It makes better sense to discuss this question with parents. The discussion that follows could be shared with parents, without any need to edit.
Here is a set of independent progress measurement milestones for you. We may mention that the suggested milestones are not meant for the gifted (‘one in a million’) children. Let us start with the scholastic progress milestones:
- By the end of Class III – beginning to read independently in any language and comprehend a 2-5 page story in the language. Appreciation of around 15 number system concepts and an interest in all things around would make it ideal.
- By the end of Class V – reach the speed of reading 100-200 pages of a typical fiction/non-fiction in about 5 hours in the academic language. Finish the Class VI – X, Level 1 (knowledge level) maths and science syllabus in the two years post-Class V! Developed interest in social sciences ‘imaginative articulation’ that is mostly grammatically correct.
- By the end of Class VII – reach the speed of reading 100-200 pages of a typical fiction/non-fiction in about 5 hours in the academic language. Finish the Class VI – X, Level 1 (knowledge level) math and science syllabus in the two years post-Class V! Developed interest in social sciences’ imaginative articulation’ that is mostly grammatically correct.
- By the end of Class IX – achieve much diversified reading list, reading of a few landmark books of all the major genres – and reaching a speed of about 200 pages in 5-7 hours in the academic language; well-introduced creative writing skills. Seriously involved in career exam preparation and counselling through advanced (application and synthesis) level Class VI – X maths and science assessments.
- By the end of Class X – Excellence in board exams and ideally read through the Class XI syllabus of the likely stream for Classes XI – XII.
The co-scholastic progress milestones could be listed as under:
- By the end of Class III – initiation of disciplined investments in the development of a couple of ‘multiple intelligences’*; maintain low key and low frequency of practice
- By the end of Class V – initiation of disciplined investments in the development of an additional ‘multiple intelligence’
- By the end of Class VII – initiation of disciplined investments in the development of an additional ‘multiple intelligence’; reach higher frequency of practice in the earlier selections
- By the end of Class IX – reduce the frequency of practice to sustenance and joyful level for the child to support time for the board exams
Take charge, be the best judge of your child’s progress and mentor.
*to know more –
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_multiple_intelligences
A note on schools’ Progress Reporting System
- The progress report is rather gross for effective remedial (corrective) actions; for example, there is practically no difference between the corrective strategies recommended for a child who secured 70% as compared to another who secured 90% in an exam in a school (both may be asked to ‘work harder’).
- The progress report is ‘post event’ and historical (e.g. post-exam PTMs) – it is not useful for performance improvement in the context of assessment.
- The progress report contains the current class progress status and makes no mention of the previous class concept backlogs which hurt the students the most – education is cumulative development over time and details of the past developmental mis-steps are very critical for current-class performance improvement.
However, to be fair to schools, it must be known that
- The continuous directions from regulatory authorities take a toll on school’s focus, processes and resources in respect of curriculum, assessments and progress reporting systems
- Schools can do little about the less-than-desirable quality of teaching resources (the pool of prospective teachers leaves a lot to be desired) and
- Schools can do little to avoid the general social chaos students live in and have to live with the predispositions of students and parent pool regarding commitment to academic excellence.
