2651 Chinook Winds Drive, Airdrie, AB T4B 1B4 403.945.4000

www.rockyview.ab.ca

     

COMMUNICATION OF STUDENT LEARNING

 

REPORT CARD PRACTICE GUIDE UPDATED JUNE 2015

       

COMMUNICATION OF STUDENT LEARNING    

     

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TABLE OF CONTENTS  

PREPARING THE ASSESSMENT PLAN ........................................................... 3

REPORTING ON COMPETENCIES .................................................................. 4

REPORTING ON ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT ................................................ 5

WRITING EFFECTIVE COMMENTS .................................................................. 8

SETTING UP GRADEBOOK .......................................................................... 13

WORKING IN POWERSCHOOL .................................................................... 15

REFERENCES: ............................................................................................... 16

WEBSITES: .................................................................................................... 16

   

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Preparing the Assessment Plan Preparation for report cards begins with planning for the school year. Rocky View Schools is committed to balanced assessment, which involves observations, conversations and the products of learning. Learn more. The teacher’s assessment plan is at the heart of implementation of Policy HK- Assessment and Communication of Student Learning.

Anne Davies, PhD, a leading assessment expert, has outlined an easy three-step process for setting up a year-long assessment plan based on Alberta Programs of Study:

1. Get a copy of the outcomes you are responsible for assessing, evaluating and reporting. Alberta Programs of Study. You also should consult the RVS Learner Competencies Continua.

2. Review the specific and general learner outcomes and determine the proof of learning needed.

3. Determine what activities or tasks will cause the proof to come into existence.

Start building the plan Preparing for a New Year: Building an Assessment Plan by Anne Davies, PhD Implement the plan. Anne Davies books are a great resource and have been made available in your school library. The reproducible resources contained in the appendix of each book, are available for classroom use. Learn more In addition to Anne Davies’ books, administrators and teachers are able to learn from Dr. Davies through online learning resources available on her website, connect2learning.com.

 

Anne Davies, PhD Will your weekly agenda give students opportunities to create needed proof of learning? Will your weekly agenda give you time to do the small group work and collect the observations you need to make?

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Reporting on Competencies  While Rocky View Schools has identified 10 learner competencies, teachers are not expected to report on all of them each term. In the course of the year, teachers should focus on at least one competency from each of the three categories: Ways of Thinking, Ways of Working & Tools for Working, and Ways of Living in the World. It’s important to communicate the competencies of focus to parents and students in advance. While other jurisdictions have selected indicators to report on competencies, RVS is currently communicating competency growth through comments only. Teachers should speak to evidence of growth as a learner that aligns with the appropriate RVS competency continuum.

 

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Reporting on Academic Achievement Rocky View Schools uses a six-point scale to identify a student’s level of understanding of the required learning at the time of the report. If a child demonstrates Limited Understanding, the school and parents should be involved in discussions of the need for an individualized program that will help the student experience success. For Grades 7 and 8, Limited Understanding is equivalent to less than 50 per cent, which would not be a pass. The other five steps in levels of understanding recognized two dimensions of growth in the student:

• Ability to handle tasks of increasing levels of complexity • Ability to demonstrate learning with increasing levels of independence

Reporting by subject area Kindergarten: Teachers report the level of understanding for each learner outcome. One comment area at the end of the report allows teachers to speak to the child’s strengths, areas for growth, and next steps.

Grades 1 to 4: Teachers report the level of understanding for each learning outcome by subject for core subjects: English Language Arts (Literacy), Mathematics (Numeracy), Science and Social Studies. Other subject areas are assessed with a single indicator. One comment area at the end of the report allows teachers to comment on the child’s strengths, areas for growth, and next steps.

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Grades 5 and 6: Teachers report on each learning outcome for the core subjects and provide one assessment of level of understanding for other subjects, including exploratory courses. A space to outline areas of strength and areas for growth is provided for each subject to allow multiple teachers to complete the reports. Grades 7 and 8 (9): In addition to the requirements for the Grades 5 and 6 reports, teachers determine an overall grade for core subjects and express the grade as a percentage according to the following scale.

1. Teachers should evaluate each learning outcome using balanced assessment. 2. They should then determine the indicator that best describes the overall

level of understanding. For example, the scores PRG, ADV, ADV, ADV may, in the judgment of the teacher, indicate an overall Advancing level of understanding.

3. The teacher should then use professional judgment to determine the number in the range that best represents the student’s current level of understanding. For example, Advancing has a percentage range of 80 to 89 per cent. The teacher may determine the student is at the lower level of the range and assign a grade of 82 per cent.

RVS Best Practice Reporting Overall Grade (7 and 8) 1. Determine the level

of understanding for specific learning outcomes from evidence gathered through balanced assessment.

2. Determine which level of understanding best describes the student’s overall level of achievement.

3. Use professional judgment to determine the appropriate grade for that student within the percentage range for that level of understanding.

4. Update PowerSchool

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Reporting on Grade Level Achievement for Literacy and Numeracy Parents are keenly interested in where their child is, relative to expectations, on the primary learning skills of literacy and numeracy. Teachers are required to annually report grade level achievement to parents for language arts and mathematics (Grades 1 to 9). Reporting on these core skills more often is helpful to parents and students alike. In the final term, a teacher indicates in Gradebook if a student is at, above, or below grade level and whether a student was promoted to or placed in the next grade. This information automatically pulls to the last page of the report card. If you are communicating the child is below grade level, it’s important to communicate strategies for improvement and recommendations for what parents can do to support the student at home. Examples

 

Mourad’s current level of understanding is at grade level expectations for this time of year. He is adept at performing calculations in his head. His primary area of growth is to work more slowly and to carefully recheck his work for minor errors. Tamra is currently reading below grade level expectation for this time of year. She is making good progress in word recognition. Her primary area of growth is reading comprehension. You may help Tamara at home by reading with her and discussing what the story was about and playfully checking memory of the details of the story. Lily is reading above grade level expectation for this time of year. She has strong reading fluency and comprehension. An area for growth would be to try reading a wider range of genres for pleasure.

RVS Best Practice Reporting Grade Level Achievement 1. Review, understand,

and practice Alberta Education guidelines for assessing and reporting on grade level achievement.

2. Report grade level

achievement to parents by describing the student as at, above, or below grade level.

3. Report on grade level

achievement in the year-end report.

4. Throughout the year,

communicate where the student is relative to expectations at this time of year.

5. Always include

strategies for improvement for students performing at or below grade level.

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Writing Effective Comments Parent feedback groups consistently identify the comment section as one of the most important parts of the report card. Parents say comments can convey the sense the teacher “really knows my child.” If poorly done, however, parents report the comment section communicates that the teacher neither knows, nor cares, about their child. Effective comments…

• Identify the learning objective, • Give specific, positive examples of ways the student demonstrated the learning, • Provide a positive recommendation for next steps.

Comment bank cautions Parents are quick to recognize comments from a comment bank and report feeling that “canned comments” reinforce the idea their teacher does not know their child. Comment banks developed cooperatively by teachers, however, can be an effective way to consistently tie comments to learning objectives. To ensure comment banks remain an effective teacher tool, but meet the needs of parents, teachers should, whenever possible, add additional, personalized descriptions of the way the student demonstrated the learning. Extra care should be taken to ensure parent-friendly language in comment banks. Adding the student voice Adding the student voice to the report card can be an effective way to demonstrate student-centered learning and student growth as a self-directed learner. The following report card examples are from a Grade 2 RVS student commenting on her growth as a learner:

“I am a self-directed learner when I do the morning routine on my own. I don’t need reminders anymore, and I don’t talk to anybody.” “I show leadership when I help people who have fallen down and when they are sad.”

What is parent-friendly language? Every profession has a specialized language, which serves as a short cut to understanding when professionals converse with each other. That same language can be a barrier to understanding when professionals speak with those outside the profession. It can come across as cold and clinical, rather than caring and conversational.

RVS Best Practice Writing Comments 1. Identify the learning

goal.

2. Provide specific, positive examples of ways the student demonstrated the learning.

3. Recommend positive

next steps for growth.

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While parents and students may become more familiar with language over time, it’s still important to use the simplest expressions possible in comments and conversation. Professional language

Parent- and Student-Friendly

Competency Capability, ability, skill Learning outcome Learning goal or objective Learning environment Class or school Rubric Evaluating criteria or guide Exemplar Example 21st Century Learning Learning Number sense Connects math to real life (or give specific

examples such as “understanding numbers represent quantities.”)

Manipulatives Concrete objects, such as building blocks Level (A-H)

Give specific example of what the student is able to do at that level, such as “reads three-letter words.”

Red words, blue words

Give specifics, such as “reads two syllable words”

Locomotor, non-locomotor Demonstrates ability to coordinate his or her movement across space and in place.

Fine motor, perceptual motor

Demonstrates eye-hand and eye-body coordination, listening and speaking skills

Teacher-scaffolded With support Positive versus Problem comments Pedagogy for 21st Century Learning focuses on continuous, strengths-based learner growth. That’s why the report card sections refer to areas of strength and areas for growth. A problem comment on its own does not support learning. A comment that may indicate an area for growth, but includes strategies for success helps both the child and parent understand the required next steps. Problem comment Positive comment Ethan is aggressive towards his classmates and unable to control his impulses.

Ethan should continue to practice recognizing frustration, using his words, telling an adult, and taking a walk, as alternatives to aggressive and impulsive behaviour.

Jayden is not reading at grade level for this time of the year.

While Jayden is reading below the expected grade level, continued practice with the alphabet and letter sounds, and hands on work with letter blocks to blend sounds, will help her progress. She should continue to enjoy audio books and be read to so she sees reading as a pleasurable activity.

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Sample Comments on Growth as a Learner

         

Collaboration: Greta is an eager class member and willing to help other students by sharing her understanding of concepts. Greta says, “I am a collaborator when I try to help solve arguments in ways that help everybody.” Ensuring her group is meeting the learning goals in an efficient manner is a strength of Greta’s, which she exhibited while completing her group’s science presentation on climate. Next steps for Greta will be to use her collaborative skills in increasingly complex projects. And while Greta is a natural leader, she can work on stepping back at times and supporting others as they develop their own leadership skills.  

Learning Objective

Personalized

examples

Next steps

Civic engagement: Molly demonstrates understanding of the basic rights and responsibilities of an individual in the school setting. She diligently remembered every day when she needed to report for morning announcements, lunchroom supervision or canteen delivery. Her curiosity about global events reflects care and concern for the world she lives in. Molly says, “My favourite learning was working with the school committee for the Sochi Olympics.” Next steps are to continue her growth by learning about and exploring the democratic process in the upcoming municipal election.

Learning Objective

Personalized

examples

Next steps

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Sample Comments on Academic Achievement

   

 

Madison attempts to write independently using her own ideas. She recognizes all upper and lower case letters and tracks text with her finger as she reads. Madison understands what she reads and connects it to her own life. While Madison is currently reading below grade level expectation for this time in Grade 1, she will continue to progress by paying more attention to the beginning sounds of words and slowing down rather than inventing or guessing at words. To improve her writing skills, Madison will practice putting spaces between words and work on learning when to use capital letters and when to use lower case letters. At home, you can continue to encourage Madison to read aloud from her home reading club books.  

Learning Objective

English Language Arts

Personalized examples

Next steps

Eli is beginning to represent numbers in multiple forms, (whole numbers, fractions, decimals) and catches on quickly to mathematical language. With support, he is able to match numbers expressed in decimals with money. Eli’s next steps are to develop an understanding that the same number can be expressed in multiple ways. We will use concrete objects to help him develop this understanding and begin to solve logic problems. Together, we will also work on strategies that help Eli focus and stay on task. This will improve the accuracy of his calculations. At home, ask Eli to teach you the Change Game to reinforce the concepts we are learning in class.  

Personalized examples

Next steps

Comments should be

• Precise and personalized

• Directly related to learning objectives

• In parent and student-friendly language

Learning

Objective Mathematics

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Maxell is able to construct series and parallel circuits. He independently organized the information for his energy project and demonstrated an understanding of when each circuit would be used in real life situations. Next steps are to learn to use graphic organizers, such as mind maps and Venn diagrams to record information. In the coming term we will continue to conduct experiments, make predictions, and work through the scientific process to help him build confidence in these areas  

Personalized examples

Next steps

Learning Objective

Science

Chloe’s project on family history in Canada demonstrated her personal connections to historical places. She did strong independent research for the project and supported her group’s success by contributing new ideas. An area for growth for Chloe is to learn to distinguish facts from opinion while researching and to identify bias in information. Continued practice with simulating debates will help develop these skills.  

Personalized examples Next steps

Learning Objective

Mathematics

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Setting Up Gradebook  Using PowerSchool Gradebook in Grades K through 4 is optional at this point, but will be phased in over the next three years. By keeping up to date information in the Gradebook, filling out report cards can be easier and allows parents to monitor progress between report cards through the Parent Portal. PowerSchool Gradebook must be used for Grades 5 to 12.

1. RVS requires teachers to log in to PowerSource and complete the following online training modules for PowerSchool Gradebook:

a. PowerTeacher Gradebook Getting Started (Part 1) b. PowerTeacher Gradebook Working with Grades (part 2) c. PowerTeacher Gradebook Analysis and Reporting (part 3) d. PowerTeacher Gradebook Standards

These modules will give you the basic understanding of navigating Gradebook. At the end of the module, print the completion certificate and give it to your school principal.

2. When logged in to PowerTeacher, you also can access additional three-to- five-minute Mastery in Minutes learning modules, which provide quick tutorials to refresh your knowledge or answer questions.

3. On demand training is available by contacting Nancy Lake at 403-945-

4000 x5368.

4. Direct trouble shooting support is available by calling 403-945-4115 or by emailing the following:

Justina Law, PowerSchool SIS Learning Specialist (x4121)

Sherry Levick, PowerSchool Technology and PASI Support Specialist (x4214)

Sarina Carelli, PowerSchool Technology and PASI Support Specialist (x4219)

RVS Best Practice

Update Gradebook at least once every two weeks to help parents and students monitor progress throughout the school year.

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Methods of calculating grades In Rocky View Schools, grades are to represent a balanced assessment of observations, conversations, and the products of learning. Each teacher will make a professional judgment on the most appropriate form of calculation, or may choose to manually enter the grade he/she feels is most accurate. It’s important that parents and students understand the method of calculation you will use and that the final grade assigned makes sense when parents and students review the ongoing evidence in PowerSchool. You can see how the various calculation methods will affect the final grade when you are in “Student View” in the Gradebook, in the box at the bottom of the screen. This information may inform your professional judgement. Method of calculation

Definition When to Use

Mean Average When all assignments you are including in the final grade have equal value

Weighted Mean Weighted Average When individual assignments are worth different portions of the final grade

Median The indicator or number in the middle of the range of scores

When you want to exclude outlier scores to indicate a student’s usual performance

Mode The value that occurs most often

When you want to indicate the performance trend for a student

Highest The highest of all the scores recorded

Not be used to determine a final grade, but to inform your professional judgment in assigning a grade

Most recent Latest score. This can be set to how many of the most recent you’d like to include.

When the student’s most recent score reflects mastery of content in which they previously tested lower. Or when the final assignment is a large project that demonstrates comprehensive understanding of learning over a period of time.

 

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Working in PowerSchool PowerSchool is a powerful tool, which can save teacher time and allows for jurisdiction-wide data on student achievement. A few strategies will make your work easier.

1. Set up Gradebook at the beginning of the year by following the set up guidelines outlined in the PowerSchool training modules. Contact Nancy Lake if you need additional support.

2. Enter grades and/or comments as often as possible or at minimum, bi-weekly (every two weeks). This will keep parents and students informed and avoid a last minute rush.

3. If possible, plug your laptop directly into the network when using Gradebook. It does not work well with poor wireless signals.  

   For more information and updates on PowerSchool, please refer to our website. You MUST be logged in to see the information. http://www.rockyview.ab.ca/powerschool                                                          

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References:  Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (1998). Inside the black box: Raising standards through

classroom assessment. Phi Delta Kappan. British Columbia Ministry of Education. (2005). Reporting Student Progress: Policy

and Practice http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/reportcards/reporting_student_progress.pdf

Davies, A. (2000). Making Classroom Assessment Work. Courtenay, BC: Connections

Publishing Davies, A., Cameron, C., Politano C. & Gregory, K. (1992). Together is Better:

Collaborative Assessment, Evaluation, and Reporting. Winnipeg, MB: Peguis Publishers.

Gregory, K., Cameron, C., & Davies, A. (2011). Knowing What Counts: Self-

Assessment and Goal Setting. 2nd Edition. Courtenay, BC: Connections Publishing.

Gregory, K., Cameron, C., & Davies, A. (2011). Knowing What Counts: Conferencing

and Reporting. 2nd Edition. Courtenay, BC: Connections Publishing. Hattie, John. (2012). Visible Learning for Teachers. New York: Routledge Louis Riel School Division K-8 Student Progress reports Implementation Guide. (2006)

https://www.lrsd.net/About-Us/Who-We-Are/Documents/Grades%20K-8%20AER%20Implementation%20Guide%20%282006%29.pdf

O’Connor, K. (2012). How to Grade for Learning by Using 15 Fixes for Broken

Grades http://www.gfps.k12.mt.us/sites/default/files/Ken%20O%27Connor%20GFPS%20Aug%2013,%202012.pdf

Websites: Alberta Assessment Consortium. http://www.aac.ab.ca/ Connect2Learning Website http://www.connect2learning.com/access.html Connect2learning Black Line Masters. http://connectionsgroup.ca/media/webstore/pdf/KWC_BLM_All_In_One_2011.pdf Ken O’Connor the Grade Doctor. http://oconnorgrading.com/ Visible Learning Website. http://visible-learning.org/