New research highlights parent perception gap on student academic achievement

WASHINGTON — New nationwide research shows many parents think their child is doing well in school, but they may be falling short on state testing.

This latest research is from the national organization, Learning Heroes.

It shows there’s a major perception gap between how parents and teachers measure a student’s academic achievement.

Organization leaders say this gap often stems from report cards that may not show the full story.

This new research finds that 80 percent of public school parents say their child receives mostly B’s or better.

But the nation’s report card reveals actual test scores are much lower. It shows less than 30 percent of eighth graders are proficient in math and reading.

Learning heroes staff say that’s because reports cards can be misleading for where a child is academically.

“Grades reflect a lot of things that go beyond the achievement. Participation, does the child do their homework? Do they have a good attitude in class, these are all wonderful things, but they don’t speak specifically to whether or not your child can read or compute math,” said Tracie Potts, Advisory Board Chair for Learning Heroes.

Potts said they’re now launching a #GoBeyondGrades campaign to help parents work with teachers to close that gap.

“We don’t necessarily know the education system inside out. We don’t always know what the assessments are, what the standards are for our child in a particular grade, so we don’t know what questions to ask,” said Potts. “So, part of what we’re doing here is educating parents specifically, this is the information you need to ask.”

Part of this effort also includes additional tutoring this summer. Staff say there are free programs and courses available nationwide.

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