GothamSchools — daily independent reporting on NYC public schools

Did you see Michael McCurdy’s post this week in the Community section on what a kindergarten report card — at least for a G&T student — looks like? Apparently, there are nearly 100 criteria — I count 98 — each which gets rated on a scale from one to four.

That is stunning, or at least it is to me. 98 criteria!! Do you know how many marks a high school students gets on his/her report card? One per class, something like six to nine, total. That’s less than one tenth the feedback that kindergarten students get!

But I do not think that high school students — or their families — get even that much feedback. I mean, what do grades really mean? Mr. McCurdy’s post drew me back to an old thought of mine. What does a B or B+ mean, on a report card?

* Does it mean that student aced the tests, but missed a bunch of homework?

* Does it mean that the student did all the homework, but did not do so well on the tests?

* Does it mean that the student only did sorta kinda OK on tests and homework, but was super helpful and friendly in class?

* Does it mean that the student’s performance was average overall, or above above?

* Does it mean that the student mastered everything to about the same level or proficiency, or that s/he really aced everything except one topic which s/he did not understand at all?

* Does the material upon which his/her grade was based include all the standards, or just those included on the state’s standardized tests?

* Is ability or mastery in one topic able to offset difficulties in another? (i.e. is there extra-credit on tests or in other assignments?)

Obviously, similar parallel set of questions could be asked about D’s and C’s, too. They could even be asked about A’s.

As a student, what does a B or B+ mean to you? As a parent, what does it mean to you? As a teacher? As school administrator? As a college admissions officer?

What do high school report cards tell us about students? Do they actually tell us anything at all about students’ learning?