Rock and a Hard Place

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-12-2003
Rock and a Hard Place
1524
Thu, 11-20-2003 - 10:45am

There's something on this board that has been bothering me, and I hope I can articulate it.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 07-02-2003
Wed, 11-26-2003 - 6:17pm
It is not COMPLETELY open to parental interpretation. That is silly.
iVillage Member
Registered: 07-02-2003
Wed, 11-26-2003 - 6:31pm
Well in my school district all those things are accomplished w/o the need of a visual comparison chart. Children are evaluated on their own merit. There are expectations to be met in each grade level. If children are way above or below those expectations, action is taken in consultation with the parents. In my oldest child's case, she was promoted from Grade 1 to 3. In hs, she was working on her degree at the same time as she was working on her hs diploma. What possible benefit would I have derived from seeing the comparison chart? Kids are all over the map.

I see nothing wrong with academic competition among equally capable students - which occurs more often in hs and college. With ds, I know he is advanced in his literacy skills. Wrt math skills, he is closer to average. I cannot imagine how knowing exactly where he ranks in relation to his age mates would be beneficial. We have discussed placing him in the Grade 1 classroom to offer him more challenge after Xmas. We were able to come to this potentially mutually agreeable possiblity w/o the aid of a visual comparison chart.

It has nothing to do with relinquishing responsibility, or credit as the case may be. My children happened to enjoy learning and reading early. BTW, dd1 is not a genius, nor is she particularly gifted. She simply reached some of those milestones early, as has ds. Dd2, has not excelled academically, but I believe she is every bit as bright as the other two. Again, I have no need to see where she ranks in relation to her pre-school class. Knowing that other children recognize more letters of the alphabet will not assist me in making her *ready* or interested in memorizing them. Sing her a song or tell her a nursery rhyme once and she will repeat it a week from now verbatum. Show her the alphabet, and she don't hear a thing.

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-02-2003
Wed, 11-26-2003 - 6:33pm
Yup, and she can articulate my child's progress w/o showing me where all the children rank. Nameless or not. The only real purpose of the chart would be to evaluate the teacher.
iVillage Member
Registered: 07-02-2003
Wed, 11-26-2003 - 6:35pm
My issue is the contention that a K teacher presents a chart to parents showing them where their child ranks in comparison with the other students. Certainly Johnny's Cs and Suzy's As can be compared - if Johnny and Suzy choose to compare them - or in K, Johnny and Suzy's parents would compare them. What purpose would the teacher have in showing me Suzy's report card, when Johnny is my child?
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-28-2003
Wed, 11-26-2003 - 6:59pm
I understand what you're saying and I agree that for someone like you (and for many others including probably me), these charts will add nothing. But I can't see that it will not benefit *someone* out there. I think the reason we disagree on this issue is that I don't think it has to affect people in a negative way. You feel differently.

In addition, WRT the comment: ...

how are those "expectations" determined? The "expectations" here are based on the national or the state average, which is not good enough, in my opinion. It's a difference of opinion.
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-23-2003
Wed, 11-26-2003 - 7:50pm
ITA there. Math skills in this country are just not what they should be. Our best and brightest compare well with average students from Singapore!! Sadly, comanies have to go overseas to get enough people with the right qualifications. When the govt recently announced a restriction on immigration of technical professionals because too many are out of work here, Intel was crying foul within an hour saying that they have no choice but to go overseas to get qualified people. I expect that more and more jobs will continue to go overseas both because of cheap labor and the availability of people with good math/technical skills.
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-23-2003
Wed, 11-26-2003 - 8:13pm
Yup. Hence it's good to know how your child compares to both the national averages and in their class.
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-23-2003
Wed, 11-26-2003 - 8:16pm
The teacher told me that "Half" the kids who start her class haven't been read to and then added it's not the dc kids intending to reassure me that my working status had nothing to do with this, however, most of the kids in my dd's class have SAHM's so it's obvious that there are SAHM's not reading or reading enough or whatever with their kids. This was not a discussion of moms working status as it's being made out to be. The teacher was simply explaining what she percieved to be the problem and reassuring me that it's not my dd's dc peers who are struggling. She was complementing the dc more than anything.
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-23-2003
Wed, 11-26-2003 - 8:24pm
Um, no, the teacher didn't even mention SES. She told me that "half" the kids starting k weren't read to and added that it's not the dc kids. Not sure whether she was trying to reassure me there or complement the dc. She has said other positive things about dc. She claims the dc kids are the ones who are really ready for school (said to a couple of SAHM's who were discussing the supposed dc aggression link Belsky ran off half cocked about a few years back so I know she's not just telling me what I want to hear). If half the kids haven't been read to and it's not the dc kids, my conclusion is it's the kids of the SAHM's. Nothing was said about SES. However, the norm where I am is for SAHM's to be uneducated and there is a link between maternal education and reading to a child. This teacher was not gossiping or acting unprofessional. She was answering my question and either complementing the dc or reassuring me.

BTW, no doubt this id will be blasted like my others and I'm not creating a new one when that happens so we likely won't finish this conversation.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Wed, 11-26-2003 - 8:56pm

I'm not sure I follow.


You can still love both apples and oranges, for different reasons.

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