February 14, 2008
Maura J. Casey
This article is about how different report cards are in modern days compared to when most people were in grade school. Apparently the days of just putting an A or a gold star are gone. Schools in Hartford are now grading 10 year olds in gym class not on how well they participate in kickball, but on how he or she “establishes and maintains a healthy lifestyle by avoiding risk-taking behavior.” And music class students are now being graded on “connections between music and other disciplines through evaluation and analysis of compositions and performances.” These are actual examples from a new report card from Hartford’s elementary schools which measures 58 academic, social, and behavioral skills, and the author believes that we may be taking this a bit too far. Report cards nowadays use a vast vocabulary to describe a student’s progress, and sometimes the report cards can even be seven pages long. However, parents seem to have received the evaluations very positively. I very much enjoyed the author’s humorous point of view, especially when she said, “If I got a report card that told me my 10-year-old ‘uses numeracy and literacy skills to describe, analyze and present scientific content, data and ideas,’ I would have reached for a dictionary and an aspirin. It is enough to make me think longingly of the days of happy face stickers and gold stars.” I believe she has an excellent point, however, academic levels have been advancing very quickly around the country and I suppose that with it comes more challenging curriculum and goals for the students. Still, there is a point where a seven-page report card on your child’s progress becomes just silly.
5 comments:
I totally agree. Parents do not need a seven page report card. Most of the time parents do not pay attention to the simple A's and B's on the paper. I think the A should be worth more. Today, A's are given out to easily.
This seems like a well written essay; I especially like how there is an actual example applied. The seven page report is a little much; I think the parents should be more involved and actually know what their child is receiving in school rather than having to find out from a report card.
These kids sound like they have no lives. Their parents have everything structured and planned for them. Let kids be kids. Don't look at every aspect of their lives like it's a science project. Kids like music because it sounds good, and they can dance to it.
I think ahving a seven page report card is a bit ridiculous but might be beneficial to a parent who wants to know just how well or poor their child is doing. I think that this system is good to evaluate a student. It is so annoying to get a B when you have 89.5 or something.
I guess this is the next step for justifying the rising costs of education. Things have become so PC that complexity and jargon are glorified over simple grades. As long as the student's development remains paramount, I don't really see a problem with it. Very well written post by the way!
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