Forgive Me if I Vent a Little

I'm a little frustrated. Very frustrated. I need to vent about this but it is very complicated and I'm not sure that I will be able to explain it very clearly, especially with all of my frustration. But I'm going to give it a try.

The school system is introducing a new grading standard for first and second graders. (Jonathon is in the second grade) They told us that they were introducing this new standard a couple of weeks after school started but nothing really changed as far as the papers that were sent home. Meaning that the papers were still sent home with number grades such as 102, 79, 93. These grades were a way for us as parents to tell what our children were doing well at and what they were struggling with. We got our first report cards for the year last week. And they did not reflect these number grades at all. This is a copy of our new grading system.



Jonathon came home with a report card that simply had P's on it. No more numbers to let me know what his particular strengths and weaknesses are, just p's letting me know he is 'progressing'. And can I just say that if I am sending him to school every day he better darn well be 'progressing'.

I went up to the school the next day to complain about the report cards and how insufficient they were for giving me the information that I need to help my child succeed and the lady told me, ' It doesn't really matter if you complain because this will be going statewide next year.' To which I became very red in the face and suddenly felt very hot. I said, (very calmly might I add) that as long as my child was in the public school system I feel like I have every right to complain about whatever I felt neccessary and that she should not really tell people that their voices won't be heard. She said she would have the guidance councilor call me to explain the system to me.

The guidance councilor called to give me some much needed guidance. It sounds like every child brought home the same report card because they should all be 'progressing' toward 'mastery'. She explained that the teachers have a very specific criteria that they access the kids with and there is not a child that will have mastered everything in the beginning of the school year. We had a long talk and I still was not 'drinking her kool-aid' if you know what I mean but she said that I would remain informed.

Then this week I got a note home that said they would have a meeting about their new grading system and I immediately called Echo. Echo has been equally up in arms over this whole new system. So, she was just as excited for the opportunity to vent about the new system as I was.

And vent we did. We got to the school for the meeting ready to see all of the others parents who must have been just as confused by this new system as we were. There were 2 other parents there. There must be at least 160 kids in 2nd and 1st grade at our school and 2 other parents cared enough to find out what the heck was going on. At this point I don't know what I'm more upset about. The fact that this big change is going on and I'm afraid my child will lose his motivation to excel or the fact that they can change all of this and the parents are too busy to care.

In the end last night the Principal explained that this is what the schools will be going forward with and they will even change it for the 3rd and 4th graders in the next few years. I do understand the system, now, and it does seem to be a more effective way for the teachers to see strengths and weaknesses. I think the only problem will be the communication to the parents because telling me my child is 'progressing' pretty much tells me nothing, right?