but usually they tend to give better grades towards the end.

I think older teachers tend to be little more generous in giving out good grades.

In my experience, first quarter grades are always the toughest. As explained to me, they grade on where the child should be at the end of the year. So a skill that starts as an "N" (not at grade level in Sept/Oct) should improve in subsequent quarters, if for no other reason than the student matures.

Honestly, my experience is always disappointment/shock with the first quarter grades, followed by improvements the rest of the quarters. Part of this is undoubtedly knowledge--okay, be sure to put more effort into your spelling, or remember, even if you know it, you have to show it on the test--and I think part of it is the teachers having room to show the kids' improvement.

Anonymous wrote:Yes, especially in first grade. And you have to take into account that the report cards in FCPS leave a lot of room for teacher interpretation.

My son was given an S in the first quarter for spelling in first grade. This was after he literally spelled every word and every surprise bonus word on every spelling test right for the entire quarter (each one was graded an O+). Same in math. Every paper that came home had an O+ and a sticker, and he was given a G on his report card.

But how is a kid supposed to get an O?

I've essentially just decided that the grades are way too subjective to worry about.

I had this very same prob with my child last year. Her teacher told me that while dd was acing the tests, in her actual schoolwork she was misspelling simple words. I told dd to slow down and check her spelling in class before turning it in. She did, and she got an O next quarter.

Still waiting to receive my son's report card...hopefully will be soon.

Yes, especially in first grade. And you have to take into account that the report cards in FCPS leave a lot of room for teacher interpretation.

The teachers always explain their ideas about the grades and how an S is very good and where a child should be, and a G means that the child did extra, and an O means they went way above and beyond. But when I see a grade on a paper, the teachers really do seem to equate them to letter grades despite what they say. A test with a lot of mistakes is an N, several mistakes is an S, one or two is a G, and none is an O.

My son was given an S in the first quarter for spelling in first grade. This was after he literally spelled every word and every surprise bonus word on every spelling test right for the entire quarter (each one was graded an O+). Same in math. Every paper that came home had an O+ and a sticker, and he was given a G on his report card.

But how is a kid supposed to get an O?
How do you go above and beyond in Math? Either it's correct or it's not.
And if you're told to write a sentence and you write a paragraph, some teachers might interpret that as "going above and beyond" and others might interpret it as not following directions.

I've essentially just decided that the grades are way too subjective to worry about.

Anonymous wrote:This is our second year in p.s. (pre-k and now k), and I'm becoming more convinced that the teachers deliberately leave room for improvement on the first quarter report card just to make a showing that the kids have improved over the course of the year - I'm assuming because the principals review the report cards. There were definitely a number of areas on DC's report card marked "beginning" or "developing," where I know DC is rock solid.

Is this the new report card?

We had skills-based report cards in California, and this was done to take into account the progress of the class towards the specific subset.

So, for example, you might have a first grader that can add 3 digit numbers, but if the class has only just introduced addition the child would be scored a 1 or 2 (equivalent to beginning or developing) regardless of whether the child had mastered that material on their own. It was a crazy system.

I hope the new fc report cards are not like the ones in California. They were frustrating and not accurate in my opinion.

OP here: I had a conference with the teacher and she pointed out areas that my child needs to work on, but she also had a lot of positive things to say. I guess I was just surprised when I saw the actual report card that there were more N's than I expected.

If my child has been struggling like the report card indicates, I wish I had been told earlier in the term so we could help out more. The paperwork has been coming home with stickers and positive comments, so I'm a little disappointed. Kindergarten went very well for us and I don't want my child to start disliking school.

As a teacher, I do not usually give many N's... however I do give a lot of S's in the first quarter. I feel like I'm still getting to know the kids and if I give them an O or a G and figure out 2nd quarter that they really are having issues it is easier to work up to an O/G than to drop them down and have the parents question why something was going well first quarter and then not well later on. You can certainly talk to the teacher, but I wouldn't worry too much until 2nd quarter grades come out and see what kind of improvement there is.

This is our second year in p.s. (pre-k and now k), and I'm becoming more convinced that the teachers deliberately leave room for improvement on the first quarter report card just to make a showing that the kids have improved over the course of the year - I'm assuming because the principals review the report cards. There were definitely a number of areas on DC's report card marked "beginning" or "developing," where I know DC is rock solid.

N=Needs Improvement

I think the teachers are harder in the first quarter to motivate the kids. You should definitely schedule a meeting with the teacher. Did it come as a surprise? I'm surprised the teacher didn't bring it up in the PT conference.

What does N stands for?

Yes, I am harder the first quarter because most students need improvements in some areas.

No, I don't think they're tougher. On the other hand, your child may be going through an adjustment period depending on his preschool experience and he may get the hang of things as time goes by.

Report cards came home today and my first grader had more than
a few N's after doing pretty well in Kindergarten (or so we thought).

Are teachers usually tougher during the first grading period? I think we're going to have a long year ahead.