December 10th, 2020
Elementary Grade Reporting
Principal Katie May You child’s progress reports will be loaded into The Source on December 18. In talking to parents about report cards over the past few years, I have noticed that as clear as teachers feel they are being in assigning grades and comments, there can still be some confusion. You are always welcome to talk to your child’s teachers or to me about questions you have, and I thought I would also address our system of grading here.
Below performance expectations for this time
Approaching performance expectations for this time
Meeting performance expectations for this time
Exceeding performance expectations for this time
Standards based grading is different from traditional grades of “A”, “B”, “C”, etc. that most parents received growing up. The numbers 1-4 do not equate to traditional grades (i.e. a “4” does not equal an “A”). They are also not an average of work that a student has done over the first trimester, meaning that if a student really struggled with a concept at the beginning of the year and earned scores of mostly “1”s, but had demonstrated consistent grade level understanding by the end of the first trimester earning a “3”, that child would not receive an average of the “1”s and ‘”3”s equal to a “2”. She or he would receive a “3” because they were able to meet the standard. Likewise, a child who was able to meet the standard early in the trimester and continued to do grade level appropriate work by the end of the trimester would also receive a “3”. The purpose of standards-based grading is not to compare your child to other children, but rather to give you information about how your child is progressing towards the expected grade level skills. You may also see an area marked “*” on your child’s report card. This is to indicate that a particular skill has not yet been addressed by the teacher. Because teachers cover a range of skills across grade levels, they do not address every standard in every trimester. Teachers have found grading this year to be a bit trickier than other years. Most teachers have less work to assess than in past years, and attendance has not been quite as consistent for many children which gives teachers fewer opportunities to assess their understanding of a concept. Some areas of the curriculum are a bit harder to assess virtually, so you will likely see more areas marked with an * than in a normal year. During conferences, your child’s teacher discussed their progress with you, but if you have questions about what you see on the report card, please do reach out to your teacher. The Learning Behaviors section of the report card gives you information about your child’s behaviors that promote learning, such as perseverance, organization and self-control. This section is scored in the following way: S: Strength (consistently uses skill across subjects and settings) D: Developing (applies skills in most subjects and settings) E: Emerging (beginning to apply skills in some subjects and settings) The district advised teachers to use * in this section, as well. Some teachers felt they did have enough information to assign scores to this area. Attendance is also marked on your child’s report card. Remember that your child is counted as present if they are present in their Teams meeting for any part of the day or if they complete work in Seesaw at any time of the day. They may also be counted as present if you have technical issues which prevent them from being in class an you let us know. As another means for gathering information about student progress, the district has asked us to administer the Smarter Balanced Interim Assessments to our 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students two times this year. The interim assessments are much shorter than the Smarter Balanced Assessment given at the end of the year (on a typical year). The interims are very short – about 10 questions – so they give teachers information without using much instructional time to complete. Teachers can then adjust their instruction to spend more time on the content students need additional time to practice. The interim format allows teachers to see which standards students have learned and where they need more practice. It also gives students practice with the testing format, which requires a bit of tech savvy. Our students have taken the interim assessments for the past several years, although doing it in a virtual setting will be new for them. We anticipate giving the first round of interims in mid-January.
As 2020 comes to an end, the generosity of our community is more important than ever. Whether you are using your voice, time, money, or advocacy for communities and causes you hold, your efforts are valued and deeply appreciated. Throughout the uncertainty of 2020, TM staff have continued to support our children’s growth and learning (and working and worrying long hours over their students and families). This school year has brought logistical and financial challenges that are unprecedented. If you are considering an end of the year donation, please consider Thurgood Marshall. Your donation this month will help support FTME’s critical role in continuing to fund Mr. Zetterberg’s role as the Thurgood Marshall Elementary librarian, remote learning supplies (more critical than ever), classroom grants, enrichment activities, and so much more. The needs of our students and community have grown exponentially and FTME needs your donation to continue its work. This year is vastly different than years past, and many members of the Thurgood Marshall Elementary family have been hit especially hard. Those of us who are fortunate enough to be in the position to contribute, need to lend all the support we can. FTME is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and your gift is tax deductible. Even more exciting, is many employers in the Seattle area will match your donation. Employers such as Starbucks, Boeing, Microsoft, Wells Fargo, and Alaska Airlines all have matching participation programs. Please check with your employer to find out if they will match your gift. Together, we have the power to change the lives of our students and strengthen our community at a time when our children need it, and us, the most. Give today by: Write a check payable to Friends of Thurgood Marshall Elementary and mail it to: Friends of Thurgood Marshall Elementary 2401 S. Irving St., Seattle, WA 98144 Donating by credit card - link here. FTME thanks you for your consideration and participation in this Giving Tuesday. Should you have any questions, please contact us at giving@tmlink.org.
Would you like a “free” Little Free Library from Page Ahead?
Page Ahead, the children’s literacy organization known for giving Thurgood Marshall Elementary School kids new books to read each summer, wants to give kids even MORE opportunities to read by building, installing, stocking, and maintaining Little Free Libraries in our school neighborhood. All they need are neighbors willing to host a little library in front of their home, at no cost to the property owner. If you’re a homeowner, a renter willing to speak with your landlord, or know someone else in the neighborhood who might be interested, Page Ahead would LOVE to talk to you. Please contact volunteer project manager, Kim Ferse, by email kferse@pageahead.org or phone 206-461-0123. Thank you!
Calendar
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– FRIDAY, DEC. 18TH 1 hour early dismissal (2 PM) ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– MONDAY, DEC. 21st - MONDAY, JAN. 4th No school, winter break ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– TUESDAY, JAN. 12th 6:00pm FTME Board Meeting All are welcome –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Volunteer
Opportunities
Volunteering for our school definitely looks different this year! Please let us know if you would like to help by emailing our substitute admin secretary Cherese Williams at cnwilliams@seattleschools.org. Here are a few ways we could really use parent support:
Social Supervision – Even though we cannot have students together in person, we know that our students really value time to interact with other students outside the regular classroom setting. Consider hosting a lunch time hangout with a small group of students to give them an informal place to talk to others. In a virtual setting, we must have at least 2 adults together with our students for everyone’s safety.
Tech support – Are you tech savvy? Can you be on call to help troubleshoot tech problems for parents helping their children for one or more hours per week at a set time? If so, let us know your availability.
Deliveries – Some of our families find it difficult to come to school to pick up supplies and books that teachers are trying to get to them. If you are willing to help deliver these materials to our families’ porches, please let us know. As little as 1 hour per week will really help us out!
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