Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Totally. Any kid who gets a B is certainly struggling. I mean B basically is a failure, right?

Well, multiple B's won't get you into a decent college. DD hasn't received any but just started 5th grade and we're wondering what to expect.

Multiple B’s won’t get you into a DECENT college?

You people are seriously sick. This is not healthy or normal in any way, shape or form.

What, planning ahead? Multiple Bs in high school won't even get kids into the program I went to these days. And if they can't manage As in elementary school...

Your ignorance is appalling. The average high school GPA for high school students is 3.30. There are thousands of colleges to pick from with a B average in high school.

Shows what you know. The median graduating GPA in Loudoun county where we live is over a 4.0. FCPS is similar. This is due to weighting of Honors and AP classes, and grade inflation in general. A "B" is not what it was when we were kids. At our elementary school an A = "exceeds the standard", a B = "meets the standard", a C = "progressing toward the standard." So, a C means you don't understand the material and a B means you understood exactly the minimum requirement and nothing more. In spelling for example, a B means you knew how to spell the assigned words, but could not spell the bonus words that followed the same pattern. Same idea in math. You can regurgitate what was taught but you cannot apply the principle to something similar but not the exact same.

I taught in an elementary school where we used a grading scale of 1-5. On the report cards it said that 5 meant “above and beyond.” Since this isn’t Lake Wobegone, I was comfortable grading students at 4 when that’s where their written work placed them, and few were showing achievement/knowledge that beat the standards. Parents freaked out that 4=B, which isn’t good enough. The number of phone calls and meetings I took that winter taught me that it was better to give inauthentic assessment scores than provoke parental anxiety.

In a lot of contexts (from reading remediation to professional certifications), a grade of 80% or better indicates mastery. Also, elementary assessments are short. Kids with attention issues and learning differences (15-50% of any classroom) often miss a couple of questions. It can be hard to keep an average above 90% in those situations. However, short frequent assessments are much more developmentally appropriate and less overwhelming than long assessments.

I’ve taught a lot of high-achieving kids, and so many of them are discouraged and experiencing low self concept because their parents pick apart every less-than-perfect grade they bring home.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Totally. Any kid who gets a B is certainly struggling. I mean B basically is a failure, right?

Well, multiple B's won't get you into a decent college. DD hasn't received any but just started 5th grade and we're wondering what to expect.

Multiple B’s won’t get you into a DECENT college?

You people are seriously sick. This is not healthy or normal in any way, shape or form.

What, planning ahead? Multiple Bs in high school won't even get kids into the program I went to these days. And if they can't manage As in elementary school...

Your ignorance is appalling. The average high school GPA for high school students is 3.30. There are thousands of colleges to pick from with a B average in high school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one cares about ES grades

You'd rather ignore signs that your child is struggling?

A B isn't struggling! It's average.

Average is...not good.

Average is average! It is by definition better than half of people!!!!

So you think that grades are a bell curve where half the kids get better than a C and half the kids get worse? That's not how it works...at all. But good luck!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Totally. Any kid who gets a B is certainly struggling. I mean B basically is a failure, right?

Well, multiple B's won't get you into a decent college. DD hasn't received any but just started 5th grade and we're wondering what to expect.

Multiple B’s won’t get you into a DECENT college?

You people are seriously sick. This is not healthy or normal in any way, shape or form.

What, planning ahead? Multiple Bs in high school won't even get kids into the program I went to these days. And if they can't manage As in elementary school...

Not how that works. I got B's in elementary school and still got A's in high school, undergrad and law school.

But the work gets harder. That doesn't make any sense.

Maturity plays into this so much. Getting an A in ES is really about good behavior and following instructions. Things like differences in intellectual curiosity, varied experiences and developing organized thinking make a big difference too; and these are cumulative contributions to intellectual development that may not be accessible at the ES level just yet.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Totally. Any kid who gets a B is certainly struggling. I mean B basically is a failure, right?

Well, multiple B's won't get you into a decent college. DD hasn't received any but just started 5th grade and we're wondering what to expect.

Multiple B’s won’t get you into a DECENT college?

You people are seriously sick. This is not healthy or normal in any way, shape or form.

What, planning ahead? Multiple Bs in high school won't even get kids into the program I went to these days. And if they can't manage As in elementary school...

Not how that works. I got B's in elementary school and still got A's in high school, undergrad and law school.

But the work gets harder. That doesn't make any sense.

Dp. A grade is only a proxy for understanding the materials. A grade is given based on a child's performance according to a grading rubric. A child therefore can master the material and still get a B if the child does not meet the standards the teacher set by the teacher, e.g. the above poster's example of showing one's work.

Alternatively, a child could master the material late (maturity issues, difficulty understanding a particular teacher, needs a different approach, missed lessons, etc) and still go on to do well in higher grades, where the grades matter more and there's more freedom for a child to learn on their own.

B's in ES is often due to lack of maturity, focus, and follow through. I mean, they're in elementary school. Everyone matures at a different rate. It does not mean that they will get all B's in HS.

Our ES doesn't give letter grades in ES. Probably for this reason.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Totally. Any kid who gets a B is certainly struggling. I mean B basically is a failure, right?

Well, multiple B's won't get you into a decent college. DD hasn't received any but just started 5th grade and we're wondering what to expect.

Multiple B’s won’t get you into a DECENT college?

You people are seriously sick. This is not healthy or normal in any way, shape or form.

What, planning ahead? Multiple Bs in high school won't even get kids into the program I went to these days. And if they can't manage As in elementary school...

Not how that works. I got B's in elementary school and still got A's in high school, undergrad and law school.

But the work gets harder. That doesn't make any sense.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With the exception of math, grades are very subjective in ES. So much at this level has to do with behavior.

In ES we had numerical grades, and I rarely got anything below a 97. In MS, suddenly I felt so…average. I felt like the things I was rewarded for in ES—being a docile, well behaved student—suddenly were not valued as much.

I was still diligent, and certainly didn’t feel as though I were any less intelligent than my peers, but I felt like they certainly spoke out much more, especially the boys. I do think MS/HS is when those once overly rambunctious little boys end up harnessing their energy in a more productive way.

My kid had solid Bs in math in ES despite As on tests. The teacher felt they weren't trying. It was no big deal because the grades don't matter

Then why grade?

I am not the poster that made the post but I would guess that the child wasn’t completing work in class and so is not earning an A. Or getting the right answer on a test but not showing their work. Something along those lines. There are good reasons for Bs when a kid is Acing tests. My brothers never turned in homework and were pains in their classes and got Bs even though they had perfect scores on tests.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are they a sign a student is struggling? Something everyone will get at some point? Just wondering.

B isn't a struggle.

I'm concerned it is if a child hasn't ever received one before.

A child in elementary school? Probably the first of many.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Totally. Any kid who gets a B is certainly struggling. I mean B basically is a failure, right?

Well, multiple B's won't get you into a decent college. DD hasn't received any but just started 5th grade and we're wondering what to expect.

You’re wrong. Students can get into a decent college with multiple AB’s on their high school transcript.

This is why many schools don’t give grades until middle school. They have terms like “meets expectations” with other choices and they write paragraphs on the child’s strengths and weaknesses. They also get onto more details, not just Math - B, Science - B. Parents stressing their kids about not getting all A’s in the 2nd grade is wrong.

Omg. I cannot even.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one cares about ES grades

You'd rather ignore signs that your child is struggling?

A B isn't struggling! It's average.

Average is...not good.

Average is average! It is by definition better than half of people!!!!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one cares about ES grades

You'd rather ignore signs that your child is struggling?

A B isn't struggling! It's average.

My child's teacher once told the class that a C is 'average', so that is what he repeated to us when he got a C in something that he just didn't put the effort in. My husband told him to go look up what an 'average' salary was in the US.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one cares about ES grades

You'd rather ignore signs that your child is struggling?

A B isn't struggling! It's average.

Average is...not good.

B means “good.” C means “average.” Average is fine. Your kids are going to be anxious af.