I concluded there is no way to receive an "exceeds" for my kid in 1st grade. He received a "3" in "able to add and subtract within 20." I have a paper where he had to write ten number sentences that equal 12. This is what he wrote:
6+6=12
10+2=12
-10+22=12
√144=12
4x3=12
6x2=12
20-8=12
36÷3=12
24x½=12
12+0=12
When I asked how that didn't exceed the standards, the answer was because he used things they weren't taught in class (!). I don't see the cupcake at all.
Your son missed the implied instructions on this paper where he was supposed to use addition. Therefore the answer is incorrect.
All the other kids probably wrote the answer they were looking for therefore there is nothing wrong with the way the question was worded. Right?
This type of grading of questions continues even more when they get older. Take short answers questions for social studies or science classes. Teachers are often grading these by looking for a set of key words or phrases, ie expecting kids to be regurgitating what they just learned. The gifted kid might answer the question but use different language, or in a more complex way and get the problem "wrong" because they didn't use the expected vocabulary. Teachers aren't usually testing/assessing if a students knows "more" than what they have just taught. And showing that you know more on a test/assessment can often get your graded wrong even if it's a more elegant answer.
