It's report card time again in my district and parents have grabbed their signs to protest the standards-based rating grades.... yet again. This is not the first time the controversy has arisen since the elementary school began using a one through three rating scale for standards reporting but the rumble this quarter has been the loudest in its 4 year project implementation. Why begin complaining now, 4 years into , what parents are calling, the experiment? What is making this year or grading different than any other?
I am writing from a unique perspective in the standards-based grading “experiment” because I am a teacher who has taught and assessed in a traditional and standards-based grading schools and I am a parent of a child who has participated in the standards rating system since they entered school four years ago. I see both sides of the controversy and both have valid points of confusion, mistrust, and values that feed this fire of protest. As a parent, it has taken some time getting used to seeing one's, two’s and three’s written on a paper rather than a score based off the traditional 100 point scale. I am a child of traditional grading, like most parents with school-aged children in my area, translating the meaning of a 1-3 proficiency rating has been difficult in a district where most students will attend a secondary form of education and where state lottery scholarships are based on a GPA rating in high school. I constantly hear parents concerned about what standards-based grading will look like at the high school level and how will their child fair in the pool for college funding. The other loudest complaint from the parent group has been lack of knowledge on how their child is doing in school. A four page report of every standard, in all subjects, with a 1-3 rating, comes home four times a year for each student in my child’s grade. It is overwhelming to weed through the laundry list of state standards with a concerned perspective that all parents feel for their child's education if they have never been educated on the information a standards-based report card can give a parent. It is also difficult to judge or monitor a child's progress if the teacher provides minimal feedback throughout the process, in between each reporting period. I have learned so much about my child's learning through standards-based grading proficiency levels and reporting, but I'm not the average parent. Teachers carry a heavy responsibility for multiple children’s well being everyday and they are beyond overworked. Adding new educational thinking and processes is another item placed on the platter of work for a classroom teacher trying to love, care, and educate any child who walks through their door. I am proud to be a teacher in my district and feel supported by my parents and administrators, I just need them to get on the same playing field with standards-based grading. As a teacher, I know and have educated myself in the implementation and benefits of reporting students knowledge of standards with a proficiency rating. Not all teachers involved in grading standards with proficiency levels have had that professional development and shift in culture, leading to confusion and lack of continued feedback to parents. When you are trained in feedback protocols or proficiency level grading you understand that the personal, detailed comments to students and parents on work, are the most powerful and informative in the progress reporting for standards-based grading. Everyone in this situation, parents, teachers and the school, are working toward a common goal, high achievement for our children. No one is in the wrong here and no one is asking for anything outside a normal realm of care and compassion for the children. We all need to be educated. Educated on the benefits of proficiency leveled standards-based grading, how to give and get feedback, and how to communicate needs and confusion to all parties involved. I am passionate about Standards-based grading as a teacher and parent. I want to see this “experiment” through and learn about my child, how they learn, and what they know. I want to support the classroom teachers as they struggle to give students and parents the best of themselves through this process. I want the school administration to see the need to teach parents about the importance of standards based reporting and provide high- quality professional development and supportive culture for its teachers. Most of all, I have a passion to educate my own child with all the tools and love I have to provide. Success looks different for every person and whatever success is for my child will come from every ounce of support I can give them. I will use standards-based reporting as part of that support. Where are you with standards-based proficiency level reporting? Who is doing it right at the high school level? Thanks for adding to the conversation with your comments, questions, and concerns. |
Amy DentInstructional Coach, tech geek, news junkie, and passionate about learning. ArchivesCategories |