NYers and grades on quarterly reports

[Maura in NY]

Are there any New Yorkers out there who do a "written narrative evaluating the child's progress" on your quarterly reports instead of assigning a grade? I'm talking high school, here. As I read the regs, we are allowed to do this, and I feel like the grades I assign in some subjects (English, History) are so random. No writing is every "perfect" and I don't have an average student to compare to. We work to mastery in subjects like math and foreign language, so even those grades are not straight forward. But I can't figure out what a written narrative would look like after I briefly describe the material covered in each quarter.

Anyone doing this?

Peace,
Maura

[Liza Q]

No - I just assign grades for the High School QRs. Considering all the paperwork I have to send them all year, I really don't feel like doing anymore than I have to!

Yes, the grades feel random in some ways - I do not give tests for History or English, so I am just going with my gut! Since my girls are generally strong in those subjects, they just get As. I was much more specific on my older daughter's transcript, where there is a real difference between an A, an A- and a B+.

Well, I guess that you were looking for someone who does a narrative so I'll shut up now ;)

[Maura in NY]

This is pretty much what I've been doing. It just seems funny to be resting a high school transcript on "well, it feels like an A-". And with my ds (10th grade), I'm really weighing effort (low) vs. ability (high) -- When he actually stops complaining and does the work, it's usually fairly terrific. But he is NOT a hard worker. And I have absolutely no feel for how his work compares to his public school peers. I could give him straight As and his SAT and SAT II scores would back it up, but I don't know that he's actually capable of the quantity of work done in school. I know I'm off on a totally different issue, but this is what makes it difficult for me to give grades.

All thoughts & opinions welcome!

Maura

[Myra]

I don't assign any grades at all each quarter. I just list each subject and under the heading tell what we covered in a sentence or two. Here's a bit from his last quarter...


2.) Mathematics (Algebra II)
Lial’s Intermediate Algebra II
Completed Chapters 4-5: “Systems of Linear Equations” and “Exponents, Polynomials, and Polynomial Functions”. Math remains his favorite subject!

3.) Latin III
Completed Book I of Cambridge Latin Series and is beginning Book II utilizing the Omnibus Workbook, Book II Textbook, in addition to the On-line Cambridge Program Enrichment and Review Activities. Preparing for the National Latin Exam.

4.) Spanish I
Rosetta Stone Spanish I: Completed Units 4-5.

5.) United States History & Government
Completed the study of the historical eras in United States History from 1790s – early 1900s covering the religious, political, economic, and social trends that influenced the development of United States.


That's all that I do!

Myra

[Starr]

I give grades. It is the easiest. I also think that the transcript for college is more important. It is my understanding in NY you only need to send in reports through the year in which your child turns 16. The school district will not give you a high school diploma and the college transcripts come from you so it's okay to "drop out". That way you can tailor your high school classes toward the requirements of the colleges you are interested in.

[Peek a Boo]

when we were in NY the advice was to give a grade of "satisfactory" for every subject. The state gets minimal info, the transcripts get the full info. ;)

[mamaof2andtwins]

Maura,

I don't. When the kids are little and even up to high school in some subjects I do just give S or S+ on the quarterly reports. As the regulations read, we are required to give some thing. I am just going to post number 3 of section g so those reading do not need to look it up.

either a grade for the child in each subject or a
written narrative evaluating the child's progress;
and

For the high schoolers, I try to quantify as much as I can. I give number and letter grades on the quarterly reports. I do this because I intend to request a letter of equivalency from my district superintendent at the end of my son's (and the rest of the children's) high school career. My understanding from others who have been down this road is the in order to get the letter of equivalency, reporting as required through graduation is essential. So, we will not be dropping our reporting once my son turns 16. We will continue through 12th grade.

I hope that helps.
Jennie

[mamaof2andtwins]

Here is a sample from my son's quarterly report.

English 9
B+ (88%)
Lightning Literature
Literature Study: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien and

CLE English Grammar
Diagramming, sentence structure, punctuation, use of quotation marks, tenses, clauses and phrases.


Algebra 1

B+ (86%)
Teaching Textbook Algebra
X’s on both sides, fractions with x’s, getting the x out of the bottom, binomials, and graphing with x and y intercepts


Social Studies

A (95%)
History Odyssey

Ancient Greece



Physical Science

B (84%)
BJU: The Physical World
Properties of matter, Classification of matter, models of atoms,

[Maura in NY]

Thanks, everyone, for your thoughts. I guess I still need to work this out. And I guess it's moot for the rest of this year, because I started out giving grades, so I have to finish out the year that way.
Thanks,
Maura

[Peek a Boo]

Thanks, everyone, for your thoughts. I guess I still need to work this out. And I guess it's moot for the rest of this year, because I started out giving grades, so I have to finish out the year that way.
Thanks,
Maura


Jennie --good luck getting that letter of equivalency -- when i was up there the school districts were balking at giving those out. I haven't followed it since: have many homeschoolers been able to get those letters w/o too much trouble? curiosity and all that :)

and Maura: a good clause to put on your IHIP every year is "this plan is subject to change during the year to better serve the student's educational environment." --then if you wanna change how you report grades or the subjects studied, they can't gripe too much ;)

good luck!

[Myra]

Oh, I forgot to say that even though I don't give grades on my quarterly, I do make a "transcript" in place of my end-of-year written narrative plus I enclose a "textbook" list giving the publisher, title, etc along with a blurb (that I usually copy from the internet-maybe a table of contents) about the text/curriclum. I started this in grade 7, just to play with it a few years to get it the way I want it to look before high school. Now that my son is in Grade 9, I'm toying with whether to add grades on the end transcript, but definitely not the quarterlies.

Some school districts are really good at giving "Super's Letters". I'm shooting for one for my sons. I don't know how helpful they are for getting into a college, but I figure...can't hurt!

Myra

[dragons in the flower bed]

I haven't followed it since: have many homeschoolers been able to get those letters w/o too much trouble? curiosity and all that :)


Our Superintendent said it'd be no problem, but the kid in question took a different route. I recall having given Eldest grades and attaching the grading criteria to the quarterly report but it's been so long (he's in grad school now) I could be completely wrong. He and the district have copies; I have copies on a CD in long term storage in the attic.

How about weighing by projects? If you think (intuitively) that a kid who was doing his absolute best in a class would be able to write three reports using source documents, shadow a museum worker, and complete all sixteen chapters in the text, you could give 4.5 points for every chapter completion, 6 or 7 points for every report, and 1 point for every hour of a service project/community involvement. That would allow a child who did the minimal -- the textbook work -- to get a 75, which is a C here, and a child who did the maximum to get a perfect 100 or above.

[~Jenn~]

Here is what we use for quarterlies. I know it's bare bones but we've never had any issues. If any questions regarding specifics were to arise I'd guide them to the very detailed IHIP I submitted earlier in the year.

HOMESCHOOLING STUDENT: ____________________
STUDENT I.D. # : (optional)
GRADE LEVEL:
THIS QUARTER COVERS:
DATE SUBMITTED:


_______ is progressing at a satisfactory level or above in all subject matter.

We have had instruction in all the following areas, as per Section 100.10 of the Regulations of the New York State Commissioner of Education and ________’s Individualized Home Instruction Plan (IHIP): Reading, Writing, Spelling, Language Arts, Arithmetic, U.S. History, Geography, Science, Health, Physical Education, Music, and Visual Arts.

We have covered at least 80% of the planned material for this quarter.

________ had no absences from instruction this quarter, and has exceeded the required hours of instruction (225).



_______________________________
Parent’s Signature