Tag: report cards

Q&A: Report Card Edition

We are rapidly approaching the end of January. Here in Ontario that means plunging temperatures, rising snow banks and the end of first semester courses in high schools. That, in turn, means that stress levels in schools are ratcheting upwards. Students race to finish assignments and juggle projects from various classes; teachers push to gather evidence of student learning and struggle to mark myriad late assignments before exams. And everyone worries about report cards.

As a Department Head (officially known as a “Position of Added Responsibility” – a phrase designed to make it very clear that I am in charge of precisely nothing), I experience the end of January as a long series of “what if” questions that usually end in either frustration or confusion.

First, some clarity (it will be the last in this post, I assure you): 

  1. For reasons beyond my comprehension, Ontario uses letter grades through grade 6 when we randomly switch to numbered “achievement levels” (which teachers must then convert to percentage marks. So, A = 4 = 87-94%; B = 3 = 73-76%. Oh, and the A/ 4 range is 80-100%; all the rest of the levels have ranges of 10.) For this post, I’m going to use A, B, C, D because that makes sense to many people.
  2. A summative = a major final project; some classes have a summative and an exam; some have a summative and an exit interview; some have a different combination of things. Every class has some sort of final something.

“So,” a teacher sits down next to me at the lunch table. “I have a question.” 

Question: I have this student. They came to class for the first part of the semester and did really well. Lots of A+ work. Then they stopped coming a few months ago – I think maybe they were sick or something? I’m not really sure. Anyway, Guidance wrote to say that they’re coming back just in time for the summative. If they pass the summative, what mark should I give them?

Answer: Just ignore the parts where they didn’t come and, assuming they’ve done work for all the major curriculum expectations, give a mark based on what they did.

Question: So they don’t lose any points for not coming?

Answer: Nope, not if they’ve demonstrated their abilities.

Question: I have another student who emailed me that they were tired, so they skipped the summative and went home. Do I have to let them make up what they missed?

Answer: Yes.

Question: But their absence isn’t excused.

Answer: Exactly why is that a problem?

Question: A student told me they didn’t feel like reading Animal Farm, and they want to write their essay on Twilight instead. I haven’t read Twilight, and it doesn’t seem to be about the themes we discussed in class.

Answer: Wow! Are you complaining about a student who wants to read a novel? What sort of teacher are you? Of course they can substitute a random mediocre novel you haven’t read for the one you taught. And you should probably get a start on that book tonight – and maybe make time for the movie on the weekend, just so you’re well-versed on its world-building.

Question: I have a student who really loves the book series they discovered in grade 3. In fact, they love the series so much that they refuse to read anything else. If the lowest description for passing is “Limited” does reading this count as passing in grade 12?

Answer: Have you been paying attention? The curriculum doesn’t say how limited “limited” is. If they can read, they pass. Any reasonable grade 3 student should immediately be awarded a grade 12 credit.

Question: I have a student who attended class two times this semester. Can I give them a zero?

Answer: A zero?! After you’ve seen them? What are you thinking? They made it to class twice! Give that child at least a 30!

Question: I have a class that has done multiple major projects and essays. I already have all the evidence I need to evaluate their learning and I don’t plan to give a formal exam because it doesn’t make sense with the course content. Must I require them to attend during the exam day?

Answer: Ah… trying to slack off, I see. Wiggle out of exams, huh? We’re on to you! You must REQUIRE students to attend. And you must have something for them to do on that day that will help them improve their final mark.

Question: Hmmm… ok. I’ve made an exam because you told me I have to. Now  have one student who failed the final exam and another who skipped it. Can I…

Answer: Stop right there! Missing or failing the final can’t hurt their overall grade. What kind of monster are you that would let one day harm a child?

Question: Can you give me a concise explanation of what constitutes a passing grade for any class?

Answer: Have you been paying any attention at all?

N.B. Most of this is not true. Most of it.

Report Cards

Read more slices like this every Tuesday at Two Writing Teachers

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We got our children’s report cards today. One was wonderful. The teachers clearly know him. They wrote kind things, “His contributions to class discussions have enriched the learning experience of his peers” and precise things, “He is happy to practise throwing and catching with accuracy while playing Ethiopian dodge ball” and clear suggestions for the future, he “is still working on socializing less in the hall and in the washroom.” I feel confident that the report card is a reflection of his learning at this moment in time.

My other child’s report card was less effective. There aren’t even really any good phrases to share. Apparently in reading he “interprets context clues and uses several reading strategies.” Well. There you go. I’m an English teacher, for pity’s sake, and I’m not 100% sure what that means for grade 4. The whole report card is general phrases that were almost undoubtedly lifted and used from one child to the next. I know the teachers have a LOT to do, but this report card feels very sterile, and I have no faith that it tells me anything at all about my child.

So… what was I doing today? Writing report cards. Exam period ended this morning; report cards are due tomorrow morning.  It’s a brutal turnaround. For each student, I enter marks for 6 learning skills in addition to a numerical mark for the course and, of course, comments. For the comments, the school board provides teachers with a list of codes, organized by subject, that we are supposed to use. Each code links to a specific approved comment. Every student should have one comment from each of three categories: Strengths, Needs, Next Steps. The comments are grammatically uneven (some use second person verbs, some use third), general to the point of uselessness, and older than our curriculum (“new” in 2007). I hate them.

We are allowed to write narrative comments, but we are strongly encouraged to use the codes. Usually I split the difference, turning the codes into complete sentences, inserting student names, stringing multiple comments into one sentence. I aim for some personalization, some sense of the student on the report card. I want something better than “uses reading strategies”. This semester, for my small class of “Applied” level students, I managed personalized narrative comments, but for the large class I took over 2/3 of the way through, I’ve had to stick with the drop downs. Here’s an example:
Creates superior products
Uses creative thinking skills very effectively
Continue to explore creative ways to apply language and symbols
Continue to increase your personal reading

I know there are real limits to report cards (460 characters to be precise), but I wish I could send students off with something better than “creates superior products.” I wish my report cards could reassure the students and their parents that I really did see them, I really do know what they learned. Maybe next year I’ll get closer, but for now, here’s what I wish I could say instead:

Your child’s eyes light up when she talks about writing. She loves to try new things – once she stops being scared – and she’s learning to be confident that what she says matters. Even when she was half-asleep on her desk because school just started too early, she was still polite and she mostly managed to wake up enough to try the writing prompts. The day she cried, she had friends to comfort her. The day I needed her to step up, she did it. When she writes, she puts her whole self into it, and sometimes what she creates is breathtaking. And sometimes it isn’t, but she’s learning to handle that. There is no numerical score for “this child is doing just fine and my heart swells to think of her growing to adulthood.” Nevertheless that is her final mark.