Hey 21:30...you are quoting me. I'm not irate about the report cards....it goes deeper thn that. I have an older kid and three younger ones, so I can compare mcps pre and post 2.0, and I assure you that there is a big difference. The silly report cards are just an annoyance. The fact that the math curriculum is abysmal is appalling. Given all the resources mcps has, you would expect more. Just wait until you have to invest a great deal of time, money and energy into supplementing what has BECOME a rather mediocre education.

By your subject line, I assumed you had a first grader. Is that correct?

My first grader received several ES's and the rest were P's. That gives me a clue as to her strengths. The system is far from perfect - I personally would prefer some actual sentences from the teacher, but if your child is older than kindergarten, and receiving straight P's, then your child is doing well for the grade level, without being exceptionally above grade level.

Don't count on the ES grades meaning that your child has strengths. We received a few ES grades that I found odd considering areas where DS was stronger were P grades. His report card seemed to reflect the reverse of his actual academic abilities. The examples that the teacher gave for the ES were not about him being strong in that subject. He just demonstrated knowing something before it was taught. He happened to do a camp in one of those subjects which is why he knew that skill. In the areas with P, she said that he was stronger in those areas but there is no way to get an ES in those subjects.

So basically, the ES and P grades mean nothing other than your child hit the mediocre bar that we set for P. Your child probably entered this year knowing this material, so your child is getting a P for not de-evolving, good job. Your ES is random and doesn't reflect that we taught him anything new or he learned something new. Its our reward to you for getting your child to learn this before we ever presented it so we don't have to do it.

This really makes the VA > MD point.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:By your subject line, I assumed you had a first grader. Is that correct?

My first grader received several ES's and the rest were P's. That gives me a clue as to her strengths. The system is far from perfect - I personally would prefer some actual sentences from the teacher, but if your child is older than kindergarten, and receiving straight P's, then your child is doing well for the grade level, without being exceptionally above grade level.

I don't think that is necessarily true. My 3rd grader has not received an ES on his report card all year and he was accepted to the Highly Gifted Center magnet. Some teachers give out very few ES grades. If your child doens't receive them it doesn't necessarily mean that they aren't performing exceptionally above grade level (is that what ES stands for?).

For one, there is great variation among individual teachers as to their interpretation of when to give an "ES" grade. But I also have a 3rd grader who got no ES grades but was accepted at the Gifted Center. However, I don't think this means the grades were wrong. He wasn't doing "ES" work. He was coasting, basically, just doing what was required and no more. This could be because he was under-challenged and bored (or because he was lazy. I think it was the first) But there is a difference between a student's performance and his or her potential.

That was not the case with my HGC-accepted 3rd grader who received no ES grades. He is neither lazy nor coasting. His teacher just doesn't give out ES grades.

My DD has only received one ES on a report card but her teacher has said she is one of two of the strongest students in the class. Some teachers/schools aren't using ES much. May have little to do with how well they are performing.

I'm 16:08. There are plenty of areas where my daughter received a P because she provided the answer requested and no more. It doesn't reflect her ability at all. She is just very literal, and if you ask her for one descriptive word, that's all you are getting from her.

She receives an ES on her work that comes home when she really gives an detailed explanation of why or how she got the answer, or otherwise really goes above and beyond. Her reading level is way above grade level, and she received an ES for foundational reading skills (but none of the other elements under reading).

She also received an ES for making art (or whatever that one was called). I was surprised the art teacher was paying that much attention, but honestly, she's kind of gifted when it comes to art, and her work really stands out among her peers.

And then this marking period only, she received an ES for a math element. The work that came home consistantly had ES's on it - I guess my daughter was just really in the mood to explain her answers for this type of problem?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:By your subject line, I assumed you had a first grader. Is that correct?

My first grader received several ES's and the rest were P's. That gives me a clue as to her strengths. The system is far from perfect - I personally would prefer some actual sentences from the teacher, but if your child is older than kindergarten, and receiving straight P's, then your child is doing well for the grade level, without being exceptionally above grade level.

I don't think that is necessarily true. My 3rd grader has not received an ES on his report card all year and he was accepted to the Highly Gifted Center magnet. Some teachers give out very few ES grades. If your child doens't receive them it doesn't necessarily mean that they aren't performing exceptionally above grade level (is that what ES stands for?).

For one, there is great variation among individual teachers as to their interpretation of when to give an "ES" grade. But I also have a 3rd grader who got no ES grades but was accepted at the Gifted Center. However, I don't think this means the grades were wrong. He wasn't doing "ES" work. He was coasting, basically, just doing what was required and no more. This could be because he was under-challenged and bored (or because he was lazy. I think it was the first) But there is a difference between a student's performance and his or her potential.

Anonymous wrote:By your subject line, I assumed you had a first grader. Is that correct?

My first grader received several ES's and the rest were P's. That gives me a clue as to her strengths. The system is far from perfect - I personally would prefer some actual sentences from the teacher, but if your child is older than kindergarten, and receiving straight P's, then your child is doing well for the grade level, without being exceptionally above grade level.

I don't think that is necessarily true. My 3rd grader has not received an ES on his report card all year and he was accepted to the Highly Gifted Center magnet. Some teachers give out very few ES grades. If your child doens't receive them it doesn't necessarily mean that they aren't performing exceptionally above grade level (is that what ES stands for?).

By your subject line, I assumed you had a first grader. Is that correct?

My first grader received several ES's and the rest were P's. That gives me a clue as to her strengths. The system is far from perfect - I personally would prefer some actual sentences from the teacher, but if your child is older than kindergarten, and receiving straight P's, then your child is doing well for the grade level, without being exceptionally above grade level.

There is a number score?

you can ask the teacher for the number score for each grade to see if the child is actually progressing. I don't know the actual numbers, but an I is between some numbers and then it's a P if it's above those, or an N if it's below that set, so there is something you can learn from the card - it's just not given out unless you actually ask for it!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

It's a good thing MCPS is free, because our children really aren't learning anything. I'll have to supplement a great deal this summer.

This just makes me so angry. Have you ever lived in a truly bad, or even just an average school system? You have a school system with so many resources, such committed parents, and such bright kids, and you come on here and complain that the report card is written with the wrong letters. You are either ill-informed or suffering from a kind of status anxiety that compels you to assert your apparent superiority over the whole county school system.

She probably could have used more tactful words but the need to supplement is real, at least in Math.

Anonymous wrote:

It's a good thing MCPS is free, because our children really aren't learning anything. I'll have to supplement a great deal this summer.

This just makes me so angry. Have you ever lived in a truly bad, or even just an average school system? You have a school system with so many resources, such committed parents, and such bright kids, and you come on here and complain that the report card is written with the wrong letters. You are either ill-informed or suffering from a kind of status anxiety that compels you to assert your apparent superiority over the whole county school system.

Metacognition - how do you know what you know. This seems to me like a useful learning skill, including for six-year-olds.

They will all be tested soon enough. In grades2 and 3 there are many standardIzard tests. And there is also the MapM and Map R which are given three times a year.