Monday, January 5, 2009

U, N, S, O..........P?

As many of you know, this year, the K-2nd graders are using a new report card. It is a Standards-Based report card. It links the scored given to a more direct set of standards. I understand why the person who came up with it did…but man it sure caused some confusion the first time it was used.

I am going to take a second and explain this new report card, which is currently only used for Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grades. 3rd, 4th and 5th your report card is just like it always was, for now- get ready cause it is going to change over the next couple years. OK, so here we go:

In the past (and currently for 3rd – 5th) we have used 2 grades for PE. The first grade was a conduct grade and the second was a participation grade. In each of those two categories, your child could get one of 4 scores: U- unsatisfactory, N- needs improvement, S- satisfactory, and finally O- outstanding. Seems easy enough right? I thought so too.

The new Standards-Based report card uses a different grading system. The Standards-Based report card, for PE, splits our child’s grade into 3 categories. Two of these categories are graded using the same scale: The Categories of “Demonstrates basic manipulative skills” and “Demonstrates and identifies basic locomotor skills” are scored on a 1-3 scale. Here is the official breakdown of the point values:

1- Limited or minimum progress toward meeting the standard
2- Progressing toward the standard
3- Consistent and successful progress toward meeting the standard

* If one of your child’s boxes is greyed out, or crossed out, and contains no score- this simply means that skill is not being assessed this 9 weeks.

The 3rd category on the new report card is “Learning Skills & Behaviors.” This is more of a conduct grade. This portion of the report card is assessed every 9 weeks. The possible scores are:
N- needs improvement (student does not display skills and behaviors that lead to success)
P- progressing (student is progressing; displays appropriate learning skills and behaviors most of the time)
S- successful (student displays appropriate learner skills and behaviors)

I know all of this seems a but confusing, but if you have any questions about your child’s grade please send me an e-mail, and I will be more than happy to answer your question!

bryan.jones@cobbk12.org

Thanks!
Coach Jones