Word about Grades

By the time you (and your kids!) have gotten to 5th grade, you've had a lot of experience with our Standards Based Report card.  Unfortunately I've found that there are some inconsistencies, so I want to make sure you know up front how I use the scores.  On your child's report card you will probably see a lot of 2s and 3s -- these are the scores that I use the most, especially at the beginning of the 5th grade. A 3 is the target -- we'd like all 5th graders to be performing at grade level.  If a student gets all of the questions on a test correct, that would be a 3 because the student has shown that they have learned the concepts that were taught in class. I think some of the confusion comes in over the use of a 4. For a student to get a 4 in an area it is because they are showing that they are performing above the current level of a 5th grader.  So 100% on a test is not a 4; a student would need to get the challenges correct or do something extra to show that they are indeed performing above the current level of the class.  I know there are other teachers that assign 4s more liberally, so please make sure to communicate with your kids about their scores. We will talk in class as to what the grades mean as well.
~Erica
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