Standards-based report cards

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“Identify, compare and describe attributes of 2-D solids.”

“Comprehend grade-appropriate text inferentially.”

These were two lines on my children’s report cards this year, the first for my second grader, the second for my fifth grader. Instead of receiving letter grades in a subject, or on homework and tests, the children received a number from 1-4.

4 Exceeds the expectation for this standard at this time
3 Meets the expectation for this standard at this time
2 Making progress towards this standard at this time
1 Does not meet the expectation for this standard at this time

So 4 is an A, 3 is a B, 2 is a C and 1 is a failure? No.

My son, for example, might bring home a spelling test with all the words correct. That will be a 3, because you really can’t “exceed expectations” on a spelling test, unless the teacher threw in some extra credit. But a spelling test with a few words wrong might also be a 3.

My son, who has a bit of a perfectionist streak, went nuts the first few times this happened this year. Now he kind of shrugs his shoulders and says “hey, a 3’s a 3, right?” No. It’s not. Now practice those words you missed, or solve that math problem correctly.

I bring all of this up because Monday, Grafton Elementary School will host “After the 1st Year,” forums addressing the Standards Based Report Card, which the schools adopted for Grades K-5 this year. One session is at 10 a.m., the second is 6 p.m.

I’m not a big fan of the new report cards. I like clear writing. I hate to see words abused.

And it would be nice if my second grader could read and understand her own grades — right now, she looks down at the rows of 2s and 3s and says “so I did okay?”

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Tags: report cards, standards based grades