<p>Maybe I am naive, but I think that what goes on the report card is supposed to motivate the student to perform better, what goes on the rec. letter is supposed to help the student get in, and teachers are very aware of that.
We had an example of this last year when S’s LA teacher wrote a rec. letter for him addressing the need to skip one grade/class in LA when he starts a new school this year. The letter was absolutely faboulos, very different from the conversations her /son/us had during P/T conferences.
During the mentioned meetings she always complained how the son’s discussions are leading the entire class in the wrong direction and making it difficult for her to bring it back to the point/control the class. In the letter she looked at this little trade of his from a completely different direction!
I think that a “normal” teacher will try to help a student with good rec. letter. The problem is when they are using the “wrong” words not even realizing it (like hard working, motivated etc). There was a great discussion about it in the Parents of the class of 2010 thread.</p>