I received a newsletter in the mail yesterday from Toki Middle School, where my son is now a sixth-grader. The principal’s letter says:
“With the introduction of standards-based middle school report cards, we decided to send first quarter progress reports only to students currently not meeting grade level standards in curricular areas.”
So, assuming my child meets the standards, he just doesn’t matter? He’s not worth the time to figure out how to fill out the new report cards? The teachers are taking an extra half day today (early release: 11:30) to work more on dealing with these new report cards – and they’ve already taken at least one or two other days – but it’s still too hard to give my child a report card?
What if I want to know how well my child is doing? What if I want to know if he’s EXCEEDING the standards? Oh, wait…. I forgot. MMSD doesn’t care if he exceeds them. They just want to know if he MEETS them. God forbid I learn how MUCH he’s exceeding them by, or if he’s just skating and is merely meeting the standards. Or if he excels in one subject but is simply OK in another. We went through this in elementary school, so I suppose it should be no surprise that it’s happening in middle school.
I know there’s a teacher conference coming up, but if they’re not giving us report cards, then I’m thinking 15 minutes isn’t enough time to really lay out my child’s strengths and weaknesses in several different subjects. It’s not enough time for the teacher to give me a thorough assessment of my child’s progress. Oh, wait….I forgot. MMSD doesn’t care about giving me a thorough assessment. Judging from our experience in elementary school, the teachers just want you in and out of there as quickly as possible. They don’t want to answer my questions about how we can help him at home so he can do better in any subjects. (“Your son is a joy to have in class. He’s doing well in all subjects. He talks a little too much, but we’re working on that. Thanks for coming!”)
They DID send home a note asking if I needed to meet with any of his Unified Arts teachers (in addition to just his homeroom teacher) – but I checked no, because I assumed we’d be getting report cards with information from all his teachers! Nice of MMSD to wait until AFTER those papers had been turned in to let us know we wouldn’t be GETTING report cards. (Yes, I’ll be emailing the principal to let her know I’ve changed my mind.)
Oh, and I CAN sign in to Infinite Campus to see what’s going on with my child’s record (which hopefully is updated more often that the Toki Web site, which we were told would be updated every three or four weeks, but hasn’t been updated since before the beginning of school). But to do this, I have to **go into the school during school hours** with a photo ID. I can’t just use social security numbers or anything else to access this online. Could they be more clear in the message that they’d rather you not use Infinite Campus?
Isn’t it bad enough that MMSD doesn’t do thorough third-quarter report cards, because they believe not enough time has elapsed between the second and third quarters to make any discernible improvement? If my child isn’t making any improvement, if my child’s work isn’t worthy of a report card, then WHAT’S HE DOING IN SCHOOL?
We moved here four years ago, so looking forward to the “great” Madison schools. We couldn’t have been more wrong. My bright children are lagging. My sixth-grade son who tested as gifted before we moved to Madison is no longer (witness his dropping test scores – oh, wait…they’re still average or above, so MMSD doesn’t care).
I’ve brought up my concerns repeatedly. I’ve offered constructive suggestions. I’ve offered to help, at school and at home. I did two years as a PTO president in the elementary school and struggled unsuccessfully to get improvements. I might as well have thrown myself in front of a semi truck for all the good it’s done and for how beaten down I feel by this school system. The minute this housing market turns around, I’m investigating the nearby schooling options with an eye toward getting the heck out of here. I’m SO FED UP with MMSD and it’s reverse-discrimination against children who are average and above.
Class-action lawsuit, anyone?
13 thoughts on “No middle school report cards??!!”
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I feel your pain Diane, interesting we had a Mom on Fire post today. I feel like that sometimes. Is anyone left in MMSD who doesn’t think we are on a collision course? What a waste of teacher time.
I am not excusing the lack of reporting, but I do know that a considerable onus has been placed on the middle school teachers to master this new system in a short period of time. I believe that the elementary level teachers had three years to adjust and learn this new system. The middle school teachers had a much shorter period of time and the school based administrators can’t offer much assistance. The early release today did seem like too little too late. We didn’t receive any official communication from the school, but our child reports at least a couple teachers will override the reporting and give a letter grade.
In this time of tightening budgets, one could ask why this was a priority for the teaching and learning department. One would think they would have their plates full with more academic and remedial efforts-i.e. achievement gap!!! I don’t see how it offers any great insight into the child’s progress to get a number instead of a letter.
Change is never easy, but why endure this frustration? I imagine this will be a public relations nightmare.
Now that’s a cop out. My middle schooler is getting a full report card. But yes, the teachers are struggling this first go around, no doubt about it. One middle school doesn’t make up the whole district though.
Does this decision apply only to Toki or to all MMSD middle schools?
I think there may be confusion about terminology. I’m not in MMSD, but in my children’s schools a progress report is different from a report card. It is a brief report that comes home mid-quarter to let parents know how their kids are doing. While everyone gets one, the purpose is to alert parents of students who are struggling that they should contact teachers/talk to their children. So it makes sense to limit these to students in need of assistance.
Diane,
I would have the same reaction if I were you. I would be pretty upset. I guess the next move is up to you. I would make sure I attended conferences and then calmly and rationally explained why I thought report cards were important (to the principal, not the teachers). If you let your irritation with policy over which the teachers have no control, you’re not doing yourself or your kid any favors.
KG
Further investigation reveals that ALL middle schoolers will receive the standards-based report cards at the end of the quarter. Progress reports are just that, progress reports, and are not part of the report card. For a school to not send a report card at the end of the quarter would violate BOE policy.
Accept David,
A few years ago the elementary schools across the board decided not to send home 3rd quarter report cards due to a lack of measurable progress. I posted the memo and email correspondence with Sue Appelbaum when this occurred.
http://www.schoolinfosystem.org/archives/2006/04/3rd_grade_repor.php
I recall Mary, but that’s not relevant to this issue. I just got my daughter’s first quarter middle school report card (not progress report) and it is a huge improvement over what we used to get.
Successful implementation and use – by parents, teachers and students of an online, up to date (!) student information system can make a material difference and, perhaps one day, eliminate the need for periodic report cards.
The Madison school District introduced a system called Infinite Campus in 2007. Nearby public and private schools use a variety of systems.
http://www.zmetro.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-search.cgi?IncludeBlogs=6&search=Infinite+Campus
It would be interesting to evaluate how frequently these systems are updated and viewed along with the depth of information available from different schools and districts.
Jim,
Myself and several parents just had a meeting with Dr. Nerad concerning the Middle school standard based report cards…..and my concern was that last year my child’s gradebook on infinite campus was complete and very helpful, but due to the standards based report card, not one teacher is using the gradebook portion or anything on infinite campus this year, just some final semester grade. I was told this may be Jefferson specific…..anyone have other middle school students?
Blackhawk staff compliance is still so-so on Infinite Campus. However, the actual standards based report cards were done completely and are excellent upgrades to the old ones. There is no requirement that teachers use IC. I’m guessing the next MTI contract will include such a requirement.
Hopefully the necessary contract “requirement” was taken care of before money was spent on Infinite Campus.
Issues like these are prevalent in both the private and public sectors. If the “buy in” and leadership are not present from the get go, don’t do it. It just makes things worse.
Even more concerning is the IC system does not coordinate with the standards based report cards. The staff I have met with explain why they can’t use IC grade book anymore as each assignment requires 3 to 4 different grades not based on a 100% grading. Therefore the system MMSD purchased to inform parents about a students homework and test results etc…..is incapable of being used for the standards based report cards. The staff at my conferences complained a great deal about their inability to use the system in coordination with the grade system. I would say the arms do not know what the legs are doing.
Furthermore, if Target had a new computer system implemented throughout the store, would the employees have the “Choice” to learn the system or use it. I find it an outrageous waste of funds and time that a system I could use last year for my middle school student is now completely useless. And teachers throughout the district can pick and choose if they will use it. I used this system and found it beneficial last year, this year non of my daughters assignments, test or anything are on the system only the same report I had mailed home, and for my 10th grader 3 teachers choose NOT to use the system. And of course the Elementary will never be added because it is not made for Standards based reporting.