Final Evaluation Report- Student Report Card System- An International School in India

8/10/2019 Final Evaluation Report- Student Report Card System- An International School in India

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Program Evaluation:

PYP Student Report Card System

Another International School

Somewhere, India

December 2014

Ronen CohenBoise State University

Educational Technology

Course 505: Evaluation for Educational Technologies

Fall 2014


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Summary

Another International School has been in existence since 2008. The StudentReport system has changed several times since then (there is no documentation of thechanges), and with the arrival of a new curriculum coordinator (in August 2013) and a

new Primary Principal (in August 2014), further modifications have been introduced.The Student Report system includes student evaluations from both homeroom andsingle-subject teachers.

The goals of this evaluation were (1) to determine if the program successfullyachieved the goals and objectives as outlined in the schools Reporting Guidelines(Appendix A), and (2) to identify the perceptions and experiences of stakeholders(teachers, parents, and administrators) so that they inform future modifications to theStudent Report system.

Drawing on the programs goals and objectives, the evaluator met with variousstakeholders and sent out a survey to determine what different stakeholders would likethe evaluation to focus on. Once these were identified, the evaluator met with

stakeholders once more and collaboratively brainstormed evaluation questions, whichdrove the evaluation. Questions were then collated and agreed upon by the evaluatorand the Primary Principal and Curriculum Coordinator. In order to solicit bothquantitative and qualitative data, the evaluator designed online surveys based on theevaluation questions for the three distinct groups of stakeholders (administrators,teaching staff, and parents). Once completed and collected, data was then analyzed.

As mentioned above, the Student Report program at Another International School hasgone through frequent changes in the past. However, it is worth noting that the newleadership demonstrated a commitment to assessing current practices and designingand implementing long-term procedures. Based on survey responses, theadministrators possess a clear idea about what a comprehensive assessment and

reporting policy includes, and already begun making amendments to past practices,introducing new assessment and reporting documents to create clearer and morestandardized systems. This evaluation revealed that in general, parents view theStudent Report as a clear and comprehensive document. This being said, the StudentReport system only partially meets the program goals.

Some of the concerns raised by different stakeholders indicate that in order toalign the Student Report program with the programs goals and objectives, more workneeds to be done. More assessment and reporting documents need to be created,published, shared with all stakeholders, and implemented. Curricular work mustcontinue in order for the school to provide stakeholders with measurable outcomes andconceptual understandings, and to include them in the Student Reports. Streamlining

reporting practices would allow for more objective and consistent products. Due toparent responses about ambiguity and lack of substantive information in single subjectteachers reports, it would be beneficial to further examine these reports and explorehow they can portray a more accurate and comprehensive picture of studentsachievement and progress. Finally, a thought should be given to how the StudentReport can better complement conferences and goal setting as well as the proceduresand practices that are already in place.


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Description of the program evaluated

The Student Report includes evaluations from two groups of teachers. The firstgroup is composed of homeroom teachers, who evaluate students in the areas ofLiteracy, mathematics, units of inquiry, and personal/social development. These

teachers write three sets of Student Reports in the form of a 500-character narrative aswell as several content-specific indicators for each area. The second group includessingle subject teachers, who evaluate students in the areas of Language B or Englishas Additional Language, music, art, physical education, host culture, and informationliteracy. They report during the midterm (January) and end of year (June) sessions, andtheir reports include 500-700 subject descriptions as well as 500 characters ofindividualized comments per student.

The schools PYP Student Report Guidelinesdocument (Appendix A) outlinesthe purpose of reporting at Another International School. In order to standardize teachercomments, the document also includes information about tone, type of text, structure,language, punctuation, and spelling. Finally, the document explains the procedure of the

documents creation- from drafting comments to when the document is sent home withstudents. Additionally, prior to each reporting session, a staff meeting is held to explainand discuss the guidelines and timeline, and answer any teacher questions or concerns.

Program ObjectivesUsing the PYP Student Report Guidelines document, the evaluator, the Primary

Principal and the PYP coordinator extracted the following statements as objectives ofthe Student Report program:

1. Report cards are a part of the schools comprehensive assessment and reportingpolicy that is consistent with IBO guidelines and Board of Directors policies

2. The Student Report supports learning by providing information to students and

parents about achievement and progress, and to indicate areas for furtherdevelopment

3. Teachers provide accurate and comprehensive information about the studentsacademic, social and personal development.

4. The Student Report is a measure of school accountability for student learning andprogress.

Program ComponentsThe Student Report system is comprised of three annual reporting sessions. The

procedure for each session is outlined in the PYP Student Report Guidelinesdocument.The process consists of teachers composing their narrative comments, a peer-edit, and

revisions. Once completed, the Primary School Principal or the PYP coordinator make areview, and if needed, the teacher revises again. The narratives and indicators are thenuploaded to ePortal (one of the schools Learning Management Systems), they getprinted and signed, and the Primary School Principal makes a final review before theStudent Reports are enveloped and sent home with respective students. The revisionprocess follows a published timeline, which lasts approximately 8 days from the time ofsubmitting the peer-edited reports until they are sent home with students (SeeReportingPowerPoint Presentation, 2014-2015).


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The following table displays the reporting and conferencing schedule for theacademic year 2014-2015 as outlined in the Reporting and Conference Timelinedocument:

Date Event

11/08/14 Beginning of academic year

30/09/14

Mid-Semester One Report

(literacy, mathematics, personal/social development, andfirst unit of inquiry)

6/10/14 Student/Parent/Teacher Conference

30/01/15

Semester One Report

(literacy, mathematics, personal/social development, andsecond and third units of inquiry)

4/02/15 Student/Parent/Teacher Conference

10/04/15Mid-Semester Two Report(fourth unit of inquiry)

29/04/15 Student-led Conference

18/06/15Semester Two Report and last day of academic year(literacy, mathematics, personal/social development, and

fifth and sixth units of inquiry)

Following each reporting session is a three-way conference. Three-wayconferences are to be attended by the homeroom teacher, the student, and theparent/s. Single subject teachers do not partake in report writing or the conferencesduring these sessions. Single-subject teachers report and hold optional conferenceswith students and their parents in February and April. The last conference (29/04/15) isa portfolio conference led by the student.

Evaluation Method

ParticipantsIn order to identify if the programs goals and objectives have been met, three

groups of stakeholders were selected to be included in the Student Report evaluation-administrators, teachers, and parents. The first group included the Primary SchoolPrincipal and the PYP coordinator. The role of these administrators is to design andoversee the Student Report program. The second group consisted of 14 Primary Schoolhomeroom teachers and 24 single subject teachers. The teachers role, aside fromteaching, is to report on each of their students progress. The third group was composedof 119 sets of parents of Primary School students. The group was chosen because of

their role as clients, and their experiences and perceptions were of major importance tounderstanding the effectiveness of the program.

Procedures

The Student Report evaluation idea was first introduced to the administrators,who gave their consent for it to take place. The evaluator and administrators then met inperson and collaborated online to extract and finalize the programs goals andobjectives. Due to the short timeline for the evaluation, the evaluator and the Primary


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School Principal arrived at a decision to narrow the scope of the evaluation to includethe three abovementioned stakeholder groups, and design one survey per group. Dueto the small number of stakeholders in each group, no population sample was selected.

All members of the three groups were asked to fill out a population-specific onlinesurvey created on Google Forms.

The evaluator introduced the evaluation to teachers during a staff meeting andconducted a short session with the goal of ensuring teachers are aware of the programgoals and to brainstorm evaluation questions to guide the evaluation. Teachers werealso asked to fill out a survey to indicate what they would like the evaluation to focus on.The evaluator collated responses, and created evaluation questions. After theadministrators approval, the three surveys were sent out to administrators, teachersand students parents. The evaluation took place between reporting sessions and hadno perceived impact on teaching and/or learning.

Data SourcesAs mentioned in the Proceduressection of this report, the evaluation included three

surveys, which were directed toward the three identified stakeholders at the school-administrators, teachers and parents. Each of the surveys included three sections:

1. A general informationsection, which was composed of questions designed toidentify and sort through the population (number of years at the school, grade levelinvolvement, etc.);

2. A main section, with a number of questions in regards to the identified programsgoals and objectives; and,

3. A final section, which asked respondents to identify the programs strengths,weaknesses, and asked for ideas for its improvement.

Surveys were created using Google Forms and included a combination of open-endedquestions (paragraph responses), rating questions (one answer responses), and ticking

questions (multiple option responses).

Results

Surveys

The primary data for the evaluation of Another International School comes fromthe three online surveys taken by the schools administrators, teachers and parents.Survey questions were related to the evaluation questions, which came from theidentified programs goals and objectives. Questions for each stakeholder intended toidentify practices and perceptions (as explained below), andquestions across the threesurveys were designed to check and identify gaps between (1) administrators

perceptions and teachers understanding and practice, and between (2) teacherspractice and parents perceptions.

Administrator Survey

The survey was sent to the programs administrators electronically. Bothadministrators (100%) completed the survey. Questions on the survey were quantitativeand qualitative, and related to the programs goals and objectives. They were designedto solicit their opinion of the programs alignment with the Board of Directors policies


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and the International Baccalaureate guidelines, to identify their vision of acomprehensive Student Report system, and to identify their understanding of existingreporting practices.

Figure 1 in Appendix B,Administrators level of agreement: Report card policiesvs. Board of Directors policies and IBO guidelines, relates to the programs first

objective. One administrator responded agreeand the second neutralfor bothquestions. This hints that as a whole, the programs administrators have some doubtthat the schools assessment and reporting policy is consistent with the IBO guidelinesand the Board of Directors policies.

Figure 2 in Appendix B, Level of agreement to reporting about academicachievement and progress, and areas for improvement, relates to the second objectiveand compares results from the three stakeholders. Administrators responses were spliton the question about academic achievement and progress (one reporting sometimesand the other most of the timein both cases). All surveyed teachers (100%) replied theyreport on all three areas. Parent responses were more diverse, with responses to thesurveys as follows: never- 2,1,3 (respectively), sometimes- 9,11,15 (respectively), and

always- 20,19,13 (respectively).

Teacher SurveyThe survey was sent to teachers electronically. After two reminder e-mails, 11

out of 14 (79%) homeroom teachers and nine out of 24 (38%) single subject andlearning support/English as Additional Language teachers filled out the survey. Thequestions on the teacher survey were intended to identify their practices, confidencewith the Student Report, and general beliefs and understanding of the Student Reportsystem.

Figure 3 in Appendix B,Level of agreement: Teachers level of understanding ofthe Student Report system, shows responses from teachers and administrators about

teachers levels of understanding of reporting tasks. The percentage scale used in thechart indicates respondents level of agreement to the two statements. Both groupswere given a rating scale from strongly disagreeto strongly agree. Both administratorsrated agreeto both questions. Teachers responses were more diverse. When asked ifthey know what to report about, two out of 20 teachers (10%) disagreed, two out of 20(10%) reported neutral, eight out of 20 (40%) agreed, and eight out of 20 (40%) stronglyagreed. When asked if they know how to report, one out of 20 teachers (5%) disagreed,four out of 20 (20%) reported neutral, eight out of 20 (40%) agreed, and seven out of 20(35%) strongly agreed.

Figure 4 in Appendix B, How information on the report card is used,relates to theprograms first objective (report cards are part of the schools comprehensiveassessment and reporting policy). Administrators were asked how many teachers usethe information in their reports to follow up in four different ways. The scale usedincluded six percentage bands (0%-10%, 11%-30%, 31%-50%, 51%-70%, 71%-90%,and 91%-100%). Responses to setting goalswere similar (31%-51%), while responsesto meet with parentshad the biggest difference (31%-50% and 71%-91%). Responsesto adjusting instructionandprovide additional supportwere 31%-50% vs. 51%-70% and11%-30% vs. 31%-50% respectively. Teachers were asked how they use theinformation they report on, with the option of ticking multiple boxes. Respondents


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indicated the following: 16 out of 20 (80%) set up goals with their students and indicatea 40% difference from administrators responses, 11 out of 20 (55%) set up meetingwith parents (a negligible 5% difference), and 15 out of 20 (75%) adjust instruction andprovide additional support based on the information they included in their reports (25%difference and a significant 45% difference respectively). In order to compare responses

from administrators and teachers, the average administrators percentage was used.For example, the percentage rate for meet with parents(50%) was achieved at usingthe mean of 31% (the lowest percentage) and 91% (the highest percentage).

Parent Survey

The survey was sent to parents electronically, with a note from the PYPcoordinator briefly explaining what the evaluation is about. 31 out of 119 families (27%)filled out the survey. No reminders were sent after the initial e-mail. The questions onthe parent survey were intended to solicit information about how they use the StudentReport as well as to identify their level of satisfaction with it.

Figure 5 in Appendix B, Survey questions: Is the report accurate and

comprehensive?,relates to the programs third objective and synthesizes stakeholdersresponses about the accuracy and comprehensiveness of reporting about studentsacademic, social and personal development. The percentage scale used in the chartindicates respondents level of agreement to the statements. Respondents were given arating scale from strongly disagreeto strongly agreeas well as a not applicable(NA)option. The NAoption was provided for stakeholders who are new at the school and atthe time of taking the survey had not yet received a report. In the analysis of theresponses, NAresponses were omitted and percentage was re-calculated to reflect thenew parts of wholes. In this chart, responses are grouped into either agree(composedof agree and strongly agreeresponses) or disagree(disagreeand strongly disagree),whereas 100% in the chart represents the entire group responding with agreeand

strongly agree.

Discussion

The purpose of this formative evaluation was to determine whether AnotherInternational Schools Student Report system successfully achieves the programsobjectives and to identify the perceptions and experiences of stakeholders so that theseinform future modifications to the Student Report system. The evaluation utilized bothqualitative and quantitative data in the form of online surveys. This report presented anddiscussed the evaluation process and the data found and analyzed through the surveys.

Responses from the three surveys suggest that teachers reporting practices are

mostly accurate and comprehensive and that existing procedures and expectationsneed to be further developed and implemented in order to properly align the StudentReport system with the programs stated objectives. A discussion of specific results asthey relate to each program objective follows.

Objective#1: Report cards are a part of the schools comprehensive assessmentand reporting policy that is consistent with IBO guidelines and Board of Directors

policies


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Administrators at the school reported a clear vision of what a comprehensiveassessment and reporting policy includes, and some supporting documents (such asthe PYP Student Report Guidelinesand essential agreements about assessment,feedback and marking, and teaching and learning) were created as means towardachieving this goal.

Policies at Another International School align with the Board of Directorsreporting policies, which include the frequency of reporting and the inclusion of writtenand oral communication (report cards and conferences) to ensure parents are wellinformed. The schools reporting policy is mostly aligned with the IB guidelines. Oneimportant aspect of reporting that is lacking in the schools policies is the emphasis onthe Learner Profile. In the Making the PYP Happen document (December 2009), it isstated that, Schools are required to report on each students development according tothe attributes of the learner profile. (p.51).

In order to more successfully achieve this objective, the evaluatorsrecommendations include further development of assessment and reporting documents,and collation of the various existing documents into a comprehensive Assessment and

Reporting Policy document. The document should be published and circulated amongall stakeholders. Furthermore, emphasis should be put on explanation and discussion ofthe documents in order to ensure understanding and utilization by teachers. Secondly, itis essential that emphasis on the IBs Learner Profile attributes be given in the StudentReport.

Objective#2: The Student Report supports learning by providing information tostudents and parents about achievement and progress, and to indicate areas forfurther development

The three surveys revealed some teacher uncertainties about what and how toreport, as well as gaps between teachers and administrators / parents views in

regards to reporting about achievement, progress and areas for further improvement.Although 100% of teachers indicated they report about all three areas, administratorsand parents reported that this was not the case. 10% of parents reported that the lackof reporting about areas for improvement is a weakness in the system.

Although it was difficult to differentiate between parent comments abouthomeroom teachers and single subject teachers, the further feedback section revealedthat some parents see single subject teachers reports as too general and notindividualized, and therefore having little to no value toward!work and progress inthese areas.

In order to better fulfill this objective and create a more balanced report, it isimportant to ensure all teachers have a clear understanding of what and how to report.It is recommended that the school provides teachers and parents with clear standardsand benchmarks for different areas of the curriculum, and to set mechanisms in place toensure they are being used in the Student Report. It is also recommended that furtherexamination of the reporting guidelines for single subject teachers takes place in orderto ensure comments include meaningful and personalized information aboutachievement, progress, and areas for further development.


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Objective #3: Teachers provide accurate and comprehensive information aboutthe students academic, social and personal development.

The most common parent feedback about the systems strengths was that it wasclear (11; 35%) and comprehensive (12; 39%). This being said, the gaps betweendifferent stakeholders responses in regards to the reports accuracy and

comprehensiveness were significant enough that they cannot be ignored, as do thecomments about inconsistent and subjective reporting. It is the evaluators belief thatthese stem from the absence of standards and benchmarks in some areas of theschools curriculum, as well as the lack of use of specific outcomes, skills andunderstandings in the reports, which forces teachers to rely on unstructured narrativesto substantiate their comments. Although the use of both narratives and indicators in theStudent Report was designed to provide structure for both personalized comments andto benchmark certain academic and non-academic areas, some parents expressed theirconcerns that the report was generic and vague (4; 13%), that the comments were toolong (3; 10%), and that they had difficulties understanding the grading system (3; 10%).

The significant gaps in reporting about how the information on the Student

Report document is being utilized indicate that it exists in isolation.I order to better achieve this objective it is the evaluators recommendation thatthe assessment data used to support and create the Student Report is displayed insome capacity in the report. It is also recommended that the teacher/parent/studentconferences that follow the report allow participants more time to discuss achievementand progress, review individual goals, and set new ones.

Objective #4: The Student Report is a measure of school accountability forstudent learning and progress.

The lack of clear and stated standards and benchmarks in all areas of thecurriculum, together with stakeholders perceptions of inconsistencies and inaccuracies

in the content and style of reporting, and over a fifth of teachers reporting to be unsureof what and how to report, point to the fact that this objective has not yet been achieved.By meeting the above three objectives, the Student Report would become an

accurate measure of the schools accountability for learning and progress.

Project CostThis evaluation project was conducted by a staff member of Another International

School as part of his graduate studies. No costs were incurred to the school as a resultof this evaluation; therefore the costs below represent the total savings the school wouldhave spent on an outside evaluator.

Evaluation activities in this section include meeting with different stakeholders at

Another International School, travel costs, time to prepare surveys and analyze thedata, and time for preparation of the final evaluation report.

Daily Rate: 15 days X INR 30,000 = INR 4,50,000Travel (City Center to the schools location): 3 days x INR 600 = INR 1,800Per Diem: = INR 1,500Miscellaneous Supplies: = INR 6,000

Total = 4,59,300 INR


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Appendix A: Excerpts from The Schools Reporting Documentation

!" Board Policy on Reporting: Board Policy Manual: Policy 8.140:

The school will report student progress to parents and guardians on a timely basis aftereach quarter of the school year. A comprehensive plan for school/homecommunications is essential if clear understandings are to take place. Therefore, a planwith combinations of written and oral communications has been devised in order toinsure that clear and concise information is transferred. Teachers will also use a varietyof methodsto be sure parents know the progress of each student.

Parent/Teacher Conferences: At least one will be held each year. Report Cards: They will be issued at the end of each grading period.

#" PYP Student Report Guidelines (September 2014):

"The purpose of the Student Report is to support learning by providing information tostudents and parents about achievement and progress, and to indicate areas for furtherdevelopment. It serves as a formal record at a point in time of a students progress andachievement. Teachers are responsible for providing accurate and comprehensiveinformation about the students academic, social and personal development.Furthermore, reporting on student achievement provides a measure of schoolaccountability for student learning and progress."


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Figure 4: How information on the report cards is used

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Appendix C: Administrator Survey and Narrative Responseshttps://docs.google.com/forms/d/1xSBFb7hK56_RWk4kV59mFdDvTD9DK_2JLQFVYubfPpw/viewform

(Please note: Narrative responses such as NS, none, not so far, or left blank were omitted)

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Personal development is referred to explicitly in the PSPE Scope and Sequence which is tracked and assessed

in the Early Years. It is measured throughout the PYP in the report card, but not using PSPE outcomes.

Do you believe reporting is consistent across the PYP? Please explain your answer

Reporting is not consistent. With an absence of articulated, specific curriculum, teacher's and grade level's

expectations are not aligned. The report format lack specific outcomes, skills, understandings and thereforerelies on narratives, which individual teachers approach differently across the school.

No. Different teachers provide varying quality of reports. Some teachers write detailed individual reports thatdemonstrate an in-depth knowledge of the child's progress and development, while other teachers writeimpersonal generic reports with an over-reliance on 'cut and pate'.

What mechanisms are in place to ensure reporting is clear and consistent across the PYP?

There are guidelines issued at the beginning of the reporting process.

Report guidelines were revised in September 2014 to offer a higher level of consistency with regards to thewriting of comments. Staff meetings have been dedicated to reporting so as to better inform teachers of theprocess, timelines and expectations. Peer-editing and revision processes encourage consistency and quality of

comments. The size of the text boxes have been decreased to encourage quality rather than quantity for allteachers and subjects

Are there clear standards and benchmarks for reporting at each grade level? How do you think this affectsreporting?

There are not clear standards and benchmarks for reporting as these have not been articulated through the

curriculums as yet. This has a significant effect on reporting, again as the majority of the reports are based onnarrative comments from teachers as opposed to clear and specific outcomes.

No. This is in development. Clear standards and benchmarks will improve the quality of reporting.

How would you define adequate record keeping?

Quarterly written reports that record progress ant attainment over time.

Adequate would be a form of recording that measures and tracks student achievement of the written curriculum

for each subject area over the course of their PYP experience at Stonehill.

What do you think Stonehill's PYP report card system's strengths are?

That it is in the process of review. That the school is willing and wanting to make changes so that the

documents are useful to parents, students and teachers. Changes already made have provided a moreaesthetically pleasing format. The current information offered is succinct and seemingly user friendly. Reports

are consistent in the information offered throughout the year The narrative gives teachers freedom to personalize their reports. It covers the 5 essential elements of the PYP.

What do you think Stonehill's PYP report card system's weaknesses are?

Lack of benchmarking against specific outcomes.

The weaknesses stem from the lack of curriculum and therefore articulated expectations/outcomes for students

to show achievement and for teachers to report on. The format is unattractive.

What changes/additions would you like to see in Stonehill's PYP report cards?

Include a student self-reflection and traget setting section. Include an online gradebook linked to specific,measurable outcomes.

I would like the changes to directly align with and convey the curriculm - which is in process.


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Appendix D: Teacher Survey and Narrative Responseshttps://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Y0SAt9HvRqrTNGbZXnuJ6oaZindoY-3GALv_0_-_s7g/viewform?usp=send_form


1. How many years have you been teaching at Stonehill?

1 year (This is our first year) 2-3 years 4-5 years More than 5 years

2. Please indicate your role at Stonehill

Homeroom teacher Single Subject teacher Learning Support / EAL

3. Please indicate the age group/s you teach

Early Childhood (P1-P3) Lower PYP (P4-P6) Upper PYP (P7-P8)

4. What kind of information do you include in your report cards?

Academic achievement

Student progress

Areas needing improvement

Personal growth Emotional growth

Social growth

Other

4. How do you use the information you report on?

Set up goals

Set up a meeting with parents

Adjust instruction/ differentiate

Provide additional support to students

Other

5. Please rate each question below

StronglyDisagree

Disagree Neutral AgreeStrongly

agreeN/A

I know WHAT to report about during eachreporting session

I know HOW to report during each reportingsession

I report ACCURATE information about eachchilds ACADEMIC development

I report COMPREHENSIVE information abouteach childs ACADEMIC development

I report ACCURATE information about each

childs SOCIAL developmentI report COMPREHENSIVE information abouteach childs SOCIAL development

I report ACCURATE information about eachchilds PERSONAL development

I report COMPREHENSIVE information about

each childs PERSONAL development


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6. What do you see as the PYP report card system's strengths?

7. What do you see as the PYP report card system's weaknesses?

8. What changes/additions would you like to see in the PYP report card system?

------------------------------------------

What do you see as the PYP report card system's strengths?

the change to lesser "characters"

It can get as detailed as the teacher wants to be. Specific situations can be brought up to highlight developmentand growth and achievement.

I do a separate report so cannot accurately comment on this

Comment lengths are limited, but

NOW it allows for precise information to be communicated given the word limit.

Its not limited to standardized grades and assessment.

It provides a platform for documenting the progress of every child in a holistic way covering all areas - academic

and non-academic.

comments give it a human touch

I haven't seen one yet

I'll use it for the first time. I will experience this now.

While I only have only taken part in mid-term reports, and have only written the narrative reports that mydepartment is responsible for - I can say that the Learning Support/EAL reports, along with the HR reports give

a good overview of how students receiving support are doing. I think the midterm reports

We report about important aspects of children's learning and development We are getting more procedures inplace to support new teachers and to make sure reporting is consistent among all teachers

What do you see as the PYP report card system's weaknesses?

The system sometimes fails and information/comments have to be re submitted.

I don't think they have specific benchmarks on them? I know the school is developing those...I find this difficultto answer at this stage.

There is no continuous information and report about students' progress for parents or teachers to check and

reflect upon.

The word limit - especially when you do two units together.

e-portal is not user friendly and frustrates the user.

There is not a clearly defined set of academic objectives and a corresponding evaluation of the student.

Labour intensive and time consuming and too frequent

As a parent myself, I tend to glance at the report card. When there are long narratives, I figure it is just canned

comments with the adjectives adjusted. I would feel I would get more from a brief report card followed by astudent led conference where I can meet with the teacher at the end of that.

Lack of outcomes and blank 'box' does not pinpoint the areas on what the grade levels should be reporting.

Unless the grade levels sit and decide together...two different teachers in the same grade level could bereporting on different concepts, skills, etc...

I do a separate report so cannot accurately comment on this

It can be vague depending on the student and the teacher.

It takes just as long to write a 500 character comment if it means lots of editing to say what needs to be said.Reporting times are not driven by achievement or by completion of units, but are fairly arbitrary.

I haven't seen one yet

It has the potential to be vague and formulaic.

It keeps changing Teachers are not always sure what to do and how There is little consistency between

different teachers' reporting style We begin writing reports much too early, which makes reporting not alwayscomplete It takes teachers many many hours to complete reports

unsure

Tedious... So many strands to comment on!! Double-edged sword... I think the U of I reports are too time-

consuming for what they are. The parents are not going to keep them, the schools the children transfer to won'tread them in all their detail. I think they should be mentioned in the mid-year or end-of-year report cards, but notbe reports done in isolation.

It would be beneficial to have access to everyone's reports to help cross-reference particular students.


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What changes/additions would you like to see in the PYP report card system?

Does not directly reflect learning outcomes in scope and sequence documents - same language would beuseful for teachers and parents

Specifics outcomes that are taken directly from the unit planners.

Have more student involvement leading to more ownership of the report. Easier the older the kids get.

Have space/numbers dedicated not just to skills and knowledge, but also attitudes

I would like to see the report card include measurable learning outcomes and the narrative, not just the

narrative. Reduce the number of times the reports are due? I don't really work with reports so I am guessing at this.

While the report is being prepared it would help if I can view it as it would be visible when it is printed out to

parents. This would give me a clear picture of all the information that goes onto the document.

Make it simpler for teachers to complete Make it more objective (Less teacher personality)

Access to all so that we can read the EAL and subject teachers reports. It can also be useful to read previoushomeroom teachers reports to see if recurring issues are arising.

Fewer report cards per year. With two (or is it three?) scheduled conferences each year, and regularcommunication with the parents (with other conferences as needed), I think that two report cards/ year isadequate. We should drop the interim reports, as we are still in the process of organizing the routines of theclass and assessing the students then.

More outcomes oriented so that it cuts the guess work out of what teachers mean. It would also lessen the

inconsistencies between teachers reporting styles and streamline our reporting process.

I am sure I could say more after seeing a full year of student reports.

Specialist reports are very generic and should have more focused information about the student they are writingabout and not just state what the learning objectives for the lessons have been or make general statements forthe whole grade level. ELL / LS and Homeroom reports should be combined into one report so that the SAMEinformation is shared with the parent. Two different viewpoints for the same child is not professional for theschool or useful for the parent.

Integration of S&S, standards, or continuum of learning, so that we can mark where kids are and speak to the

specific areas of strength or weakness.


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Appendix E: Parent Survey and Narrative Responseshttps://docs.google.com/forms/d/1G17SAHRXlnxpJdWE_zdbt8gssJKf7o91K9kL7c-6Jkk/viewform?usp=send_form


1. How many years has your child/children attended Stonehill?

1 year (This is our first year) 2-3 years 4-5 years More than 5 years

2. Please indicate your child's age group If you have more than one child in the PYP, please tick all applicableoptions

Early Childhood (P1-P3) Lower PYP (P4-P6) Upper PYP (P7-P8)

3. Please rate the following statements

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4. How do you use the information in your childs report card?

I read the report card by myself or with my spouse

My child and I read and talk about the report card

I reflect on my child's school work by myself

My child and I reflect on his/her school work together

To set goals with my child

To set up a meeting with my child's teacher

To provide more support to my child

Other

5. Please rate the following statements with regards to the report card."#$%&'()

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6. Is there anything else you would like to tell us about the report card, your interaction with it, etc.?


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7. What do you think Stonehill's PYP report card system's strengths are?

8. What do you think Stonehill's PYP report card system's weaknesses are?

9. What changes/additions would you like to see in Stonehill's PYP report cards?

------------------------------------------

Is there anything else you would like to tell us about the report card, your interaction with it, etc.?

I think they are far too long...they could be simplified a lot.

The report cards uptill this year have been of no real use to track my child's progress at school. Comments havebeen very generic and vague with no real indicators of how my child has been doing. There is more 'fluff' than

stuff in the reports. Comments from special classes ( ICT, Info Litt, Art, Music, Lang B) have all be absolutelyuseless with the comments having little to no value towards my child's work and progress at school in theseareas. There needs to be more effort made from these teachers to be more specific and report accurately abouteach individual child and not have the parent feel the report is a generic statement that can be found in anyother report for that grade. There are no references made to specific goals or achievements my child makes inthese classrooms.

General observations are fine and on the mark but it can be too fluffy. While I think some of the personal

observations can be insightful there is generally far less depth around academics I like how IIB (and thus reportcards) encourage curiosity and ways of thinking I still don't believe the balance is yet right with fundamentals(reading, writing, spelling, maths)

Report card together with a parent-teacher converstation is the best in my opiion. While I found the report card useful for some ares I found personal meeting with Home Teacher and Learning

support teacher more useful.

I love the deatiled report cards and the effort put into them. It is a great feedback for our child and us...

I felt the evaluation of my child in the report card was too general. Individual strengths and weakness did notbecome clear enough to me which would have in turn helped more for supporting the child at home.

No, I find it appropriate.

I would like the ratings to be more differentiated to better judge how my kid is doing.

No it's pretty comprehensive

I read it a couple of times and underline the important information.

Occasionally it seems to me that teachers may have cut and pasted between reports because he/she orhis/hers are sometimes wrong.

I think it's good to have one, I always like to receive it and to ask my child to explain what I don't understand.

I would like to know what is the scale of the report is it according the end of the year or to present time of the

child level This is our first year at stonehill and so far I only got the first intermediate report before the end of the year

report.

Very positive but sometimes a little bit too superficial

What do you think Stonehill's PYP report card system's strengths are?

Looks at the whole child.

Gives information on the UOI, Ib Profiles is clearly seperated in different areas like language, maths,... Cleanand simple overview

I can only talk about the report card from our previous IB school. It has information about how the child is doing

in each area/subject and also social and emotional development. Information well organise by subject.

They cover various specialists which I like

It gives us a link between home and school and it helps to see our children development from every teachers

point of view.

I can't comment much as this is my child's first year at Stonehill and we haven't seen any report card but as faras I know I have heard mixed reviews.

Very clear and to the point

Very detailed and comprehensive.

To put the achievements of the child first is a good motivator.

Addresses all levels of kids ability

Very structured. Not judgmental for the child, focused on areas of improvements.

NONE but we hope it will change soon. The report card THIS YEAR from the homeroom has been somewhat

better and the credit for that goes to the homeroom teacher.

Each teacher gets to share progress


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It's comprehensive information from most teachers, only a few are sparsely written.

It's very personal and the teacher's always provide insightful feedback. Some schools reporting systems arevery generic with very little "Comments" or "Feedback" regarding your specific child.

PYP report card is pretty straight forward. It gives a comprehensive a glance report of my child's performance.

I can't think of one. Except that you ate focusing on it. Good. They need work.

I am very impressed about the report card because most of the teacher look and see each of the child's detailsabout their strengths and weakness, and reported very accurately.

I like the details that are provided, rather than letter grades Short and simple

Quite easy to understand

Teacher comments are the piece I pay attention to most.

It is child focused and detailed

The full written statements from the teachers.

Give good feedback about the kid's behavior and development during the year, specially on the social side.

The biggest strengths is it is very comprehensive and explains in details on how the progress is taking place.

What do you think Stonehill's PYP report card system's weaknesses are?

As a parent, I would like to see a breakdown of subjects and areas of improvement clearly specified. I

understand that the children need positive feedback from parents and teachers, but a reality check for parentswould be great!

It does not focus with accuracy the areas or subjects that need to be improved (goals) and what are the guide

lines for parents to help. I can't comment much as this is my child's first year at Stonehill and we haven't seen any report card.

Lack of reporting regarding second languages, PE, Arts, Science. It's too general

I don't see any

Homeroom teachers reporting sections are enormous, and way to time consuming for the teachers to fill out. Aconcise written portion on each subject would be enough

We had a report card with the wrong name in it....personal error? Attendence is always incorrect

Don't Know haven't had one yet.

Could have more examples?

The annotation system is not clear for the parents as well as for the teacher who couldn't answer our questions.

Too much jargon

Too much written. I'd rather systematically have examples of the activities my child does to support the reportcards different parts, and I'd like to have at least half an hour with teachers to talk about it (especially achievedparts and areas of improvement). In Stonehill, when we have teachers/parents conferences, it is no school and

it's a long coday of conferences for teachers. In other schools, it take place after school during a whole week,we don't have to rush and teachers take time to really deepen the situation and to share with parents, not just totalk about what they already wrote in the report card. It is interesting for both parents AND teachers, it's achance to know more about the child. Parents would write their availability and it would not be more than 2interviews per evening for instance. It's important for parents ! It has been frustrating to just have a small slot,while children are spending so much time at school. I know it's a concession from teachers to their private lifebut I think it's part of the job and it's the only opportunity to work together. Good luck !

There are none.

The grading system is sometimes difficult to understand.

It would be good if it could be more extensive on the Academic development.

See above. There are no frameworks or measures or data with which to assess child's results. Neither is there

an indication of progression.

I would like to see some quantitative information. The report cards are fairly generic - and seem like they couldapply to any child.

Behind a lot of sentences sometimes the content gets too complicated.

At times, the sheer size of the report is daunting. (So long!) But I would much rather have this then a reportingsystem with little to no information regarding your child's strengths, weakness, feedback etc.

Language is sometimes difficult to understand for second language parents. There is a lot of writing to interpret.

It should explain the weakness in more details and suggest more corrective steps to be taken by the parents.

I don't think the ratings allow me to fully understand how my kid is progressing.

There has been no real indication of how my child is actually doing in class. The comments are all blanket

statements which seem applicable to any child in the classroom. This is especially with rregard to the reportsfrom the other lessons ( Music, Art, ICT, Info Literacy, Lang B, Host Culture) These must be more specific toeach child. We are not interested in a write up on what the whole grade level has worked on during theselessons. That is what the blog is for. Instead we want to see more specific information about what MY CHILD is


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achieving or not in the class. Parent teacher conferences MUST also include a meeting time with thesespecialist teachers. If my child is spending at least an hour a week in these classrooms, it should be arequirement for the specialist teachers to also meet with parents and conference with them. These lessons arenot optional like an ECA activity and so a report card must have a follow up conference with specialists too.

What changes/additions would you like to see in Stonehill's PYP report cards?

A chance for the child to comment on what they thought of there report

Shortened! I think they are doing a good job.

More to the point

More differentiation.

Organisation of the parents teachers conferences to talk about the report card.

I would like to see how my child performed in comparison to the other kids. It can be in the form of percentile,grade or anything better.

More focus for next coming months, areas to develop or to be proud of

I would like to grade each subject with digits not letter.

Set of action (goals) that the child needs improve in each area or subject.

Would like picture of grade to be attached, would like to see kids goals and achievments listed, comparison to ib

learning expectations would also be nice

A completely new on that is SMART

Comprehensive anotation

Specialist Comments MUST be more individualized and not sound like they are the same for all the children. More detail, less "fluff"

Documents

Final Evaluation Report- Student Report Card System- An International School in India