I have a voicemail waiting for me when I return to school on Monday from a very angry parent. She is upset after seeing her fourth grade son’s report card yesterday because his grades in reading and math went down from an A- to a B+. Really? Are elementary school grades really that important in a child’s life?
According to her message, this mom is especially upset because the teacher did not contact her to advise her that the grades were “dropping” this trimester.
So, I will need to call this parent on Monday to explain my points of view which include:
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The student received all +’s in the more important areas of Work Habits and Socialization. To me that is way more important than an A or a B.
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I have instructed our teachers to contact parents when a child’s grade drops significantly (e.g. from an A to a C). I agree that there should not be surprises for parents, and that a significant drop may signal an issue.
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In my opinion, going from an A- to a B+ is not significant, especially at the end of the school year when the curriculum should be the most challenging for students.
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This is elementary school. A child’s grades have no impact on his future. (Makes me wonder if the parent is internalizing this as if they are HER grades…)
I am interested if you agree or disagree with me on this issue. What would you tell this parent on Monday?
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You’re right on Dave. Too much pressure from early on for children to be ‘above average’ all the time. If every parent had an above average kid, wouldn’t that become the new average? With the stress and anxiety of childhood creating children who burn out by middle school, it’s time to help parents teach kids that the most important lessons of childhood are 1) feel good about yourself and live life with confidence and 2) learn to manage disappointments that occur in life. With those as the focus, children can manage anything that comes along!
Dave,
I agree with your points, and when I look at my own kids’ report cards, I focus on the descriptors and not the letter grades. But as long as the teachers are giving letter grades a all, especially as young as 4th grade, your points are, well, beside the point.
We, in schools, can’t have it both ways. We can’t say on the one hand that the grades aren’t as important, and that a drop from A- to B is insignificant, while at the same time listing the letter grade at the top of each subject area section on the report card.
As for your question about what to tell the parent, that’s a tough one. Rock and hard place time. There may be nothing you can say or do that will make a difference to a parent who has already taught her child that the difference between the A- and the B is worth calling the principal about. (Makes one wonder if there was a promise of a reward at the end of the year and the parent now faces the child’s disappointment at the loss of that reward.)
So I say do whatever you can to make your points to this parent and come to some sort of closure, but then start working as part of the district leadership team to walk your talk. If the district doesn’t believe that grades are as significant and they don’t reflect what’s truly important, then the methods of student feedback should evolve to reflect that. Until they do, it’s hard to blame parents (or students) if they continue to place undue importance on letter grades.
I think the first three things you are planning to tell her make perfect sense. The last, while I completely agree with it, may not go over as well. If elementary school grades have no impact on their future why do we give them? At least, that’s the question I would ask as a parent.
Is there any way to get this parent to focus on their child’s learning rather than simply on the grade?
The only way to get a parent to look at learning as opposed to grades is for the teachers and administration to make that the focus. As a society we do not, and though the grades may not have an impact directly, the fact that we give them and measure them means even if we say they are not that important, they must be or we would not keep track of it. There is a management adage that states “you can’t manage what you can’t measure and if you don’t want to manage it, don’t measure it”. The drop in grades for this student translates to about a 7% change. When managing anything 7%, is worth taking note. I do think however the anger of her call needed to be toned down. Education is a collaborative process and an angry phone call does not make for a smooth collaboration.
Report cards go out at several points in the year in the year for one reason…to let parents know how the child is doing…nothing more. If the truth were told, there were plenty of papers that went home over the trimester that gave that same message. Was the parent not paying attention?
Standards-based report cards….several school districts have chosen to go that route and it works great. Assessments are given and if the child doesn’t pass, the skill is retaught and retested, over and over until the child passes the assessment. By year-end, the child has had multiple opportunities to master each standard. Report cards are numbered. 1=area of concern; 2=progressing; 3=meets mastery; 4=exceeds mastery