Rethinking Report Cards

7/27/2019 Rethinking Report Cards

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/rethinking-report-cards 1/6

Rethinking eportcards AcademicSkills I GreatSchools Page of6

K&*ats*h**ls

Rethinkingeportcards

Linkingeport ardsostate tandardss henewesteport ard rend.Here's hyschools redoing t andwhat oucanexpectfyour choolmakeshechange.

What hould do f my

child's chool s

switching o a

standards-basedeport

card?

Ask otsof questions!f there

is anything bout hereport

card hatyoudon't

understandr that s

confusing,skyourchild's

teachero explain.f youare

not sure f yourchild sdoing

well,ask he eachero

explainhesystem.For

example,fyourchildsnot

proficientn some kills, sk

his eacherfyoushould econcernedbouthis

progress.s heon rack o be

proficienty heendofthe

year?

Besureyou indoutwhether

yourchildscompleting

assignmentsnd4evelopinggoodworkhabits.That may

beclearlyndicated n

the report ard.Becauseheacademicmarkson a

standards-basedeport ard

usually onotreflecta chitd's

effort,attitude rworkhabits,

it is importantorparentso

besure heyhavea complete

picture f heir hild's

learning. ome hildrenmay

ByGreatSchoolstaff

Didyourgrandparentsiveyoua dollaroreachA onyour eport

card?Didyouspend ourhigh choolyearsopingouwould

squeak ywithC's n mportantlasses? idyoueversee he

dreaded on a paper,estor your eport ard?

Fora growing umber f oday's lementarychool tudents,hose

daysaregone. heymaynotsee etter rades n heir eport ards

untilmiddle chool r ater.As heNoChild efiBehindawpushes

schools ndeducatorscrosshecountryocenterheir eaching n

content nd earningtandards,eport ards rebeginningo ook

different,oo.FromNashville,ennesseeo Marlborough,

MassachusettsndHonolulu, awaii, chools repairing tandards-basedeport ardswith heir tandards-basedeaching,ndparents

aregettingmore nformationbout heirstudentsachievement.

What arestate standards?+

itsown ist of

t"rstatehasadopted

high [email protected]

htp://www.greatschools.org/print-viedstudentslacademic-skills/350-rethinking-report-ca..l0/15/2}1ts



Rethinking eport cards AcademicSkills I GreatSchools

be able o showmastery f

the standardsnthe ower

gradeswithout oodwork

habits,but hatwillget more

difficult s heyprogress

through hegrades.f there s

aproblemwith

aftitude, ffortor study kills, arents eed

to be able o intervene s

earlyas possible.

Takeadvantage f theextra

information.tandards-based

report ardsgiveyoumore

detailednformationbout

howyourchildsdoing n

eachsubject. oucan use

this nformationo help our

child, hoose skillyou're

concemed bout ndask he

tr eacherryJou can el!'yourchildwith t at home.

Youcanalsoask he eacher

whathe candg o help our

childat schoollrx . (-{-rX/,inn.,/'l{ i : ^ " p r r t . r f i . t l ,

Letyourchild'seacher nd

principalnowwhatyou hink

of thenew report ard.

Becauseeport ardsaredesignedo communicate

withparents,hey need o be

easy o understandnd

helpful o parents.f youhave

anysuggestionsrconcerns

aboutyourschool's eport

card.share hemwith he

teacher ndprincipal.our

comments ayhelp mprove

Page of6

Theseistsare hestate ontent nd earningtandards. ereare

some-e-xffi-='

. InArizona,ifth-gradersreexpectedo be able o comparewhole umbers,ractions nddecimals.orexample,fth-gradershould eable o determinehat0.6 s argerhan112.

. InCalifornia,irst-gradershould eable o read ommon,irregular ordsike he,have, aid, ome, iveandof.

. ln Nebraska,welfth-gradershould ave n understandingfthestructuref heatom, ndbeable o describe ifferenttypes f nucleareactions.

Teachers re responsibleor teaching he skills or theirstudents'grade evel,although tandards o not say how eachers hould

teach.EducationWorldhas inks o thestandardsoreachstate.

What s a standards-basedeport card?

A standards-basedeport ard ists he mostmportantkills tudentsshouldearn neach ubject ta particg4qade evel.Forexample,inwriting, second-gradeeport ar(might]At hese kills:

Writesn completeentences

Uses apitaletters, eriods,uestion arks ndquotation

marks orrectly.

Uses hewritingrocessprewriting,

irstdraft, evision,ndfinaldraft). Writes friendlyetterwitha greeting,ody ndconclusion. Knowshepurposenduseof a dictionary,hesaurusndatlas

6s,Mg,s NS)Insteadf etter rades, tudentsgggle rnq1[slhatshovihowwell

theyhavemasteredheskills. hemarksmight howwhetherhestudentsadvanced,roficient,asic rbelow asic oreachstandard r heymight enumbersepresentinghether tudents

meet, xceed r approachach tandard. tudentssually et

geparate arksoreffort ndworkhabits, hich re mportantorparentso keepabsoneven f hese haracteristicsren'tncluded

assessmentf hestudent'scademickills.

Howare standards-basedeport cards different

from traditional eport cards?

Onmanyraditionaleport ards, tudentseceivenegradeor

reading, ne ormath, ne orscience ndso on.Ona $tandards-

http://www.greatschools.org/print-viedstudentslacademic-skills/350-rethinking-report-ca..1011512013

a

a



Rethinking eport cards AcademicSkills I GreatSchools Page of6

based eport ard,eachof thesesubject reassdividedntoa listof

skills ndknowledgehatstudents re esponsibleor earning.

Studentseceive separate ark oreach tandard.

Themarks n a standards-basedeport ardaredifferentrom

traditionaletter rades. etter rades reoften alculatedy

combining owwell he studentmethisparticulareacher's

expectations,owheperformednassignmentsnd ests, ndhow

much ffort he eacher elieveseput n.Letter rades o not ellparents hich killsheir hildrenavemasteredr whetherheyare

working tgradeevel.Because ne ourth-gradeeachermight e

reviewingasicmultiplicationacts,whileanothers eaching

multiplicationf wo-or hree-digitumbers,etting nA ineachof

theseclasseswouldmean erydifferenthings.Theparent f a child

in hese lasses ould otknowf thechildwere earning hathe

should e o meethestate tandards.

Standards-basedeport ards hould rovidemore onsistency11betweeneachershan raditionaleport ards, ecause ll$ud#lJ

areevaluatedn he samegrade-appropriatekills.Parentsan seEir''cqtinnL l \ J v t r v r i ' t * l

exactly hich kills ndknowledgeheir hildren ave earned. V

Accordingo Hoover iddell,pecial ssistanto thesuperintendent

in heSanFrancisconified choolDistrictn California.he marks

ona standards-basedeport ardshowonlyhowwellthe hildhas

masteredhegrade-leveltandards,nddo not nclude ffort,

attitude r workhabits, hich reusuallymarked eparately.

Whyare some districtsswitching o standards-

based eportcards?

DianeMead, teacher n special ssignmentn heBeverly ills

UnifiedSchoolDistrictnCatifomia believes tudents re he

biggest inners hen tandards-basedeport ards reused. hese

report ards ivestudents pecificnformationbout ow hey?re

doing ndpinpoint here heyneedo mprove.

Thisapproachancarry ver o classroomssignments,oo,as he

report ardnfluencesheway eachers sse$s tudentearning

throughoutheyear. n he irst woyears fusing standards-based

report ard n BeverlyHills,eachers orked ogethero desc{beIclearly hatstudent orf n-Teachershare heseexpectationsithstudents, ftenposting

on heclassroom all.Nowwhen tudentsetan assignmenthey

knowexactlywhat heyhave o do o beproficientr advanced.

http//www.greatschools.orglprint-viedstudents/academic-skills/350-rethinking-report-ca..rcn520l3



Rethinkingeportcards AcademicSkillsI GreatSchools Page4 of6

That?s bigchangerom hewayassignmentssed o begiven ndgraded.lfyougeta 90%,t doesn?tellyoumuch boutwhereogo

from here," aidMead.

Liddell, ho eads standard$-basedeport ardpilotprojectnSanFrancisco,aid hat henew eport ard spartof an effortoclose

thegap n achievementmong ifferent roups fstudents. ecauseconcretekillsandknowledge re istedon hereport ard, t is oneway o helpmonitor hether llstudents rebeing xposedo hesame urriculumnd earningheskills heyshouldearn n eachgrade.

Thenew eport ards lsomakehestandardsery learo parents,

noted iddell.Parentshould now xactly hat heirstudentsshould e able odo."ThenewSanFranciscoeport ard sbaseddirectly n heCaliforniatandards,lthoughotevery tandards

listed n he eport ard.Parents ill eceive completeistof heCaliforniatandardslongwith he eport ard.

How will standards-based eport cards affectmychild?

Al Friedenberg,rincipalfGrantElementarynSantaMonica,California,okes hatkidswillgetrich f theyget$5 oreachgoodgrade na standards-basedeport ard, ecausetu(entseceive

dH'$'\rJoking side, neof hebiggest djustmentsorstudents ndparentss hatmany tandards-basedeport ards ocus nend-of-the-yearoals. hismeanshat n he irstor second rading eriod,

instead fgetting 's or rying ardanddoingwellon ests, high-achievingtudentmight ave everalmarksndicatinghatshe q not

W

yetproficientnsome kills. lthoughhis snormal ince

q nor

l.6v€€students illnotmeet llof he

- - - -' - - ;- ;

in he irstquarter,!gaf Lr

s' Of

$ -inn ,"[ ,,h*Lliq@glg:lglse forstudent., undgot"ndilgjh". *,h[-d -

luvrL.\.LJNlFrua Advanffinot necessariryAEEn6g Wfbf A#r t+ r rannrr nard Ear avamnra i+^ (to Fk \ilhA\t A4lin

. .1\rvorrt/Eu D rvt rrtiur;DDdrrry)CL

I |(fq vv L'r- YT 'the equivalent f an A on a traditional eportcard.Forexample, f a Qc.l

fi tsf [" ffl*SYie fifth-gradereceived'soneverymathestduringhesemester,he^ l

ES t l00U^ wouldprobablyeceive nA on a traditionaleport ard. f those {-[AS = &-\/: mathestsmeasurednly he conceptsifthgraders re expectedo

Rt=r3t6*

master,hose'swoulde he quivalentr proficient"na

wouldprobablyeceive nA on a traditionaleport ard. f those ry

http://www.greatschools.org/print-viedstudents/academic-skills/350-rethinking-report-ca...0ll5DAl3



Rethinkingeportcards AcademicSkills I GreatSchools Page of6

standards-basedeport ard; hestudentsdoingwhathe should e

doing, utnotnecessarily ore.

Friedenbergoted hat his lrcans eachers eed o provide

opportunitiesorstudentso show heycanexceedwhat sexpected

andbe rulyadvanced.tandards-basedeport ards anencourage

teacherso make ure heir essons ffer tudentshancesogo

beyondgradeevel."Mead aidoneanalogy erdistrict ses o

explainhisdifferenceoparentss:"You limb p hehilltobeproficient,utyouhave oflyoff o beexemplary."

Standards-basedeport ardsprovideheaddedbenefit f keeilnpnrnl4.lr^,

teachersndparentsocuseOnstuOentearninqgoa|sftomMiAV-""v'

verybeginningf heyear. riedenbergaid hisgives isstudentsE/chanceogethelpwheret?smostneeded, ooneratherhan ater.

Are thereproblemswith standards-basedeportcards?

As withanynewprogram,tudentsndparentshould lsoexpect

some litchesndchangesn he irst ewyears.BothMead nd

Friedenbergotedhat he irstcouple earswith heirstandards-

based eport ardswerechallengingor eacherss heydealtwith

technicaldifficultiest hesame ime heywereworkingoalignheir

teaching ndassessmentith he new eport ards.Patiencend

understandingromparents ndstudentsoa longwaywhenschools reworking utbugsn a newprogram.

Friedenberglsosaid heSantaMonica-Malibunified chool

District assignificantlyevisedtsstandards-basedeport ardeachyear.He said he irstyearstudentseceived 4differentmarks,

whichprovedoomanyor mostparentso comprehend.A otofparentsaid herewere omany ategorieshat heycouldn'tigure

outwhat t meant, o heyust ooked t he eacher omments,"aid- Friedenberg.or hisyear,he eport ardwasscaled owno

include smaller umber fkeystandards.

Why don'twe seestandards-basedeportcards

in middleor highschool?

Althoughtates ave tandardsormiddle ndhigh chool lasses,

therearemany hallengeso using standards-basedeport ardat

these evels.Accordingo Liddell, neof the bigrgestoncernssthat

students eedraditionalrade-pointveragesnd ranscriptso be

htfp:i/www.greatschools.org/print-viedstudents/academic-skills/350-rethinking-report-ca..l0ll5l20l3



Rethinkingeportcards AcademicSkillsIGreatSchools Page6 of6

competitiven applyingo college.He also noted hat he large

numberof subjects tudents tudy n highschoolwouldmake

standards-basedeportcardsunwieldy.

Meadsuggestedhatmiddle ndhighschoolteachershink heir

methodof averaging cores o get ettergrades s fairandprecisen

contrasto looking t piecesof work and decidingwhether hey are

advanced, roficient, asicor belowbasic.Shebelievesmostmiddle

and highschoolsneed o focuson developing tandards-based

instruction nd assessments efore heywill be ready o use

standards-basedeportcards.

Despitehe challenges, few pioneeringchoolsare experimenting

with standards-basedeportcards.Forexample, ix middleschools

in Portland,Oregonbeganusinga standards-basedeportcard ive

yearsago,accordingo CynthiaGilliam,Director f Accountabilityor

Portland ublic chools.While hereport ards rebeing sedsuccessfullyt hepilot chools,onsistencyn

standardsetween acrosshe

Jnpg**llgj$mg*"ge#gg*ffig9- accordinsoGilliam.haspuionhold fins o usehestandards-basedeportard t r"r+i-SU€fSschools hile t fine-tunesommon urricula ndassessments

\gASacrosshedistrict. illiam aid hedistrict idnotplan o pushahead I

with hereport arduntilherewasa "clear alibrationf howgood

wasgoodenoughtomeet particulartandard]."

ln HighSchool eport ards, arolBostonuggestedhata reportcard hatcombinesraditionalrades ith nformationbout rogress

toward tandards ight ea goodoptionor middle ndhigh

schools.f standards-basednstructionontinuesogrown

importance,heremaybe movementoward ombinationeport

cards t hemiddle rhigh choolevel.

hup://www.greatschools.org/print-viedstudents/academic-skills/350-rethinking-report-ca...0ll5l20l3

Documents

Rethinking Report Cards