Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Opinions On "Standards Based Grading"?

The only time grades are important in younger grades is if those grades are gatekeepers to specific programs which then lead to the next specific program that you want to do.

Like in the great scheme of things 4th and 5th grade grades weren't that important. But when my son applied for a magnet program for sixth grade they wanted good grades. I am glad he had them; he got in.

So, I am continuing my rant on standards based grading here.

My son came home with a "2" on his math paper today, meaning he is "able to show understanding of the assessed concepts with assistance."

The math paper was a word problem that boiled down to 16+17. He easily figured that out but was careless and wrote 16+17=34 mainly because he was bored and didn't care.

Obviously if he'd been just told, "Are you sure that's correct?" he would have figured it out in an instant and corrected it. Instead he is graded as if he really needed the teacher's help to figure this out.

They also have this ridiculous RDES system he has to do where he has to READ (write out the problem that is already written on the paper), DRAW (give a picture representation of the math problem), EQUATION (write the actual equation) and SENTENCE (write the equation he just wrote in numbers in words). All for a problem he can do in his head in 3 seconds.

Sorry, I just felt the need to rant knowing you all would understand my pain, even if there isn't currently a solution.

I've seen this in action and it's really awful. I don't think any children should suffer through it.