Many parents give new mind-boggling report cards an F

originally posted by: In4ormant
-The district has posted a 10-page handbook and seven videos on its website on how to interpret the evaluations, introduced in 2014 and used only in the elementary schools.-

10 pages and 7 videos to decipher a report card?
Are we scared to hurt a kids feelings and send them home with an F now?

Bring on the aliens already, let's get this sh*t over with.

if parents would stop bitchin' and running to the principle every time little johnny got an F, then maybe the simpler grading system would be fine...if I got an F in school back in my time, IT WAS MY FAULT!...not the teachers, the schools, or the material.....I adapted first and only, by knowing that I wouldn't get my ass blistered for getting an F if I studied and got a better grade....simple, but it worked

a reply to: Krazysh0t

Again ... how many different ways can you break down math that you need more than a page to tell a parent what their child can do well and what their child needs to work on?

How about reading?

Writing?

History/Social Studies?

I am not saying you shouldn't make the analysis more detailed, but given the average size of type on a page ... 11 or 12 pt ... you can fit a lot of text onto 1 page. So I am curious just exactly what they are putting on there and why it's all necessary, especially if it takes videos and tutorials for most parents to understand it. It seems to me that they are either trying very hard to make it look overly complex or they forgot KISS.

originally posted by: Krazysh0t
So you think it is too hard to read a multi-page report that details your child's educational development that you receive every three months or so? Oh wait, we are in the age of reading = icky. So I can understand why parents are outraged they have to put forth mental effort to understand their child's educational development.

Haven't read one of the new reports yet (the article and short search turned up blank), but given the average persons attention span and the fact that some (many?) parents probably can't understand more complicated ways of displaying data I would err on the side of simplicity here. All the data in the world is useless if you can't communicate it properly.

People respond best to data presented in a simple hierarchical structure. Giving several metrics where each metric has a subjective performance is less effective than simply saying Best/Good/Average/Below Average/Fail. It's also why I said simply providing a class rank in each subject would be enough alongside all this extra data. Give people the quick 10 second summary and then deal with extra data past that if people are interested.

a reply to: Aazadan

People respond best to data presented in a simple hierarchical structure. Giving several metrics where each metric has a subjective performance is less effective than simply saying Best/Good/Average/Below Average/Fail. It's also why I said simply providing a class rank in each subject would be enough alongside all this extra data. Give people the quick 10 second summary and then deal with extra data past that if people are interested.

I don't think they want the parents to understand any of it. It is part of the plan. They are smart enough to know that the average parent isn't going to take the time to figure put how to use this system; so they are just going to blindly sign the form, and allow their child to child return it.

People sign and click "agree" to agreements several times a day. They have no idea what they have agreed to, and are used to having the wool pulled over their eyes.

I haven't seen one of these new report cards as my kids are all (thankfully) out of school now... It sounds almost exactly like the annual employee evaluations my company uses, except ours are only about 3 pages long.

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: Krazysh0t

Again ... how many different ways can you break down math that you need more than a page to tell a parent what their child can do well and what their child needs to work on?

How about reading?

Writing?

History/Social Studies?

I am not saying you shouldn't make the analysis more detailed, but given the average size of type on a page ... 11 or 12 pt ... you can fit a lot of text onto 1 page. So I am curious just exactly what they are putting on there and why it's all necessary, especially if it takes videos and tutorials for most parents to understand it. It seems to me that they are either trying very hard to make it look overly complex or they forgot KISS.

Well, you could always try looking and making an actual INFORMED decision on how thorough or excessive this report card is without letting some media outlet do it for you. Which has been my point the entire time. Everyone is jumping to conclusions because the article told them to without first actually looking at the report card to see if it is really as bad as suggested. Sounds kind of sheepish to me.

originally posted by: Aazadan

originally posted by: Krazysh0t
So you think it is too hard to read a multi-page report that details your child's educational development that you receive every three months or so? Oh wait, we are in the age of reading = icky. So I can understand why parents are outraged they have to put forth mental effort to understand their child's educational development.

Haven't read one of the new reports yet (the article and short search turned up blank), but given the average persons attention span and the fact that some (many?) parents probably can't understand more complicated ways of displaying data I would err on the side of simplicity here. All the data in the world is useless if you can't communicate it properly.

People respond best to data presented in a simple hierarchical structure. Giving several metrics where each metric has a subjective performance is less effective than simply saying Best/Good/Average/Below Average/Fail. It's also why I said simply providing a class rank in each subject would be enough alongside all this extra data. Give people the quick 10 second summary and then deal with extra data past that if people are interested.

So we should reward low critical thinking on the parents' part so they can better understand their child's critical thinking development? I know people hate using their brains more than they have to, but it just seems counterintuitive and almost like reinforcing bad stereotypes. These kids will just see their parents coasting on this and grow up and do the same thing. Nothing changes.

We are always told that education is supposed to involve the parents, well how does a simple (averaged) letter grade reflect a child's development over 3 months or so? There is so much more that can be related to the parent.

Well in any case, I haven't looked at the report card either. I just think it reflects America's poor critical thinking skills when everyone just lets an article tell them what to think about a new idea. Which in turn reflects America's poor education standards. Which ironically this new report card is trying to help fix.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

Doesn't it stand to reason that they could give letter grades that are an average of the various metrics, as a summary for the parents to look at, and then for those who are willing/able they could go into more detailed reporting?

originally posted by: Aazadan
a reply to: Krazysh0t

Doesn't it stand to reason that they could give letter grades that are an average of the various metrics, as a summary for the parents to look at, and then for those who are willing/able they could go into more detailed reporting?

I don't know. Have you looked at what they are doing with this particular report card that makes it so confusing? Has anyone figured out why this is so confusing yet beyond the fact that it is 9 pages long? How about we identify if the media is telling the truth first and that there is really a problem with this report card before anything else?

ETA: Here's a picture from the source article


I can't make out the text on those pages but I do see a lot of tables, some pictures, highlighted text, repeated pages, and what appears to be boxes for letter grades. So for one it is obvious that an attempt was made to make them not huge blocks of text and easy on the eyes.

Sounds to me like many parents have now also been infected by the new 21st century disease:

TL;DR



The good news is that there's a cure for this dastardly disease... The bad news is that it requires a wee bit of effort.