Gouverneur Elementary School
Interim Report Card, Grades 3-5

A Parent Guide

What is the purpose of the guide?

This guide was designed for you, the parent of an elementary student in Grades 3, 4 or 5.  It is a resource to help you understand how grades will be reported.  If you have questions about the new report card, please do not hesitate to ask your child’s classroom teacher, who will review it with you at parent teacher conferences.

Why are the report cards changing?

New York State has moved to standards-based education.  All schools in New York are working with the same set of expectations or standards.  These standards prepare students for the real world of work and higher education.  If all students are to meet the standards, the matching practices, programs and procedures must be in place.

The new report card better reflects how curriculum, instruction and assessment are aligned to the standards in all our elementary schools.

What does this change mean?

In the past many report card grades included student effort and behavior.  Now your child’s grade will reflect only what he/she knows and is able to do in each subject area.  Effort and the responsibilities of your child as a learner will be reported separately on the report card.

Both you and your child will have a better idea of what is expected in his or her learning, the areas in which he or she demonstrates strength and the skill areas where he or she can improve. 

How was this report card created?

A committee of parents and teachers representing grade levels 3-5 created this report card. Parents and administrators also worked with the committee and provided essential feedback. All teachers working at Grades 3-5 reviewed the report card and provided feedback.

How will the report card look?

Let’s start by looking at the left side of the report card, starting at the top. There you will find the Grading Key:

Explanation of Grades

    Level of Skill                          Benchmark Reading Levels   District Grading Criteria

            The grade reflects what you child knows in the skills that have been targeted in each subject area and follows the district grading scale. 

            It is based on your child’s performance in relation to the New York State Standards at his/her grade level.

The benchmark reading levels indicate the grade level at which your child reads comfortably and uses a letter system. A specific assessment is administered to each child in Grades 3-5. 

The numbers from 1-4 identify your child’s ability in each specific skill for the subject and identify areas of strength and weakness.

Effort and participation are treated as a skill area in each subject and are also evaluated on a scale of 1-4.

Not all areas will be marked every quarter.  Only those areas that have been taught during the quarter will receive a grade.  The sign ( - ) indicates skills that were not addressed during that specific quarter.

The skill areas do reflect the curriculum for the grade and each skill area should be marked at least once during the school year.

Now let’s look at each subject area.

English Language Arts:

English Language Arts

The grade reflects your child’s performance in three skill areas, Reading, Writing, and Listening and Speaking. 

The specific skills in each area are marked on the 1-4 rubric scale.  Your child’s teacher can suggest specific strategies for you to help your child at home in areas where he or she is having difficulty.

The reading level indicates the grade level at which your child is reading. Teachers in Grades 3-5 use a balanced literacy assessment format at the beginning of the year to determine the reading level. 

Mathematics, Social Studies and Science:

MATHEMATICS