Grading scale for printed report card/transcript?

[YogaMomOf4]

I need to register my kids for public school after having home schooled the last few years.(I need to go back to work for financial reasons.) When I go register the kids, the school requests a report card from any previous schools they've attended -- if available. It's not mandatory, but I guess they think it would be helpful in some way. I've been using Homeschool Tracker, so printing out a report card is no problem, BUT -- I've just been using a pass/fail system, because there's no real reason for them to get a grade of C or D, etc., because we don't move on until they understand a concept, at which time I give them a grade of "pass." So, a letter-grade report card would just have all A's on it. My question: would you just give them the report card with grades of "pass," or would you convert it to letter grades, which would be all A's? I was thinking they'd probably roll their eyes at a report card with all A's, like, "Oh, big surprise: you gave your kids A's in everything." Whatcha think? (My oldest is in 8th grade, so no high school students yet.)

[Ellie]

I would convert to letter grades, but maybe not all A's.

[hornblower]

I would stick to Pass grading. 
 

I wrote "All subjects were taught to mastery and graded as Pass/Fail, with a Pass mark indicating a grade of 80% or better." on mine & just gave a list of subjects they'd worked on. 

[OneStepAtATime]

As mentioned above, if you keep it pass/fail, can you notate on there that all courses are worked on to mastery and material must be at 80% or better (or whatever your criteria is) before a grade is issued?  I would normally say convert to a letter grade but all A's will look odd and just randomly assigning less than an A seems unfair to your kids.

 

Or maybe you could give placement tests or use tests from your curriculum to determine a final grade to put on the report card for this year?  Are they looking for ALL the years of academics?  Is the school used to working with homeschoolers?  

[YogaMomOf4]

I think they're fairly used to working with homeschoolers -- there are a lot of homeschoolers in this city.  I'm just going by the list of things they requested that we bring when we register, one of which is listed as "report card from previous school attended -- (if available)."  So, the report card isn't actually mandatory, but if I show up with no record of anything they've studied, I don't know if they'll expect my kids to take placement tests or something.  I figured a record of what they've studied may be good to bring.  We live in Texas and there are no regulatory tests or criteria that we have to meet on a yearly basis in order to homeschool -- we're basically free to homeschool however we want to, so I didn't do testing/grading, etc.  I just taught a concept until they understood it and then moved on.  I used Homeschool Tracker to keep track of what we've studied. 

I don't really have time anymore to have them take some standardized tests before registering them with the school, because two of my kids need special services (one needs Dyslexia testing and the other has health issues and needs a 504 plan) and I have to request those early -- I'm already pushing the limit of how long I can wait before requesting those for next year. 

I kind of like adding the wording that hornblower mentioned . . . that sounds reasonable; maybe that would satisfy everyone.  I'm reluctant to just randomly stick some B's or C's in there to make things look more public-school-like.  Hmmmmm . . . .

Edited May 11, 2016 by YogaMomOf4

[Cosmos]

I would just write a list of subjects they've studied ("State history", "handwriting", etc.) and for math and English maybe add a description of the level they are working at or the name of the curriculum. I would add a note that all subjects are taught to mastery and leave grades off altogether.

[MinivanMom]

I would be really reluctant to keep pass/fail on the report cards. Most school personnel interpret "pass" in a really negative way. Pass is what you give in classes requiring no academic work (PE or work study) or in situations where the student did very poorly but completed enough work to receive credit (pass = 60% to many school officials). It probably isn't as big deal with the younger kids, but I would be concerned that a report card full of "pass" grades could negatively impact the class placements for your 8th grader regardless of his test scores.

 

Honestly, if I were in your place I would leave grades off of the elementary report cards completely. I would do a list of subjects studied with the name & level of the curriculum. I would add a note that "All subjects are taught to mastery". Elementary kids are going to be placed by their age anyway.

 

On the middle school report card, I would give all A's unless there was a really compelling reason not to in one particular subject. Then I would include a traditional grading scale somewhere on the report card (A = 90-100, B = 80-89, etc.). If you are requiring your middle schooler to master each topic before moving on, then that is A level work in my mind. I would not worry at all about how they perceive all A's from a homeschooling parent. Most school officials are going to understand traditional grades much better than pass/fail. Give them something they understand to work with.