[blparent] Parent report cards?

[Erin Rumer]

I don't agree with the parent report card either, but it's a sad time when
parents are so uninvolved as a whole that this is even being considered.  I
know of lots of parents like myself who are involved a ton with their
children, providing them both quality and quantity time, but so many folks
load themselves with more to do in a day than there are hours that the kids
get the shaft.  I think that community involvement is fabulous and key in a
child's development, but family time needs to come first before soccer
practice, dance class, piano lessons and so much more that parents are
running their kids to something nearly on a nightly basis.  I say depending
on the age of the child they should have no more than 2 extracurricular
activities at one time on average in order to fit in that quality family
time.  There are so many of us busting our humps to do all we can for our
kids but there are also lots of parents who are on survival mode
continuously and allowing their kids to eat in front of the television
instead of talking as a family and playing video games all the time to keep
them occupied.  This is why such ridiculous ideas like the parent report
card even come up.  Lots of parents are acting like kids, so the government
is wanting to treat them as such.  Behavior aside though, who are they to
say what's good enough.  I'll turn to much better resources and mentoring
than the government for parenting advice, thank you very much!

Erin

-----Original Message-----
From: blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Jo Elizabeth Pinto
Sent: Thursday, May 03, 2012 10:33 AM
To: NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List
Subject: [blparent] Parent report cards?

Who's judging whom? Parent report card proposal stirs debate

There's a movement afoot for teachers to start issuing report cards... on
parents! How would you feel about being graded by your child's teacher? One
Florida state lawmaker is proposing just that. NBC Education Correspondent
Rehema Ellis reported the story for TODAY, and it got her thinking about her
own parental participation.

 
NBC News Correspondent Rehema Ellis

By Rehema Ellis, NBC correspondent

As I researched this story, it made me think about my own family. I asked
myself, would I mind being graded as a parent?

All my son's life -- he's 8 years old now and in the second grade -- I've
embraced the notion that my school days are starting anew. Of course, the
big difference now is that I'm in the teacher/tutor role. I make him
breakfast every morning and sit down with him. I read all the school notices
and frequently communicate with his teachers and the school. There's a big
payoff: I know how he's doing in school and his report card has never been a
surprise. (And I should add, he's doing really well in school.) 

So, based on my involvement in my son's school life, I think I'd get a
pretty good parent report card. Still, I got to thinking: What kind of grade
would I get if I missed a few school notices or didn't check all of his
homework? It could happen, because as we all know parenting isn't easy.
Parents, especially those who work outside of the home, have long days on
the job, often exhausting commutes, and frequent challenges to keep the
house in order AND keep an eye on what's happening in their child's school. 

Susan Rayburn, the principal at Lincoln Elementary School in Plant City,
Fla., told me that grading could jump-start involvement from parents who are
not actively engaged in their child's education. But she also cautioned that
if not handled properly, the parent report card could be a turnoff. Some
parents could feel intimidated, she said. If the bill passes in the Florida
legislature, Rayburn said she hopes teachers use the parent report card "as
a tool for partnership versus a 'gotcha.' " 

She makes a great point. After all, the ultimate goal is to help children do
better in school. If the parent report card is used, as she says, to
"showcase what parents are doing and then help bridge that gap for what they
are not doing," everyone's grades would improve ... kids AND parents.


I read the article online and decided to post it for an idea to chew on.

Personally, I think the idea sucks rocks.  Most parents, including me, are
hard enough on themselves, and now to be judged by teachers as well?  No
thanks!

The idea is also dangerous, in my opinion.  If teachers start issuing report
cards based on parental involvement and student progress, the next step is
for the government to take action against the parents that don't, in the
opinion of teachers, measure up.  What happens to the parents who don't
pass?  Or the average ones who get C's?  Will the government have the right
to step in and force them to improve their "grades"?  Bad idea.

I do believe parents should be involved with the education of their
children, and I don't believe it's all up to the teachers.  My sister
teaches in public school, and I've heard the stories about hard times in the
classroom with no parental backup, and adversarial relationships between
parents and teachers over who is at fault when kids don't thrive, or when
they get in trouble.  So I support teachers wholeheartedly, but I wouldn't
want to be graded by them on my parenting skills and philosophies, any more
than they would probably not like me to send them a report card on their
teaching habits and expertise.

Jo Elizabeth

"How far you go in life depends on you being tender with the young,
compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of
the weak and the strong.  Because someday in life you will have been all of
these."--George Washington Carver, 1864-1943, American scientist