I agree about the teachers comparing the child but the kids do this all on
their own. They do see the other excel in an area that they might be
struggling in or they are very aware of the other child coming home with A's
or on the honor roll with the same curriculum - you don't have to split the
twins not to have the same courses for the same grades. The teachers pretty
much have a set plan daily witch in 3rd grade is the same for each. Granted
their approach to teaching varies but the A's and B's come from the same
stuff. It's very tough to curtail the comparison - again, not necessarily
the spoken word but unspoken. In our situation the teachers don't (even in
the same class), we certainly don't compare them but they compare each
other.

Shirley

"


That is why I dislike seeing a statement of a teacher comparing two
students who share a last name. In the school situation, it's more
informative for the parents to know if the student(s) abilities are
consistently improving over time compared to that child's starting
point. (Comparison to an average for the age is useful for determining
special needs or assistance - whether it be tutoring to bring up to the
norm or additional activities to avoid boredom.)

For something like reading skills, comparing siblings can lead to
odd anomalies in evaluating their skills. I'm a faster reader than
my sister and this sometimes made me seem like a better reader. However
throughout school we were both considered advanced compared to our
age-groups averages. The major difference was that I completed more
questions on the tests - no significant differences in comprehension
for the material we both completed.

Cindy Wells
(who excelled in the humanities and did reasonably well in math and
science; both of my siblings were better with the math and science.
However when we went off to our various college experiences, I chose
to major in chemistry at a school with a good liberal arts program
available for my electives (coursework outside of the major was
required). My sister went to an engineering college where there were
fewer humanities requirements. After those programs we both went on
to do grad work in our respective majors.)