Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy How to approach to teacher about an unfair report?

We actually have a somewhat similar situation... Similar type grading and allegedly no one gets a "4" until maybe the last quarter. (And I have a 2e - dysgraphia and Ehelers Danlos). Honestly, I try not to let it get to me.... This year, DS constantly gets the equivalent of "3" (at least until the end of last when he got his "4s") and yet his achievement scores are so high. For example, in math, he constantly scores in the 93rd%ile on the WIAT, KTEA, and the WJIII and yet he has only ever gotten a 3 this year (though he ended last year with a "4"). In reading he is the highest reader in his class and has scored in the 4th grade level on a variety of reading tests (DRA, QRI, WJIII, etc) and yet he only got a "3" I find that odd. I also find this teacher seems to really tend to downplay where he is and his accomplishments/achievements. I get this vibe from her. But I don't let it get to me. Grades mean little in elementary school. I actually tend to keep his report card from him because he gets a little demoralized when it seems like the report isn't reflective really of where he is. And he keeps getting all those "needs work" on things like "listening" and "following directions" etc.. Our school calls those measures "qualities of a learner," which I think the teacher wants me to be more concerned about (b/c she'll draw my attention to them or reference them at the conference) but I barely look at those. I usually forget to look at them as they mean nothing to me... In fact, the better he does on those measures the more I'd be worried he was becoming a mindless compliant zombie. LOL. There is no "creative" on there, no "willing to take risks" on there, no "thinks outside the box" or "questions authority and thinks critically" on there - quite the opposite. So I try not to let it get to me.

Hope that helps a little.

I agree that going in with an attitude of wanting to understand the grading system is the way to go. I have done this before with really good results, the teacher was very open to sharing.

For perspective, these grades in Elementary school may not be that important to your child's overall school/college/life experience. There definitely is fair/not fair, etc, but when building rapport with a teacher and school, it might not be the battle you want to choose.

I have heard through the grapevine that our school's teachers are NOT supposed to give out 4's unless there is clear evidence that a 4 is deserved. Someone above them gives this pressure not to give the high grades. This means that most children who are doing very well in school only get 3's. Now, many of our academically talented children may deserve the 4, but the teacher may not see evidence of that (because the tests they have don't show anything above what they would grade as a 3, etc)...

I agree with your opinion that the behavior grades may belong in a different section than academic skills, but I still recommend going in with a good attitude. You may find that just by working with the teacher, s/he will get to know your child better and be able to give higher grades next term.

Good luck with your meeting!

Thanks so much, I will report back after the meeting tomorrow.

Irena - Your comment definitely helps. Maybe I should understand how it is calculated (for my own sanity), but try not let it get to me or DD...

I didn't show her grade report to her as well. Just two weeks ago, she had a 2 page math homework. 1 page required, 1 page optional (with challenged problems). She finished required work and half of optional part, then it was sleep time. The first thing she told me in morning was that she didn't finish the all of challenge part and if she could finish it after eating her breakfast quickly. Then she finished it proudly and went to school. And now, how can I show her the report card with actually dropping grades? :-S

Please don't worry unnecessarily regarding my gaps comment. It was generally true for my DS but he had ADHD and dysgraphia and was in a stand-alone GT classroom. Your DD may hit her groove at any time as there are wide ranges in the development schedule for maturity and executive functioning. The output expectations went up considerably year by year and it became more difficult for him to keep up with the output (input was no problem). However, he eventually qualified for an IEP so that exceptions could be made for him. Second grade was when the first signs appear for DS.

Awww,sweet little thing! Yes, this is kind of what we have. DS does all of the "enrichment" He ALWAYS tris the extra challenge part of the test and will work on it for hours if allowed, etc... And sometimes I feel like all this teacher ever notices is the negative. She is very focused on what she doesn't like. (Incidentally, she was pushing the adhdh thing too.) I think for some teachers, even many teachers, the kid that gets the "4" is the kid that is "compliant." The kid that fits neatly into the box. I feel like my son's teacher, if she could, would totally say to me "I don't care how smart you kid is and how far above the others in the class he isn't a 'good little compliant boy' who sits still and doesn't argue so I am not giving him the "4." The "4" is reserved for the kid who walks down the hall with hands behind his back quietly. The 4 is for the kid who doesn't argue with me when I tell him octopi is the plural of octopus or when I tell him that "a, an, the" are not adjectives."

My thing I focus on is his achievement tests as long as they are consistently high and consistently show progress, I try to disregard the report card grades. As I really think elementary school grades are too subjective in general.

Exactly as Irena says-- and just note that sometimes our kids wind up with.... well, the Russian figure-skating judge, for lack of a better way of putting that.

Also worth noting is that a skill versus EF gap may be APPARENT in HG children until quite late in adolescence-- in part this is because the asynchronous development is most striking in this pair of domains. That is, they give the IMPRESSION of being older, and if anything, many of them have barely age-appropriate EF that are slower to develop.

I gather that ultimately this is a developmental thing with HG+ people, and it's not indicative of ADD/ADHD necessarily. We're seeing our DD's EF catching up ONLY NOW. She's 14, and her EF is hovering between what would be appropriate for 13-18yo, roughly. Varies depending upon the day, truthfully. She also finds it a lot harder to stay attentive when the work/task is too easy.

About elementary grades...

With our DD in K, 1st and September through January of 2nd we got similar reports. Competences in English, Maths and Science that we knew she had were apparently absent from her school work. We decided that a) grades at these ages count for nothing b) confirmation bias means the elementary teachers are only tuned into evidence showing that kids do not have skills because most do not have the early blooming skills that our kids have c) the teachers have to put in something as a learning need it seems.

By not challenging our DD's teachers over this because at the end of the day we knew she did have the 'missing' skills for a couple of years or so teachers were a lot more supportive when we presented evidence of both her aptitude and her achievements in February of 2nd grade. Then we got the 'So that's why she didn't want to do the extra worksheets!' And a total about face from them because the confirmation bias now reversed its polarity LOL

Wrt the perceived wandering attention IMO, you should do more testing as your DD's apparent lack of focus may be lack of challenge sufficient to hold her focus.

We had a similar experience with DS in grade 1. At the first report card we were urged to test him for ADHD-I. We tested and he came out gifted/LD (WISC subcategories ranged from 2%tile to 99.6%tile). Observing him in class last year I can see why the teacher jumped to that conclusion as well as why he his grades were horrible. He simply didn't do most of what they were grading him on.

That said, the comments being good bodes well IMHO and it could just be a picky teacher/grading scale. In our case the comments were almost all negative (sometimes comically so since I knew he was capable of so much more at home but they had no idea). Good luck!

You've gotten a lot of great insight into various elementary grading methods, but I'd add one more factor. In some schools the 1-4 scale is also reflective of the amount of support a child needs. For example...
4 - Needs Little to No Support
3 - Needs an Expected Amount of Support
2 - Needs More Than Average Amount of Support
1 - Needs a Concerning Amount of Support

You might have two students who average 90% on tests. In high school these kids would probably get the same grade (all other factors being equal) but in elementary school teachers are also looking at the amount of support each child was given. Perhaps one child seemed to get the concept easily and was given enrichment, while the other needed quite a bit of one-on-one instruction and practice. They both ultimately made the same grade on the test, but the report card reflects the fact that one child needs more support to actually make this grade, while the other seemed to grasp the concept easily and showed the ability to extend with enrichment exercises.