Time was that a fifth grader’s greatest concern about gym was whether he or she would be picked last for the kickball team.It just seems to me that a lot of the convoluted commentary on report cards these days is a smokescreen to avoid singling out underachievers or "hurting anyone's feelings."
Now, in schools in Hartford, that 10-year-old would-be athlete is being graded on how he or she “establishes and maintains a healthy lifestyle by avoiding risk-taking behavior.”
Not surprisingly, the language was produced by a committee.
My take on this, as regards report cards anyway, is that less is definitely more. We should pare this down to... "Is my kid "getting it"... and if he or she isn't... how do we fix that?"
Wouldn't this whole "once upon a time" thing be better handled in face-to-face parent teacher interviews, where there would be an actual two-way conversation?
Anybody can make things more windy, twisty and complicated. The real art is paring a process down to it's essential components.
It just seems we don't do that anymore.
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LAST WORD: Kate's got an interesting idea...
It would push back the powerful "if it saves one child" lobby, along with their toboggan helmet police, school lunch analysts, anti-bullying program directors, and playground equipment removal teams.*
A half million 20-somethings would emerge from their parents' basements, if only to search for food.
In time, we might even relearn the survival skills of our ancestors -- how to hang up a phone, to expect imperfection, to mind one's own business.