Interesting Educational Results! Let’s Take a Look…
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Shall we? These thoughts are obviously biased, but I’m really proud of all the children - they’ve all shown improvement or sustained their regularly high level of achievement. Today’s discussion centers on S1 and S2. Keep in mind that I finally achieved shared custody mid-way through the second marking period (of 4).
How did S1 do?
S1 took some state standardized testing this year. Across all categories he finished at the higher end of the “advanced” spectrum. Yes, his parents deserve a lot of credit, but I must tell you, the bulk of his studying - he did, mostly without assistance, and did so consistently between the time 50/50 was enacted (November of 2007) and the end of the year when the tests were taken.
As for regular school stuff:
READING:
1st period: 90. 2nd period: 92. 3rd period: 90. FINISH: 96
In the subcategories, he scored a “3″ (Demonstrates skills with accuracy and without support) on all of them, all year long except one. In marking periods 1 and 2, he scored a “2″ (needs support) in the category “Classwork, accuracy, timeliness, and neatness.” Nice improvement since the 1st-marking period.
MATHEMATICS:
1st period: 80. 2nd period: 93. 3rd period: 98. FINISH: 94
In the subcategories, he scored a “3″ (Demonstrates skills with accuracy and without support) on all of them all year long. Nice improvement since the 1st-marking period.
SPEAKING AND LISTENING:
No numerical grades for this category. In the subcategories, he scored a “3″ (Demonstrates skills with accuracy and without support) on all of them all year long except 1. In marking period 1, he scored a 2 (Demonstrates skills with support). He finished up with three consecutive 3s in that category. Nice improvement since the 1st-marking period.
WRITING:
1st period: 88. 2nd period: 86. 3rd period: 98. FINISH: 92
In the subcategories, he vacillated between a “3″ (Demonstrates skills with accuracy and without support) and a “4″ (advanced level - with no support) on all of them all year long. Nice improvement since the 1st-marking period.
This was important, because despite his early high grades, the neatness of his writing was atrocious, but his content, sentence structure, and his ability to stay focused and provide details was always very good. His neatness, when he applies himself, is now very good and something I worked very hard with him to improve.
SCIENCE:
Only two marking periods for this: 3rd period: 94. FINISH: 93
In the subcategories, he scored a “3″ (Demonstrates skills with accuracy and without support) on all of them all year long. Good work!
SOCIAL STUDIES:
Only two marking periods for this: 1st period: 91. FINISH: 90
In the subcategories, he scored a “3″ (Demonstrates skills with accuracy and without support) on all of them all year long. Good work!
Art, music, library, physical education, and health - all 3s and 4s, though at one point he did have a 2 in music.
In work habits and social development he scored a “S”atisfactory or “G”ood across all categories.
Absences: Less than half the previous 2 years.
Teacher’s Comments: S1 has shown great improvement this year in his work habits. I am very proud of how far he has come. Have a wonderful summer and good luck in the 4th-grade!
How did S2 do?
Being in 1st-grade, they still only do the scoring system 0 - 4. Here is how S2 measured up this year…
READING:
1st period: 2. 2nd period: 2. 3rd period: 3. FINISH: 3
In the subcategories, he scored a “3″ (Demonstrates skills with accuracy and without support) on all of them all year long. Nice improvement since the 1st-marking period. In all 8 subcategories under reading, he went from 2s to 3s from the 1st-half of the year to the 2nd-half of the year.
I wonder if the fact that he tells me that mom doesn’t read to him or with him and I do can be a good reason for some of the improvement?
MATHEMATICS:
Math was handled a little differently that all other concepts and there are no fewer than 20 separate categories under math covering counting, algebraic concepts, geometric concepts, measurement, data use and analysis, and numbers & operations.
In the subcategories, he was predominantly 2s and 3s in the first two marking periods in those items being covered. A “2″ is Child is making adequate progress. Child appears to understand some concepts of problems and attempts to solve them. Child demonstrates an understanding of the concept of skill being assessed that is marginally short of what is expected.”
By the end of the third marking period, S2 rated a 3 in all categories.
By the end of the year, S2 rated all 3s and 4s. A “4″ is Child is making progress that exceeds expectations. Child solves problems correctly and demonstrates a sophisticated and and well-articulated understanding of the skill or concept being studied.
He finished with nine “4s” and thirteen “3s.” In three of those categories, he was a 2 as recently as the 2nd marking period.
I watched this boy go from someone who was uncommunicative and frustrated with his lack of know-how to one who openly and frequently discussed the problems, looking for aid in understanding the problem-solving concepts - to getting snippy with me when I offered to aid him late in the year because “I can do it myself!”
(I made both boys into “private investigators” who use math tools to “solve the mystery” when doing math problems. It was a whole lot of fun when going over the “clues” together to solve the problems.)
SPEAKING & LISTENING:
In the subcategories, he scored a “3″ (Demonstrates skills with accuracy and without support) on all of them all year long, except the troublesome ones. He rated 2s all year long in the sections for “listens to others” and “contributes to class discussions.”
His inability to listen well and follow instructions (the two go hand-in-hand) would be the chief criticism of the teacher all year long… and one I worked on, at times, badgered him about, much the same.
WRITING:
In the subcategories, he scored all 1s and 2s to open the year. (A “1″ = Does not demonstrate the skills, even with support). By the end of the 2nd-marking period, he was 2 in all categories except one in which he scored 3. By the end of the third marking period he was about half-and-half, four 2s and three 3s. By the end of the year, he scored a 3 across all categories. Nice improvement since the 1st-marking period.
In social studies, science, physical education, music, and art - he was 3s all year long across the board.
In work habits and social development, he scored “S”atisfactory and “G”ood in all categories except those most critical. He closed with a “N
“eeds Improvement for “listens attentively and follows instructions” and “demonstrates self-control.”
Apparently, the teacher says he struggles with being easily distracted by his classmates and easily gets enticed into clowning around, which means he needs to be retold class instructions and such.
Absences: Less than half the previous two years.
Teacher’s Comments: S2 has made great progress in reading this last marking period. To maintain this progress, I highly recommend that S2 continue reading every day during the summer. S2 has had some difficulty staying focused on his work. He was easily distracted by other students. I hope you have fun this summer and a great year in 2nd-grade.
Finally, a couple of my own observations:
- Improvement across the board for both boys in critical areas. S2 was the only exception with no great report cards on his classroom behavior and listening skills… which is kind of odd since he is the one usually listening at home and S1 is the one who needs to be told/reminded repeatedly about things.
- The results fly in the face of her oft-repeated assertions (as always, unsupported by any objective evidence) that their schoolwork (among other things) has been suffering since the custody change.
- The teachers did a great job. S1’s teacher, in particular, was very communicative and worked hard to help see that S1 turned some things around in the work ethic department. S2’s teacher, no so much in terms of regular communication. Despite a number of requests that went without response, I wrote asking her to inform me the same day of any ‘negative events’ so that I may address them immediately. This was a great help with S1 because regular reports quickly demonstrated for him that I was “in the know” on a near real-time basis and he wouldn’t slide by without me knowing pretty much everything. The lack of cooperation in that regard, even minimally, with S2’s teacher didn’t help me, didn’t help her, and obviously, didn’t help S2.
Still, these two teachers did a fabulous job.
Am I taking all of the credit on the home front? Certainly not. This is more about showing again that real evidence disproves yet more hysterical claims of the PEW. I know what I do with the children regarding their educations (and activities) and in some cases, what she doesn’t do - because the children tell me.
The kids were happy, healthy, and interested in “school” prior to the split & divorce and thrived in a classroom environment. While they continued to do well when I was NCP, there was some slight backsliding. Finally, since 50/50 and over the course of 2/3s of a school year - they’re achievements are back up again.
I hope I can keep that momentum going in all future years, too!
Thanks to the teachers. The boys got great big “atta’boys” for their efforts and results during the year.
Now… getting S2 to wise up and pay attention in class next year…
