I need some help on how to address this. My son is in 3rd grade this year. This is the year where kids start getting the A, B, C designations on their report cards rather than E, S, or U. I have really liked his teacher this year and he seems to respond well to her.
We went to a parent teacher conference at the beginning of last month. She raved about how well he was doing. She showed us a couple of papers for math in which the grades were not very good. When we questioned this, she indicated that these papers were outliers and he really was doing well. I have brought it to her attention a couple of times when he struggled with his math homework and she said that he seems to be getting it in class.
Fine. His report card came home today and he had C's in both Reading and Math. He had B's in Writing and Science. He had A's in Social Studies, Art, Music and PE. Yet, his report card says that his progress is on level. I am extremely irritated. We do not see many graded papers come home so were going by the verbal feedback from the teacher. The elementary teachers for the most part will not use the online repository for grades provided by the county, therefore I cannot see the grades online either. These grades came as a surprise to us. If we had known that he was doing so poorly, maybe we could have done something to help him more. Again, we were going by the feedback given to us from the teacher. I have sent her an email expressing my surprise and requesting another conference. I have asked that she work with us to put together a plan for improvement because these grades are just not OK.
What else should I be doing here?
Schools see a C grade as average. Parents desire A and B grades--we see a grade of C as bad. That is the disconnect.
You have requested a conference. It is only the middle of the semester. If you want your child's grades to come up, fine, but don't let him know you are disappointed in this report card. It will be very counterproductive.
Grades only really matter in high school, for college applications. Before that, they are only an indicator, and you need to be careful not to make them the focus and thereby extinguish your son's fire.
"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire."
All I'm going to say is, please let it go and think hard about the actual value and importance of grades. Many schools have totally removed them. They are a hindrance, not an indication of progress or future success.
Well, a C is average. It's what they're supposed to be doing. Everyone can't make an A or it becomes just a C because it's average. She's telling you he's doing average, what is expected of him.
I don't know why you're expecting straight A's from him. He's supposed to be learning this not excelling at it right?
Typically a C means meeting standards/expectations. An A means exceeding expectations. You can always ask her about it. But don't go in with an accusatory tone. Just simply tell her that you want to understand better why your son got the grades that he did.
In our district elementary teachers don't use the online grade book either. The programs just aren't compatible to what elementary teachers do. We rarely see graded papers come home either. Sometimes daily work isn't graded, it is just monitored to see if the student is getting it. The grades come from assessments.
It might be a bit quibble-y, but in my mind, if my child has "mastered" something, then (s)he is able to do it very well, not *just* average. Otherwise it is not, in fact, mastered.
A defining of what the teacher's expectations are and your own would be in order, I would imagine.
If the grades are generated from numerical scores on assessments/tests, then a C may be "average" and may be "adequate" to pass the class, but not where I'd want my child to be on an assessment. Homework items, fine. Classwork while learning, fine. But on the assessment, I'd expect higher, frankly. And I don't quite know where we get the idea that "C" means average anyway. Is a score between 69 and 79 really the "average" score of all students taking that same assessment? Are the kids graded on a bell curve?
I'm sorry, but before my child moves on to the next item on the learning agenda (which likely builds on the last), I'd like some actual mastery. I'd like to see them scoring in the 90s on an assessment, indicating that *most* of the time, almost all of the time, they know what they are doing and can do it accurately.
I think it is a shame when kids are pushed along into the next thing when they have only attained the ability to do the work correctly 70% of the time. That is not a solid foundation to build upon. In my opinion.
I agree that I would ask for written work to come home once per week for you to see it. It can be very instructive to see what your child is not doing well, and what they are. And sometimes, to even see how confusing the questions or instructions are.
I, too, would be annoyed if my child's teacher had indicated they were fine, but in actuality were barely passing core subjects like reading and math. Especially (!!) math.
A, B, and C grades all show that a student is meeting the grade level standards.
If you aren't getting any feedback except for casual verbal check-ins, that's probably the reason for the disconnect. "He's doing fine." does describe a child doing C work. It's right "on level," just not "above."
Relative to the old E, S, U grades you were used to: E is and A or B. S is C or maybe a very low B. U is a D (or F if they give those in elementary school).
A "C" is average. I understand why you are surprised and annoyed but it really is not bad to get an average grade.
If I understood correctly, it's not just that he has a C in Reading in Math, but that you had no insight into how he was really doing. Verbal feedback is not enough, nor is a quarterly grade a good indicator on what your child has learned/mastered and how he's doing compared with his peers.
You should be able to see the work that is coming home, and how the grade is generated. Every Monday, I get the previous home work, class work and tests come home graded. It provides me insight into whether my son is understanding the work, staying focused during class time, getting careless, or learning how to take tests well. Your teacher should be doing something similar - keeping track of how your child is doing on their work over time. What matters is that your kid masters each concept, not just whether the average grade at the end meets your benchmark for success. If the teacher isn't providing graded homework back, then how does anyone know whether he's mastered the material??!?
I would demand that the teacher start sending graded papers home, and if she doesn't, escalate to the principal. Preface this in a tone of cooperation with her - that you want insight not just to how a grade is calculated, but to make sure you're on the same page with whether your son is "getting it", and that you want to encourage him to do his work carefully.
My kids are expected to get A's, because that is what they are capable of. In my mind, getting 100% on a paper means you truly understood the concept that was taught. Getting a 70% means you understood and were able to demonstrate 70% of the concept.
I stay in communication with my kids teachers on a regular basis to make sure we are all on the same page and expecting the same things from my kids. I don't much care if the teacher thinks a C is okay, it's not in my home.
However, my kids also know that they can get whatever grade they get and we will be okay with it - AS LONG AS they tried their best. If they get a C and we had no idea they were struggling, it's no good. If they were asking for help, telling us they didnt understand, etc and they still get a C....then we know they tried and cared enough to ask for help.
Like others have said, I would NOT make him feel bad about the grades, but I would tell him I expect him to ask for help if he doesn't get something or is confused. I would definitely meet with the teacher, tell her your expectations for the year, and work with her to make that possible for your son. It's really his responsibility to do this, but it takes the teacher and parents also working together to make it possible.
At this grade level, he should be able to give you an indicator of what he thinks his grade might be. Check with him on a daily basis to make sure he is understanding the work. I think the teacher failed a bit in keeping you in the loop since last month, but in the end, you need to be on top of these things. She has 22 kids (approximately) and you have yours. Good that you are going for another conference to clear things up. Another tip...take another look at what your expectations are and talk to your son. Before you know it, he will be going to middle school, and, our philosophy has always been to try for the B's and A's (mostly A's) because then you tend to get in the AP classes after elementary school (out of the general population). But don't stress out and don't pass on the stress to your boy. Just my two cents worth.
My dd is in 6th grade, and I do expect her to get As and Bs. I teach, and I've seen some people get very low C's who had not mastered the material at all and should probably retake the class. Even low B's can indicate gaping holes in their knowledge.
Does the school use a point system to assign grades? If so, then I think the teacher should be sending graded tests and papers home so you can keep an eye on it. If I were you I think you should tell the teacher that you would like to have him bring home all graded work from now on. That way you can monitor what he is struggling with.
Doesn't your school have an online system where you can see the grades as they're posted for each quiz, test, homework assignment, etc?
