Monday, May 3, 2010

Prevent the Home/School Disconnect

My husband and I walked into our second grade son's parent/teacher conference expecting to hear nothing but good things. The papers coming home looked good. The spelling tests were refrigerator worthy. Our son loves school, loves to learn and has, of late, been voluntarily spending some of his free time reading. Watching him discover books has brought me to tears, because I know the worlds he'll be entering as he becomes a more proficient (and hopefully, avid) reader.

Imagine our dismay when his teacher told us he's a great kid, but he needs to work harder, because he's a smidge behind. To add insult to injury, his report card showed his work for the quarter to be satisfactory. Satisfactory is one step down from excellent, the highest mark one can receive, at least in our school's grading system for grade 2. Why were we seeing what appeared to be a great report card, but being told he is performing below acceptable levels?

A few weeks later, we received our son's MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) test results. We now had another reason to be concerned. His scores were well below the district average. We were perplexed. I called his principal and requested a meeting. We needed to know where the disconnect was happening.

The meeting was only 15 minutes long, but so worth attending. We discovered that our son is a typical, bouncy, funny, smart 8 year old boy with a short attention span. He gets extra help with reading, but shouldn't need it for too much longer. His performance is satisfactory, but he could use a little reinforcement at home. His MAP scores are well within the range of normal, and the fact that reading is still fairly new to him may have hindered his success. He also gets nervous about taking tests, even if he knows the material inside and out.

If something doesn't seem right about what you're seeing at home, versus what you're hearing from teachers, set up a meeting. Teachers, staff and school administrators are there to answer your questions. Most schools have a website listing contact phone numbers and email addresses. Working together as a team, parents and teachers can create a plan to help students feel good about themselves and succeed.