any teachers or secretaries that know about school final grades???

[scootch]

Edited:... this post has gotten completley off topic, although I do not know how to delete. We are not making a huge issue of the B+, but a bit irritated by it...... I posted asking a question about how grades are stored, I never meant to start a big controversy over grades. There are alot of circumstances throughout the year that I did not post here, so can we please leave this post alone till an administrator deletes it. Thank you.


My daughter was given a questionable B+ and it is driving daddy crazy as the teacher got mad the last week of school because I questioned an answer. We aren't going to make any fuss over it as I don't want DD to think we are upset with her for getting the B+... just a bunch of circumstances that lead us to believe the B+ was for us, not her.. if you know what I mean. Anyhow, Her final grades are all A's. What is kept in her permanant record, all four quarters?? or just the final grades... thanks.

 

[bookbabe626]

Depends on the school district, I think. Here in Ontario, it's usually just the final report cards that get stuffed in the student record, but it shows all the terms' grades. By high school, the record file eventually ends up thick and overflowing, and few people ever read through the whole thing unless there's some kind of serious problem that we'd need background info for.

Do you have copies of the various assignments and the marks for that course? If so, check and see if there was one assignment that was a bit lower than the others for that quarter. The blip might have been caused by that, rather than by your questions. It's tough to just randomly give a student a mark...in this day and age, everything and everyone in education is under so much scrutiny. I find it hard to believe that a teacher would endanger their class achievement scores just to get back at a parent...talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face, as my mother would say...

Overall, I wouldn't sweat it. After all, how old is your DD? From the sig file, I'm guessing 8 or 9, so it's what, grade three? What did you get in grade three english or math? Did you even remember what you got that year by the time you hit high school? Probably not. I know it seems like a big deal now, but in the grand scheme of things you really don't have anything to worry about. If it was a senior high school mark, where your college acceptances might be affected, I'd be much more concerned...for elementary school, not so much.

 

[HsvTeacher]

I'm so sorry you are having trouble. In our school system, only the end-of-year average (the four quarter grades averaged together) goes in the cumulative folder. For example, if the quarter grades were 89, 90, 91, and 92, the end-of-year average would be 90.5.

Hope this helps!

 

[scootch]

Overall, I wouldn't sweat it. After all, how old is your DD? From the sig file, I'm guessing 8 or 9, so it's what, grade three? What did you get in grade three english or math? Did you even remember what you got that year by the time you hit high school? Probably not. I know it seems like a big deal now, but in the grand scheme of things you really don't have anything to worry about. If it was a senior high school mark, where your college acceptances might be affected, I'd be much more concerned...for elementary school, not so much.

Yes, she is only in 2nd grade, so we aren't sweating it... just a bit miffed by her teacher. She had a 94 at midterms(on a scale of 92 is B+, 93 A)... her teacher makes you sign every reading test and return... and I know for a fact that she got 2 more 100's... a 93.. and then this 77. One question on the 77 test was "which word is made of two smaller words".. and the correct answer was sometimes... my dd put person. When I sent it back in, I just nicely put, question 8 has two correct answers... person is per(like $4 per gallon) and son. I wasn't questioning the teacher, but mydaughter could not understand why she got it wrong...... and when my husband went in to help at lunch time, the teacher got very snitty with him and said, "that wasn't the answer I was looking for, I am not changing her grade!" We never pushed the issue further although she really should have gotten credit for it and each problem was worth like 8 or 9 points. So truly, I am a bit baffled how her grade got down to a 92......as they also get points for reading in class weekly(just if they do it and dont' forget a book, not on how well they read)..... DH is just upset about it, mainly for the teachers remarks and a few other things she has done to students in the past year, so I am trying to reassure him that all that goes on her record is her final grades(or at least that is what I think).

I do know what i got in second grade... well every grade.. I got straight A's except for one B in English in 5th grade.. haha...won't ever forget that. Graduated high school and college with 4.0. I dont' want my dd to worry about grades... we are really very happy with how well she does, more importantly how much respect she has shown people, ect.....

 

[bookbabe626]

Yup, in the world of averages, that 77 would have caused the blip in the term grades. (Which is why Ontario has moved away from averages and is doing "most recent, most consistent" instead, which is a pain to figure out but gives a better snapshot of achievement.)

The way I see it, you have two options.

You can go in to try to talk to the teacher (or the principal) politely, rationally and calmly about your feelings and the situation. This may work...your DH may have hit the teacher on a bad day or at a bad time, hey, we're all human...or it may backfire and give you a rep as a troublemaking parent. And there's really no surefire way to tell which way it'll go, at least not by email. It all depends on the various personalities involved. If you're leaning towards this option, could you maybe check with another parent or school volunteer to get their option of the situation and their advice on how to proceed? You might get a better idea if you talk to someone else who has had dealings with that teacher before. If it works, though, you might be able to resolve the situation and get the mark adjusted...or at least work out expections for the future.

Option two is to ignore it and use it as a teachable moment. Talk to your DD about the marks and that test answer, and explain that sometimes things happen, and that sometimes the world isn't fair, but that we have to be "mature" and deal with these things in a positive way and move on...you know the kind of speech I'm talking about...the "overcome disappointment" speech that I think every parent has to have with their kids at some point in time. Reassure her that you're proud of her, and that you're thrilled with her marks, and that you love the way she handled her disappointment, etc. This doesn't do anything to solve the mark problem, but it will set her up for success for the future.

It's a tough call...good luck with whichever option you choose, though!

 

[dis-happy]

Grades don't matter one bit until it's the high school grades and they are applying to colleges. I'd let it go, even if the teacher was being a pain. The main reason I say this: you say you don't want your dd to stress about grades but then, you are stressing about her grade, the only one that isn't an A. Mom to mom, do everything you can so that little kids in second grade don't stress. If anything, it's a teaching moment: show her how unconcerned you are about it and she'll learn that a grade isn't the end-all for everything. Just my personal piece of advice--good luck!

 

[luvmy3]

I wouldn't really worry about her 2nd grade marks, they won't effect which college she'll be accepted into
I can also relate to what you are going through, my ds is in 2nd and has a teacher who sounds alot like your dd's. She has marked things incorrect because it wasn't the answer she was looking for, even though it was correct. It drove me and dh crazy all year and we had 2 meetings with her about it. Nothing changed. We did not take it to the principal but other parents did so I don't know what her fate in teh school will be. Thank goodness for my ds and your dd its the end of the year.

 

[SharpMomOfTwo]

If shes only in 2nd grade, I'd let it go, and just be glad that you won't have that teacher again.... unless you like me!! I had the WORST, MEANEST MOST HORRIBLE teacher in the world for 2nd grade... then again for 4th!!! Hopefully you will have better luck than me!!!

 

[bumbershoot]

Yes, she is only in 2nd grade



I do know what i got in second grade... well every grade.. I got straight A's except for one B in English in 5th grade.. haha...won't ever forget that.

When I was in elementary school, grades 1-3 were considered "primary", and we did not even HAVE letter grades.

Wow, you remember all of them! I remember that my brother got straight As through school except in Woodshop b/c his friend sat on his final project right before it was graded, but if the Woodshop incident hadn't happened I wouldn't even remember that, and as for what I got? Who knows?

It's just not a big deal.


HOWEVER, a teacher who is messing up tests needs to know that. I don't remember grades, but I remember my horrid teachers, and the ones who would decide that "I don't care if two choices were right the way the question was phrase, she has to get into my head and choose the one I MEANT" continued on as being horrid. Ugh.

If shes only in 2nd grade, I'd let it go, and just be glad that you won't have that teacher again.... unless you like me!! I had the WORST, MEANEST MOST HORRIBLE teacher in the world for 2nd grade... then again for 4th!!! Hopefully you will have better luck than me!!!

Our 5th grade teacher had a nervous breakdown in front of the class. Was absent the rest of the year. Over summer the 6th grade teacher retired, and they brought Mrs Wilson back to teach the 6th grade class, meaning WE got to deal with a teacher who had freaked us out that bad (we talked about it at our 20th HS reunion last Sept) and SHE got to deal with the same group of miscreants (aka the 5th grade stoners in our class) that helped push her over the edge. NOT GOOD.

 

[annacp]

Yes, she is only in 2nd grade, so we aren't sweating it... just a bit miffed by her teacher. She had a 94 at midterms(on a scale of 92 is B+, 93 A)... her teacher makes you sign every reading test and return... and I know for a fact that she got 2 more 100's... a 93.. and then this 77. One question on the 77 test was "which word is made of two smaller words".. and the correct answer was sometimes... my dd put person. When I sent it back in, I just nicely put, question 8 has two correct answers... person is per(like $4 per gallon) and son. I wasn't questioning the teacher, but mydaughter could not understand why she got it wrong...... and when my husband went in to help at lunch time, the teacher got very snitty with him and said, "that wasn't the answer I was looking for, I am not changing her grade!" We never pushed the issue further although she really should have gotten credit for it and each problem was worth like 8 or 9 points. So truly, I am a bit baffled how her grade got down to a 92......as they also get points for reading in class weekly(just if they do it and dont' forget a book, not on how well they read)..... DH is just upset about it, mainly for the teachers remarks and a few other things she has done to students in the past year, so I am trying to reassure him that all that goes on her record is her final grades(or at least that is what I think).

I do know what i got in second grade... well every grade.. I got straight A's except for one B in English in 5th grade.. haha...won't ever forget that. Graduated high school and college with 4.0. I dont' want my dd to worry about grades... we are really very happy with how well she does, more importantly how much respect she has shown people, ect.....

Sounds like you have multiple concerns about the teacher. I would schedule a conference with the principle and discuss. If your daughter is upset about it, I would pursue it, especially given the other concerns. I know my parents took the teacher's side of things once whereas my friends' parents stood up to her. All of our grades were changed in the end, but what was the most important to me was my parents' reaction. So while her grade might not matter, being disrespected by the teacher does. To me anyway.

 

[Matt'sMom]

I honestly would not be upset over the difference between a quarterly grade of 92 (vs. 93 or 94) in one subject in the 2nd grade. That one 'questionable' answer on a single exam... and the resulting GPA... are not likely to be of any major, life altering importance in the long run.

 

[a_sailor's_wife]

Yes, she is only in 2nd grade, so we aren't sweating it... just a bit miffed by her teacher. She had a 94 at midterms(on a scale of 92 is B+, 93 A)... her teacher makes you sign every reading test and return... and I know for a fact that she got 2 more 100's... a 93.. and then this 77. One question on the 77 test was "which word is made of two smaller words".. and the correct answer was sometimes... my dd put person. When I sent it back in, I just nicely put, question 8 has two correct answers... person is per(like $4 per gallon) and son. I wasn't questioning the teacher, but mydaughter could not understand why she got it wrong...... and when my husband went in to help at lunch time, the teacher got very snitty with him and said, "that wasn't the answer I was looking for, I am not changing her grade!" We never pushed the issue further although she really should have gotten credit for it and each problem was worth like 8 or 9 points. So truly, I am a bit baffled how her grade got down to a 92......as they also get points for reading in class weekly(just if they do it and dont' forget a book, not on how well they read)..... DH is just upset about it, mainly for the teachers remarks and a few other things she has done to students in the past year, so I am trying to reassure him that all that goes on her record is her final grades(or at least that is what I think).

I do know what i got in second grade... well every grade.. I got straight A's except for one B in English in 5th grade.. haha...won't ever forget that. Graduated high school and college with 4.0. I dont' want my dd to worry about grades... we are really very happy with how well she does, more importantly how much respect she has shown people, ect.....

I'd try not to sweat it at all concerning the grade. The teacher probably doesn't feel that the grade should've been up'ed due to other children getting the "correct" answer. However, I would be a little put off by a teacher who was snitty with me. I would just send in a little complaint about her attitude. No names attached just a small complaint.

As for the grades, it depends on the school district as to what they keep. The district I work for keeps all finals on hand as well as the semester and end of the year averages. For younger grades such as K-5th they keep most tests if not all. Also teachers in our district have to keep all tests on file for the current school year as well as the following.

 

[Tam1067]

I would not worry about it at all. Grades in second grade do not matter in the future.

Technically, the teacher was right because "person" does not derive from "per" and "son" put together. Now "sometimes" is really a combination of "some" and "times." I assume the class had been learning about compound words (sidewalk or homework), so that's the concept they were supposed to answer. It's even possible that the teacher had gone through "sometimes" as one possible example. Remember, you're not in the room during the day.

She should not have become "snitty" when questioned, but she's also human, and she could have been put off by the setting or the timing of the conversation or by your husband's demeanor--who knows--or she could have been stressed about something else.

I also want to advise you not to make a formal complaint about this or even to send in an anonymous one. Anonymous complaints are ignored where I work (I'm a teacher). If you make a huge stink about something like this, you will probably not get anywhere, except to get yourself branded as a difficult parent, and you'll show your daughter that the end grade instead of the learning process is the most important thing in school.

Also, I'm not sure how grades are determined, but I assume homework or classwork is somehow averaged in. There could be something else that has lowered her grade which you're not thinking about, too.

 

[MM27]

At my school a copy of the final report card is put into the cumulative folder each year. The final report card has marking period 1, 2, 3 and 4 grades on it.

If you really wanted to fight the grade, I know in my school we are required to hand in our grade books on the last day of school. They are stored in the school in case there is a need for them in the future. If a parent questions a grade, the principal can check the grades in the gradebook and explain to the parent how the average came about.

Personally, I wouldn't worry too much about it, considering your child is in 2nd grade. And please don't do anything anonymously.

 

[disykat]

Technically, the teacher was right because "person" does not derive from "per" and "son" put together. Now "sometimes" is really a combination of "some" and "times." I assume the class had been learning about compound words (sidewalk or homework), so that's the concept they were supposed to answer. It's even possible that the teacher had gone through "sometimes" as one possible example. Remember, you're not in the room during the day.

Thanks for saying this. I've honestly been sitting here puzzling over how everyone could think the teacher was so wrong on this. I also assumed they were talking about compound words.

I'm sorry the teacher was snitty - she was probably taken by surprise. I would have been. If they average grades on a spread sheet, it doesn't take much to bring it down. Fortunately, my kids really didn't experience that kind of reporting until junior high. Grading by percentages in 2nd grade is what bugs ME the most about this, not the fact that an incorrect answer made her grade average go down.

Prior to high school, I don't get what the big deal is? If you were seriously in the dark about why there was an extreme grade drop (I don't consider A to B+ a severe drop) I'd say go in and talk to the teacher or to the principal if the teacher's not around. However, since you already know why the grade was lower than expected, I would forget about it. If they are grading by percentages, there's no way a teacher being mad at you could lower the average.

I can see why you are mad, but I can see no good coming out of going in to complain about that grade. IMO, it gives your child a really bad message about the importance of perfect grades and frankly, I think it would make you look bad at the school.

 

[scootch]

We aren't planning on doing anything about the grade.. I put that in my first post. It has just been irritating to my husband and my question was really about not if I should do something.... but more... do all term grades go in final records or just the final grade.... as I figured "if" just the final grade went in, I could assure my husband of that and he would be less upset.

We have not shown any negativity to my daughter at all... we actually took a "end of school year" "great job" mini vacation for 2 nights at a water park.

thanks...

 

[TheDizMom]

We keep all of ours. When you get your end of the year report card you see on there what they had first semester and what they have second semester right next to each other. I personally would love it if we had letter grades at least you can see the progress better from year to year.

We have E (exceeds expectations), P (proficient), I (in-progress), and N (needs work) for grade school age kids, and then go to the traditional letter grade system starting in middle school. The problem with that is these marks are a very subjective to each teacher and their interpretation. My son on his newest report card went from some P's, meaning he was proficient in this area half way through the year, to I's where somehow he is no longer proficient. I don't get how that happens or why. Was the work harder in the second semester and therefore the regression? His teacher made a point of telling us how much better our DS was doing in math at his last conference and yet he gave him more I's then he had in his last report card. Where was the difference? One teacher may think your child excels at something while the next year they don't think so. How do I know from this system if he needs additional help or if the teacher just saw things differently then last years or even from the semester before. Some teachers say they just don't give out E's. Well then why are we using them in a grading system? It's very confusing to me and there is no real way of finding any consistency with this system. Any of you teachers out there use this system and can clarify it for me? I am just curious to see how you decide if someone is an E, P, I or N.

 

[SplashMountainMama]

I think you guys need to relax a little about the grade and let it go. It is only 1 B+ (still a good grade BTW) on 1 report card in Grade 2. Will it go in her permanant file? Probably, but what long-range consequence are you imagining from having received a B+ in Grade 2???? IMO, all you are doing is teaching your daughter to stress about grades. If you're still stressing about a B you received in the Fifth grade that should tell you something. I'm also a teacher and I've seen kids practically developing ulcers because they feel like they have to get straight A's on everything. Most of the time the parents will claim that they never make that big of a deal about grades and they don't know why their child is feeling stressed out, but I'll bet more than a few of them remember what grades they got all through elementary school too. You may think you're doing a good job of hiding your stress about it from her, but if she's a bright child (as she obviously must be to be getting straight A's) then she'll pick up on it more than you think.

 

[Aliceacc]

Does your school publish any sort of guidline as to the letter/numeric grade equivalents? Perhaps the grade you associate with an A is one that the teacher or school associates with a B+.

THe high school in which I teach useds letter grades at progress report time and numbers on report card time. I've had any number of parents over the years question letter grades. They would tell me that Susie had a 90 and that was an A. My response is usually that A means "excellent", and a 90 with 3 missing homeworks is not "excellent" in my book.

Either way, I wouldn't sweat one B+ in second grade.

As far as how the grade counts, I would imagine that varies from school to school. Your best bet is to call the school or district office and inquire there.

 

[I loveStitchnippyjon]

I think you guys need to relax a little about the grade and let it go. It is only 1 B+ (still a good grade BTW) on 1 report card in Grade 2. Will it go in her permanant file? Probably, but what long-range consequence are you imagining from having received a B+ in Grade 2???? IMO, all you are doing is teaching your daughter to stress about grades. If you're still stressing about a B you received in the Fifth grade that should tell you something. I'm also a teacher and I've seen kids practically developing ulcers because they feel like they have to get straight A's on everything. Most of the time the parents will claim that they never make that big of a deal about grades and they don't know why their child is feeling stressed out, but I'll bet more than a few of them remember what grades they got all through elementary school too. You may think you're doing a good job of hiding your stress about it from her, but if she's a bright child (as she obviously must be to be getting straight A's) then she'll pick up on it more than you think.

You hit the nail right on the head!
Unlikely that when she is applying for college, they will look at her second-grade transcript! Just chill and tell her what a good job she did before you both get an ulcer!