Student review grades -attitude to learning and attainment grades

Spendless

DS aged 12 (yr 7) has recently brought home his Spring student review grades. It gives him a grade for attitude to learning (I suppose this is the old effort grade I used to get at Secondary school on reports) and his attainment grade.

For attitude to learning the grades are between 1 and 5 with 1 being the poorest. Though in his 1st report in the Autumn DS got some 2s I am pleased he now has all 3s and 4s. His attainment grades have all either improved or stayed the same. This bit has me baffled though, in a couple of subjects his attitude to learning has gone down from a 4 to a 3, but his attainment has either stopped the same, or in one subject it's gone up?? I don't get it, how can you improve your work by putting less effort in? Can someone explain please.

fluffnutter

Probably because it's all fairly meaningless. Attitude towards work (the old 'effort' grade as you say) is about more than just conscientiousness. It will encompass behaviour and demeanour. It will also be highly subjective. You can quite easily improve your effort grade without affecting your attainment simply by being a bit less disruptive, or having a teacher that likes you more than the previous one. But if you're still rubbish at the subject, chances are it won't make any difference to your attainment! Similarly if you're good at something, it doesn't really matter how you behave, you'll still be able to get the grades. I used to get great attainment grades and appalling grades for effort - particularly if I didn't think much of the teacher

If your son's happy and well-liked, doesn't behave badly and is doing his best, what more can you ask? Reports are pretty incidental, IMO.

tyllwyd

I agree, the reports aren't an exact science - imagine you are a teacher with a classful of these things to fill out. The attainment ones are probably fairly easy, you can look at their books, but for attitude you are making a judgment, and maybe in one subject he's he's handed in a good piece of work but in class he's been messing around a bit with his friends, that kind of thing. Make sure you praise him for the overall improvement in his attitude marks, but further than that, if you and your teachers are happy with his progress, I wouldn't get too hung up on it.

thegirlintheattic

They are not really pure effort grades. Attitude to learning encompasses things like behavior, getting homework completed, bringing equipment, putting your hand up, completing work in class, taking part in class discussion, trying your best and having a positive mental attitude to work. So you can quite easily have a child (or several in my case) who get a decent level in the work they do but often leave work unfinished or forget to bring books/pens or chat too much which get them a low attitude to learning. Similarly I have kids who really struggle with the work but they always try and so resilience so get a high attitude to learning.

Attitude to learning is very important. Middling attitude grades tend to be the most inaccurate but if they change that does usually mean that something has happened that has stuck in the teacher's mind. As most teachers will pick the best fit attitude score and keep it all year unless something changes. I would find out what DS thinks about his attitude to learning going down. Could be he'll pin point it for you straight away - a late homework, was chatting and got told off, forgot his book one lesson. Something which is easily fixed. I always think it is best to challenge attitude slipping before it gets to the point where it is a serious problem.

Spendless

thegirlintheattic wrote: »

Middling attitude grades tend to be the most inaccurate but if they change that does usually mean that something has happened that has stuck in the teacher's mind. As most teachers will pick the best fit attitude score and keep it all year unless something changes. I would find out what DS thinks about his attitude to learning going down. Could be he'll pin point it for you straight away - a late homework, was chatting and got told off, forgot his book one lesson. Something which is easily fixed. I always think it is best to challenge attitude slipping before it gets to the point where it is a serious problem.

I did. He couldn't think of anything and was pretty upset as the class where the attainment has gone up but A2L down was DT which is his (joint) fav subject. I queried if it was about missed homework having read all the spec on the back for the 1-5 grades, but he said there was a muddle over homework where he had completed something different (I can't remember the exact reason why, but it was genuine) and when he'd gone to teacher he'd been told it was fine that he'd done that. I have to sign to say I've received grades and send back and can comment if I wish. I'm unsure whether to or not, not to complain per se but to understand what has happened and so I can address any issues with DS. :cool:

Savvy_Sue

All I can say is just wait until they start on Challenge grades ...

For A2 / AS levels, they get a 'predicted' grade which is based on their GCSE grades - all of them, so if you do very well in some subjects but only middling in others, this will be marked down.

Then they get a 'current' grade (might not be the right name), ie what you'd probably get if you took the exam right now. If you've chosen subjects you enjoy, chances are this will be higher than your predicted grade, especially if you were the kind of child who decides what's worth putting effort into (and decided half your GCSEs were NOT worth putting effort into ...)

And finally, they get a 'challenge' grade. Which, you might think, would be at least as high as the highest of the other two, and unless you've already got As predicted should, you might think, be higher than the other two.

And yet, for some reason I never did fathom, DS3 had Cs for predicted, Bs or As for current, and in one subject only a C for his challenge, even though his predicted was at least a B.

??? Surely he could have been challenged - "pull your finger out lad and you could make this a B or an A".

Otherwise what does 'challenge' mean in that situation?

Blackpool_Saver

Don't get me started on all this baloney, my son's school had the most ridiculous reports, with predicted grades and what looked like stairs !! never known anything so daft, it was all made to look like things were going well.......... when they couldn't even be firm about homework let alone coursework, I was pulling my hair out with how soft they were, they couldn't challenge a fly through an open window............

WhiteHorse

As it's entirely subjective, it's all twaddle.

Spendless

Ahhh well he stalked off to school this morning before I even had chance to give him the reply slip, let alone fill it in. The reason? Well, for the 2nd time in months, he's lost his dinner tickets on a Monday. The first time I made him take a packed lunch instead. Today I made him pay for replacements out of his Birthday money.;) I WILL focus his mind (eventually...) :rotfl:

esmerelda98

fluffnutter wrote: »

Probably because it's all fairly meaningless. Attitude towards work (the old 'effort' grade as you say) is about more than just conscientiousness. It will encompass behaviour and demeanour. It will also be highly subjective. You can quite easily improve your effort grade without affecting your attainment simply by being a bit less disruptive, or having a teacher that likes you more than the previous one. But if you're still rubbish at the subject, chances are it won't make any difference to your attainment! Similarly if you're good at something, it doesn't really matter how you behave, you'll still be able to get the grades. I used to get great attainment grades and appalling grades for effort - particularly if I didn't think much of the teacher

If your son's happy and well-liked, doesn't behave badly and is doing his best, what more can you ask? Reports are pretty incidental, IMO.

Whilst there is a lot of sense in your post, I take issue with the first sentence. I think tyllwyd put it very well - It's not an exact science. Going up or down a grade or even two may not mean there's been any real difference in effort, particularly if the teacher in that subject has changed, but going down three grades, I would say even two, should be looked into, even if attainment is high. If his attitude to learning is slipping he may be affected in other subjects he doesn't enjoy as much, or further down the line in the same subject when more challenging topics are covered. Bad habits can be difficult to break, so it's best to stop them taking hold.

I think that the effect of disruptive behaviour on the weaker members of the class should also be considered. I hope parents don't completely dismiss these attitude to learning grades on the basis that 'the attainment is good, so it's all a bit irrelevant'.

tyllwyd

Spendless wrote: »

I did. He couldn't think of anything and was pretty upset as the class where the attainment has gone up but A2L down was DT which is his (joint) fav subject. I queried if it was about missed homework having read all the spec on the back for the 1-5 grades, but he said there was a muddle over homework where he had completed something different (I can't remember the exact reason why, but it was genuine) and when he'd gone to teacher he'd been told it was fine that he'd done that. I have to sign to say I've received grades and send back and can comment if I wish. I'm unsure whether to or not, not to complain per se but to understand what has happened and so I can address any issues with DS. :cool:

If your DS is upset, would it be possible for him to have a word with the teacher after class and ask him what he should do to improve next time? Or put a question along those lines on the reply slip?