Have grading systems changed? (school)

[va32h]

I got my 2nd grade son's report card recently and he received 75's in reading and writing. He does struggle in these areas, so I was not surprised. However I was surprised that 75 is classified as "in danger of failing". When I was in school, 75 was a solid C. Now an "average" grade is 80-85.

My son also told me that he was one of only two people in his class to not make the "honor roll". Honor roll is for students making all 80's-90s. So Honor roll is for average students?

We're working with my son to improve his reading, writing and spelling and he attends tutorials at school as well. But I am confused as to whether he's an average kid and the school just has an inflated grading system or whether he's genuinely in need of remedial help.

 

[Christine]

Here in Virginia, I believe this is the scale:

94+ = A
85-93 = B
75-84 = C
65-74 = D
73 and below is failing.

I'm probably "off" a point or so on the scale above. When I was in school 90-100 was an "A", 80-89 a "B" and so. It's hard for me, these days, to look at the report card and interpret it correctly.

In my son's school, they have the "A" honor roll and then the "A/B" honor roll.

 

[MosMom]

Yes, it is a tougher scale. I couldn't believe it when DD brought home an 84 and it was a C.

 

[Todd&Copper]

When I was in elementary school in Florida in the 80's, the grading was on a 10-point scale. When I moved to Virginia Beach for middle and high school, it was a different scale (94-100 = A, etc.) - this was late 80's/early 90's. So by the VA scale 15 - 20 years ago, the 75 would be "in danger of failing".
As far as everyone being on honor roll, I was never in a classroom like that. Roughly the top 10% was honor roll.

 

[paigevz]

We have no more D grades here. Anything below 70 is F. So generally below 74 here we say is "in danger" of failing.

A honor roll is all As.

A/B honor roll is nothing below a B and at least one A.

That's how my district handles that. We seem to be more specific in the way we title our honor roll than yours. Perhaps they are using the same criteria though.

 

[EthansMom]

Our grade school doesn't even use letter/percentage grades.

We have a combination of numbers (1-5, with 1 being the being an "A" and 5 being an "F") and a letter code systed (E= exceeds expectations, S= Satisfactory, NI= Needs Improvement... or something like that.. I think there may actually be 4 or 5 different letter codes). Personally, I find it to be a bit of a pain to read.

But they also have a large space for teacher comments and, so far, DS's teachers have been really great about giving some good feedback (things to work on, strengths/weaknesses).

 

[LuluLovesDisney]

I am a teacher and I can just say that my school's grading system is not all that different (although the criteria for honors is somewhat different).

In recent years, there has been a movement to include "second honors". In my school this means that student with an average of 90 and no grade below an 85 are on first honors and all students with an average of 85 and no grade below an 80 are on second honors. Students that would have been excluded from making honors now have the recognition of being on "second honors".

Letter grades- My school does not use these - just numbers.

An 80 is about an average grade - not on honors, not in danger of failing, but averages change based on the class. Sometimes with a lower level class, kids just want to pass and that class' average might be a 74, but with a more highly motivated class, their average might be an 85.

In my school 70 is passing and 75 or below is in danger of failing (within 5 points). A student can be "in danger of failing" all year, but still pass. It is still our obligation to keep the parents informed. I've never heard of a 75 being a C, though. Was 70 the lowest passing grade then?

As far as remedial help, that is a really tough question. Some parents have their own opinions and expectations, but certainly additional time spent on schoolwork is never a waste - especially if, as you said he's struggling in reading and writing.

I wish you the best of luck and if there's anything I can do to help, let me know.

 

[minnieandme]

In my kids school district, an A would be 90-100, B is 80-89 and so on. 70 is actually a D or just passing. When I went to school a 65 was considered just passing.

 

[mickeyboat]

Our elementary school has a 1-4 scale with 1 being needs serious improvement and 4 being far exceeds grade level. Grade level is a 3 and almost grade level is a 2.

There is a lot of confusion in my home about the scale because there is so much room for differing interpretations from teacher to teacher. And with two kids in second grade with different teachers, it is hard to explain why one teacher would give 4's and the other won't. (Just so I don't confuse you, the 4's were in conduct and effort, which is graded on a slightly different scale - my kids are not geniuses! ).

Also, one teacher will give a child a 2 in an area they have just started working on, the other teacher will leave that space blank until instruction is complete in that area. It's hard to explain it to the kids.

And like EthansMom described, there is a space for comments, which I appreciate more than the grades.

Denae

 

[Maverick Mike]

It could be the "benchmarks" from a standardized test he takes.

Here is Missouri, it is a 4 point system:

4 - Advanced
3 - Proficient
2 - Basic
1 - Below Basic

There are indicators for each level, like working above grade level, etc..

It might have been something tied to that!

 

[RadioNate]

When I was in Highschool (nearly 15 years ago) 70 and below was failing. So a 74 would have been a D and 'in danger of failing.

 

[va32h]

In my school 70 is passing and 75 or below is in danger of failing (within 5 points). A student can be "in danger of failing" all year, but still pass. It is still our obligation to keep the parents informed. I've never heard of a 75 being a C, though. Was 70 the lowest passing grade then?

When I was a student (I'm 37 now), the lowest passing grade was 60. Anything between 70-80 was average.

I've been talking with his teacher all year long; she says he's capable of doing better work but does not try his hardest. He gets frustrated easily and is also easily distracted. So we've been working on study skills. His first grade teacher was a wonderful woman - a 30+ year veteran and she has said many times that the expectations for children are much, much higher these days and it is very difficult for the teachers because there is just only so much that the 6 or 7 year old brain can absorb, no matter what the powers that be have to say about what they should now.

It's also hard for me, I have to admit, because I always liked and did well in school and my oldest daughter has always liked and done well in school so I just don't know how to approach a child who doesn't like school and struggles with his work.

 

[mjkacmom]

I got my 2nd grade son's report card recently and he received 75's in reading and writing. He does struggle in these areas, so I was not surprised. However I was surprised that 75 is classified as "in danger of failing". When I was in school, 75 was a solid C. Now an "average" grade is 80-85.

My son also told me that he was one of only two people in his class to not make the "honor roll". Honor roll is for students making all 80's-90s. So Honor roll is for average students?

We're working with my son to improve his reading, writing and spelling and he attends tutorials at school as well. But I am confused as to whether he's an average kid and the school just has an inflated grading system or whether he's genuinely in need of remedial help.

In our school, an A is 93 - 100, a B is 86 - 92, a C is 79 - 85, a d is 75 - 79, and anything under 75 is failing (although they do use +/- for grades on the border). Lucky for us, B- has been the lowest grade in the family (ds9 got 2 of them - first kids ever here).

 

[Christine]

When I was a student (I'm 37 now), the lowest passing grade was 60. Anything between 70-80 was average.

I've been talking with his teacher all year long; she says he's capable of doing better work but does not try his hardest. He gets frustrated easily and is also easily distracted. So we've been working on study skills. His first grade teacher was a wonderful woman - a 30+ year veteran and she has said many times that the expectations for children are much, much higher these days and it is very difficult for the teachers because there is just only so much that the 6 or 7 year old brain can absorb, no matter what the powers that be have to say about what they should now.

It's also hard for me, I have to admit, because I always liked and did well in school and my oldest daughter has always liked and done well in school so I just don't know how to approach a child who doesn't like school and struggles with his work.

Welcome to my world! I have this issue with my DD, only it wasn't so noticeable in elementary school.

Kind of in reference to your post above, I remember when my daughter was 9 and we were having her evaluated for ADHD. The doctor in charge kind of gave me a "defeated" look when we were discussing it all. He said to me: "Have you seen these kids nowadays. They are all walking to school with either 40 lb bookbags or rolling backpacks, they have an inordinate amount of schoolwork and homework and it just keeps getting tougher. As the schools continue to *raise the bar* the threshold of problems is going to get lower and lower because not all children can keep up with this."

Now he wasn't really arguing that there is no ADHD, but he was saying that the harder and harder the elementary schools get, the average children will have a harder and harder time coping. Of course, there are always going to be those that can do whatever is thrown their way.

It's just really hard to know these days if your child has a real problem, or if it's just too much for them at that particular point.

 

[Becky2005]

I don't know what to tell you as we don't even get letter or number grades in 2nd grade -- all the way up to 5th grade.

We get "Demonstrates Consistency" "Demonstrates Progress" or "Area for Improvement"

That's it. That's all we get and it's all subject to whatever the teacher decides those mean. I've heard the Consistency one is if you are above grade level, Progress is basically a "C" or on target & Area for Improvement is obviously a problem area. I've also heard teacher's have other criteria for using them. Although last year in my now 2nd grader (so in 1st grade) got the Area for Improvement in one area because although he was doing the work OK, the teacher felt he could do better. Just the way she said it would be to me like "Ok, you got a C on all your work but I think you could do better so I'm giving you a D".

I do know the scale is harder now than when I was in school and there are about a gazillion factors (is your child a younger 2nd grader?), is it sight words, comprehension, spelling, penmanship (since it was under reading & writing).

I know our school has a remedial reading class that they give to anyone who is behind. Then if that doesn't help they go to the next step of an evaluation to see if there is a reading disability. My 5th grader does have a reading disability and it was caught at the end of 1st grade. They just kept telling me everyone reads at a different level, they have seen kids struggle & struggle & then all of a sudden the lightswitch clicks and they start reading above grade level (I'm still waiting for that switch to take place with my 5th grader! ). I have them all over the place in regards to skills. I look at it this way, the remedial help won't HURT anyone and it could certainly help.

I know with my middle schooler for grade scales, it's completely up to the teacher. There is one that you have to get 100% to get an A+ in the class, 99-97 is an A or something like that, then 96-90 is an A-. I forget the scale but looking at it looked really tough to me. She's had other ones that have really easy grading scales.

 

[Cindy B]

It all depends on the district.

You have seen other districts grading. I remember getting that grading system back when I was in elementary school. So a 74 would be in danger of failing


Remember that NCLB has changed many requirements. It all depends on how your district has been rated, AYP progress, Title I requirements, etc....

As for reading help, it is all up to you.

 

[U2_rocks!]

Geez, when I went to school, failing was under 50%! A 70 was a solid B mark! Our tests were tough, though. A mark in the 90s were extremely good, and 100% was rare. And the kids in the bottom 10% were getting 20 - 40!

I'm not sure exactly what the marks mean now, as my oldest is only now in a grade where tests are getting marked. But at a recent teacher's meeting my son's teacher considered his grades in the high 60s and low-mid 70s to be OK, no real concerns.

Our school system is very challenging, though - the tests are not supposed to be easy enough for kids to be able to get 100% too often. The scores that kids achieve are as much a function of how well-prepared the children as they are how difficult the test is to begin with, and how much of a time challenge is presented in getting the questions answered. I find it very hard to compare school systems because of this.

 

[LuluLovesDisney]

Geez, when I went to school, failing was under 50%! A 70 was a solid B mark! Our tests were tough, though. A mark in the 90s were extremely good, and 100% was rare. And the kids in the bottom 10% were getting 20 - 40!

I'm not sure exactly what the marks mean now, as my oldest is only now in a grade where tests are getting marked. But at a recent teacher's meeting my son's teacher considered his grades in the high 60s and low-mid 70s to be OK, no real concerns.

Our school system is very challenging, though - the tests are not supposed to be easy enough for kids to be able to get 100% too often. The scores that kids achieve are as much a function of how well-prepared the children as they are how difficult the test is to begin with, and how much of a time challenge is presented in getting the questions answered. I find it very hard to compare school systems because of this.

I agree with what you said about comparing school systems, but the part about a 50 being the passing mark is shocking to me! We're not allowed to give grades lower than 50, so kids have a chance to bring it up. (Ex. Johnny gets a 17, he still gets 50 on his report card. Suzie gets a 48, she gets a 50 on her report card.)

 

[kydisneyfans]

I had 90, 80, 70, 60 with 59 and below as an F back in the 80s.
We have 92,84,76,68 now. Our son had an 83, a C on his last report card and was absolutely crushed. An 83 is not a C in my book.

 

[U2_rocks!]

I agree with what you said about comparing school systems, but the part about a 50 being the passing mark is shocking to me! We're not allowed to give grades lower than 50, so kids have a chance to bring it up. (Ex. Johnny gets a 17, he still gets 50 on his report card. Suzie gets a 48, she gets a 50 on her report card.)

Oh no, here you get the mark you got, there's no scaling. If you got 5 right out of 20, then you got 25%.