Report Cards for PARENTS?! Gimme a Break!
Click here and scroll down to read the post that inspired this rant.
This has got to be the most ludicrous idea I’ve ever heard, bar none. I have so many objections to this idea that I don’t even know where to start, so I’m going to plunge in and give stream-of-consciousness a try.
First of all, most of the teachers I know are overworked and underpaid as it is. They do regular teacher stuff plus all the paperwork and record-keeping required for them to keep their teacher’s certificates and stay current in their field.
Second, most teachers have absolutely no clue about the circumstances of their students’ families. So many kids nowadays are living with “sandwich generation” parents who are juggling aging parents, school-age kids, a career, illness, and heaven knows what else. Most of them are already struggling with concern that they are inadequate to handle all their responsibilities, much less handle them well. They really don’t need something to smack them in the face and confirm their worst fears. It would give their depression a depression.
Third, there must be a tremendous percentage of parents who are not capable of being involved in their child’s education. As Ms. Jacobs points out, what of those parents who cannot read? It’s rather difficult to help your child with his homework if you cannot read the instructions or the explanation of the concept with which he is struggling. And what of the single parent who works two jobs to make ends meet and has to keep the laundry and meals coming when she’s not at work? And then there are those whose children have outstripped their knowledge base. Take me, for instance. When my kids get to higher math, I’m going to be worse than useless to them. I made it through Algebra by the skin of my teeth; now kids have to pass level one Calculus to graduate from high school. There’s no way on earth that I am going to be useful in learning that subject!
This is getting long, so I will satisfy myself with one last point. What of the teacher who just doesn’t like a student or a student’s family? While most of my own teachers were consummate professionals, I had a couple of teachers who hated my guts and lost no opportunity to make it clear that I was, in their opinion, a complete waste of skin. Does a family really need to be graded by someone who doesn’t like them anyway? Isn’t that a bit like asking Saddam Hussein to rate George Bush’s effectiveness as a leader?
My suggestion? Instead of report cards for parents, let the schools develop a handbook for parents explaining how they can help their child to succeed in school. Let them have a series of orientation sessions for parents (at different times of day and on different days of the week) so that all parents can be briefed on what is in that handbook. That way, parents who cannot read will still get the benefit of the information. Let there be a designated liaison, so that families whose primary language is not English and families of children who consistently come to school unprepared can have a neutral third-party to consult and work with.
2 Comments
Don’t Get Me Started!
I can’t tell you how many times I have been called to the school to discuss my son’s behavior, and when I asked the teacher, who sees at least 20 students a day times 20 years experience, what she suggests I do to correct the problem, her answer is, “I don’t know.”
Sure. Send me a report card on how I am doing as a parent. Just make sure I get to fill one out on how the teacher is doing as a teacher.
Totally agree with ‘Whim’ different continent – same problem. I was called at work to let me know that my 17 yr old son had been caught with a cigarette. Bad – yes. School policy – seemingly none. Just a very stressed out teacher. Younger son – different school – but was marked late on various occasions. He went to school on the school bus, which was often late. Difficult to address that one!