My son (4th grade) has a terrible time passing any written tests. His teacher seems to understand that his tests don’t reflect accurately what he has learned and so far his report card grades have not suffered. My problem has to do with how the tests are returned to him. I realized today that it is standard practice for a few students to come in early and pass out papers. The teacher doesn’t seem to even be in the class during this time.
I don’t want to overreact and offend his teacher by criticising this practice, but I worry about the constant battering his self-esteem is getting. I don’t know if I’m making too much of this. I just keep thinking of the look I saw on his face one day when he picked up a paper with a big 35% on it and he quickly looked around to see if anyone nearby had seen.
He has an IEP which is soon to be updated. Any suggestions as to how to approach this?
Re: Test grades and privacy
Sadly this practice and others like it were just found by our Supreme Court to be legal. A mother had sued on behalf of her son in a class where the teacher was posting grades. Some of us hoped the Supreme Court would declare these practices to be a violation of the Family Rights and Privacy Act but not so. So your question is clearly an excellent one that has been discussed and debated at the highest levels.
However, some still believe the practice is unethical if not illegal. That you have an otherwise understanding teacher is wonderful. It’s probably something he/she’s never thought about. You might write a quiet note always beginning with a thank you for the great year and how fortunate you feel to have her as your son’s teacher. Then mention that “Johnny” is a bit embarrassed over his grades even though he knows she understands. Tell her his fear is that the other kids don’t understand when they see his grades and he’d so much prefer to keep his grades private between his family, his teacher, and himself. Is there any way that’s possible?
That leaves room for her to say no and thus can’t offend her or make you seem pushy.
Good luck.
Re: Test grades and privacy
oh yes, modifications and accomodations:
reduced quantity - reduced number of questions, reduced number of multiple choices, reduction in number of spelling words etc.
no penalty for spelling, reversals, and omissions
extended time for test taking
reader
scribe
quiet distraction free place for testing
no peer grading
no peer handing out of test scores
calculator for all mathematical calculations allowed
Re: Test grades and privacy
Thanks. All excellent suggestions for modifications. This is not to say that anyone else on the team will agree with me or will agree to any of these without an argument but it’s nice to have some “virtual” moral support.
Re: Test grades and privacy
osinski, all the modifications you listed above is exactly what my child needs on his iep but for 3 years now i can’t get them to add this to it. Do i need special papers stating this?
I agree with you test grades should be private. Since this teacher sounds reasonable, if she’s giving him credit for what he seems to know, I’d just try talking with her and ask if she could hold his papers out and hand them to him, at the end of class.
But, in his next IEP, Iwould state that papers are to be handed back to him by the teacher, you never know what kind of teacher he’ll have next year. Our school does this same thing with tests, but then when they pass out report cards they make a big deal out of not showing it to your classmates,hmmmm? It Would be the same thing as your employer saying, ok, you can tell your co-workers how much you make, but don’t let them see your paycheck. Just makes you wonder where their heads are sometimes. Looks like somewhere along the line, logic would kick in, and us parents wouldn’t have to concern ourselves with such minor details at an IEP meeting. But, I’d still ask for this modifications, self esteem is really more important than a grade. Good Luck!