"Middle School Madness Blog"

by Unnamed MMSD Educators [RSS]. The blog touches on the "Standards Based Report Card" initiative among a number of other topics.

What about . . . THE 6th GRADE STUDENT READING AT A 2nd GRADE LEVEL?

From the district Curricular Standards:

"These Grade Level Performance Standards describe behaviors typical at the specified grade level. They represent behaviors students generally exhibit as they move from novice to expert in their ability to take control of language processes. It is important to remember, however, that literacy learning may not be sequential and each child has a unique developmental pattern."

The 6th grade student reading at a 2nd grade level earns a ONE (remember, no zeroes) for the Power Standard of Reading Comprehension. Why? For not meeting the "behaviors typical at the specified grade level " (6th).

Now, if said student raises her/his reading level to that of a 4th-grade student, guess what. That student still does not meet the 6th grade standard and will still earn a ONE for the Power Standard of Reading Comprehension. Effort and improvement are not taken into consideration in this constricted construct for grading.

via a kind reader email.

Much more on standards based report cards here.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at September 3, 2008 11:59 AM
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