What about Grading Styles?

How do you know how your school evaluates children? Here are a few ways to find out and help.
 

1. Whether your child's school utilizes a traditional grading style or new-style grades, make sure that the mark he receives reflects the quality of the work he does. If your child hands in a paper riddled with spelling errors and receives an A, you need to raise this with the teacher and convey your own expectations.
    
2. What are the criteria for each grade? Are there specific benchmarks that must be met to earn each of these grades? Just like the need for standards in states, across school districts and in schools, children learn what is taught and what is taught needs to be measured.
    
3. Finally, talk to your child's teacher - and possibly your parent group and the principal, too - about the purpose of the grading system. What is it supposed to measure? Make sure that it is firmly based on what your child has learned and the knowledge she has acquired. Watch for goals that are cloaked in phrases like "to raise self-esteem" or "increase awareness of others." Grades measure objective academic progress. While some of these cognitive or behavior goals may be important for children, the job of the school is to ensure the acquisition of knowledge.