What do you do if you feel your child deserves better grades on her report card?

I have saved every paper that my daughter has brought home from school this year, on every single paper, she has recieved a 90% or above accept for one. My daughter is in first grade. I just got her first report card, and she has 2 N's on it. I am not happy about this, I feel that she deserves higher markins, one was in handwritting and the other was in Language arts. I feel, as a parent that her handwritting is pretty good for only being in first grade. It is always quite legible. I am poor, and I feel that the school is discriminating against her because she comes from a poor, single parent home. I feel that my daughter is above average in intelligence. I was expecting her to bring a report card home with straight A's, I feel my daughter is gifted. What can I do? How would I go about appealing this? I have written a letter to her teacher explaining that I feel my daughter deserves higher markings, if her teacher does not change her grades, what can I as a parent do? What rights do I have? How do I go about enforcing those rights? How do I go about requesting a formal hearing? If I am denied at a formal hearing, how do I go about taking the matter to court?What do you do if you feel your child deserves better grades on her report card?
I guess every teacher is different and she could be discriminating against your daughter. But before you jump to that conclusion, I think you should request a conference with the teacher to find out why your daughter got these Ns, how she compares to the other children in the class, and how it can be corrected.



My daughter is also in first grade and for several weeks, she insisted on writing her name in her own creative way. Don't get me wrong, I love uniqueness and creativity, but there is a time and place for everything and a big part of first grade is learning how to write properly. ... Is your daughter, by any chance, trying to incorporate her own style while the teacher is trying to teach everybody to write properly?



My daughter finally started writing her name the right way after several discussions about it. I told her that I love how she writes her name! It is so creative and it would be nice if she made me a poster with it :) But while she is in school or doing school work, she needs to write the way that the teacher tells her to. That means writing letters the correct direction, only making capital letters where she is supposed to, making the lower case letters shorter than the capital letters, etc. ... I am shocked at how much her handwriting has improved over this past week!



Anyhow, if the teacher thinks that your daughter's handwriting is poor, I think you should talk to her about it. Find out why. Ask to see examples of excellent handwriting from her classmates and compare. Also, compare your daughter's handwriting now to her handwriting over the past few weeks. If there isn't a significant improvement, the teacher may think that your daughter isn't practicing her writing skills enough.



For language arts, do the same. Ask to see your daughter's work and compare it to that of her classmates with ';excellent'; skills. I have noticed that although my daughter is very intelligent, when I look at her papers from school - she sometimes makes a lot of simple mistakes that just come from not paying attention.



I haven't heard of the rainbow curve, but I guess it makes sense. I had some teachers that practically handed out good or bad grades. Every class should have some students making high grades and some making low. When you see that a few kids have high grades - it shows that it is at least possible to make good grades in a class. And when you see that a few have bad grades, it shows that they are being challenged and not just handed As all the time.



It's good to hear that you are sticking up for your daughter when you think she is being graded unfairly :) Just remember to communicate with the teacher first and take what she says into consideration before taking it up to the school board. What do you do if you feel your child deserves better grades on her report card?
I would suggest that you arrange a parent/teacher conference with your daughter's teacher. There you can down and talk directly to her teacher and together you can address any problems your daughter may be having in class that would cause her get an 'N'. Maybe her conduct? I doubt that the teacher is discriminating against her.
First of all, when it comes to school, it doesn't really matter what we think or feel our kids should receive on their report card. We send our children to school to identify their weakness and use every opportunity to help them strengthen that weakness.



As a parent, I do not expect my child to be good at everything, that maybe the reason why she's failing the class is because it's not of her interest or the teacher isn't teaching it on an interesting level.



There are several factors why a child fails in school and it all revolves around their interest. But as a parent, I'd sit with the teacher, not write her letters, and discuss on what part of the subjects my daughter is failing and find a way how she can improve it. Then when you go home, you can think of something creative to teach your kid.



The best one I found that works for my son are the crossword puzzles for kids. It will teach them how to read, think about what they read, produce the answer, write the answer, and read the question and answer out load. This should cover your kid's writing and language difficulties.



Just keep in mind that if they fail on something, we need to show them how they failed and how to recover from that failure, so that they will know what they need to do next time around. The sooner we can teach them to identify this, then better they are going to be in school -- and in life.
Its highly unlikely that the teacher is grading her based on the fact you are poor. My mother teaches at a middle school and is confronted by parents all the time wanting higher marks for their children. Perhaps in your mind she is doing well. But it could be possible that compared to the rest of her classmates, she is not.Does she have a good grasp on the five strands of Language arts (reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing)? Does she have learning disabilities? Also, grading systems are different in different states, what does a ';N'; stand for?
Where I live (and work) an N is not marked at this time. Is it possible that it could mean that?



Have you had a parent teacher conference with the teacher? Most teachers are very willing to sit down and I don't know a single one that does not want to work WITH the parent at home.
How much experience do you have with the average level of handwriting of first graders? Your opinion as a parent of your child's handwriting for her age level is meaningless unless you have something to base it off. Similarly for your opinion as to whether she is ';gifted';. Above average =/= gifted, and above average will not get your child straight As either.



Appeals? To court? For heavens sake, it is a first grade school report. You have the right to a teacher who isn't intimidated by other parents into grade inflation. Sure, she could give your child straight As. She could give every child in the class straight As. But what would be the point in that? Your child isn't in school to be patted on the back. She's in school to learn. The report isn't to pat you on the back either. It's to tell you what her weak and strong areas are.



Before you go non-linear over this, I suggest you make an appointment to see your daughter's teacher. Take the papers you have saved in with you. And, in a non-aggressive manner, ask the teacher to explain how the grades work, since you are confused how all these good grades can lead to a poor grade over the whole term.



The best thing you can do right now for your daughter's future education is to NOT get yourself a reputation as a sue-happy mum who thinks her daughter is perfect. But go in there ready to discuss with the teacher what your daughter's weaknesses are (yes, she will have some, every child does) and how you can help, and she won't give a monkeys that you ae a single parent or how much money you have.
The previous posters make excellent points.



If you feel that your child is gifted, then you should request that she should be tested for the gifted program.
A lot of good advice above, especially to not panic because an N may mean not graded and that doesn't reflect on your daughter at all.

I just want to add that the grades are NOT IMPORTANT in early elementary school. They won't determine anything about your daughter's future. Pay attention to how your child is placed. Is the work challenging, but not too challenging? Also pay attention to any signs from teachers or your daughter that your daughter is having behavior or social problems. Other than that this isn't part of any permanent record. Colleges don't see this. Employers don't see this. Unless you are trying to get her into a private school I would not worry about this.