Grading Philosophy:
In place of a grade on the report card, a special education teacher provides regular feedback on how well our students are doing on the goals developed at the student's yearly team meeting and written in an Individualized Education Program (IEP). Tools are designed to evaluate how effective instruction and intervention are for each individual student. Progress monitoring works with the goals in the IEP, and the state standards for the child's grade level, to drive instruction and interventions that can be measured and tracked. This progress monitoring is included in the feedback to parents in conjunction with the report card.
Instruction is individualized according to the student's independent, instructional, and frustration levels. Instructional design changes are enhanced or changed according to close monitoring of student progress. The bottom line is that students are working at their own pace towards mastery of skills at their instructional level. Therefore, they are all working at a Satisfactory level when a grade is required on the report card. Most, if not all my students, are working at an exceptional level towards their individualized goals. The purpose of grading adaptations is not to make it easier for students to get higher grades but to produce accurate, meaningful, and fair grades based on equity for students that qualify for special education services. According to the student’s IEPs, the teacher can use an S/S-/U system or letter grade system for any subject at the classroom teacher’s discretion.
Thank you for filling out the student's report cards with Satisfactory grade marks on all the classes that your student attends in the special education setting with me. I will provide parents with feedback on their child's IEP goals/objectives through a written progress report. If you want to discuss the report card's Personal/Social side, do not hesitate to reach out to me. Throughout the year, I am in continuous contact with parents if there are concerns in any of these areas so that marks should not be a surprise when they view their child's report card. So please share if you have concerns. I can also help support through accommodations and modifications to help the student overcome some of these difficulties. Thank you for your collaboration in the success of our students.