It’s report card day and your child gets a "C" in math. Is that good enough? Many people feel a "C" represents an "average" grade. What does a "C", or any grade, really mean? Unfortunately, the letter grade just doesn’t give a parent enough information. Grading using letters (or numbers) is an imperfect system still widely used.
Here is a brief overview of grades in general.
- Letter grades were invented by schools to quickly communicate how well a student mastered the material of a class.
- Grading is somewhat subjective. There are differences among states, districts, schools, and even teachers for the criteria of earning a particular grade. Common Core State Standards attempt to standardize grading criteria, but it still isn’t a perfect system.
- Grades can be given in letters, percentages, points, or descriptions. Letter grades are the most common and typically correlate with a range of percentages or points.
- "A"s and "B"s get interpreted by many as “good” grades. "D"s and "F"s get labeled as “bad grades.” "C" is often considered average.
- Society makes judgements about students’ drive, intelligence, and work habits based on if they get “good grades” or “bad grades”
- Some children get Bs and Cs without really learning the material. They just learned how to “game the system” of school.
- Some kids who master the material still get Cs, Ds. and Fs because they don’t bother to turn in assignments, or they get test anxiety and bomb tests.
Should You Worry if Your Child Gets a "C" in Math?
Your child might be learning everything just fine, but needs to improve their ability to function in the school system. Maybe your son got a zero on a few math assignments because he forgets to write his name on them. Maybe your daughter had a stomachache when she took a test and couldn’t concentrate. Or maybe your son is actually struggling to learn the material but has done extra credit to boost his grade up to a C.
3 Ways to Get More Information
- Ask your children how they feel about math. Not liking math or feeling anxious about math or feeling bored in math indicates a problem. They might not be getting adequate support or getting challenged enough.
- Ask the teacher for more information. Most teachers know much more about a child’s situation than they can communicate in a letter grade, or even in a comment. Tap into their expertise.
- Bring your child or children to Mathnasium of Parker. We will give them a free, comprehensive math assessment and then talk with you at length about their strengths and weaknesses. Appointments are required for this service. Please call and schedule your child's assessment today! 303-840-1184 Plan on a 2-hour block of time.
This article was written by and owned by Cuttlefish Copywriting, www.cuttlefishcopywriting.com . It is copyright protected. Mathnasium of Parker has permission to use it. Other Mathnasium locations should contact Heather at [email protected] before using it.
