School District No. 53 (Okanagan Similkameen) · PDF fileThe following information is for all...

School District No. 53 (Okanagan Similkameen)

Elementary Progress Report Guidelines

File: Report Card Guidelines_revised February 24 2014.docx

Index: General Information……………………………………..…

Kindergarten and Primary Progress Reports.………... Page 4

Intermediate Progress Reports …..…………………...... Page 8

Progress Reports for Students with Special Needs… Page 10

General Information

Overview

These guidelines are to support teachers in meeting all Ministry of Education and District requirements while preparing student progress reports. The school district appreciates and commends teaching staff for the time and effort they put into preparing report cards and communicating valuable information to parents/guardians about their child's educational progress. These guidelines have been revised to support the district’s adoption of the BCeSIS elementary progress report template during the 2009/2010 school year.

All student progress reports must meet with the requirements in the School Act and expectations of the school district. These guidelines will also provide some recommendations that teachers and schools may employ in reporting to parents. We also encourage schools to develop procedures and mechanisms to provide parents with other valuable information about their child’s educational growth. As no student progress report card template can fit all the needs of individual students and teachers, teachers will need to use their discretion and professional knowledge to ensure that parents receive critical information on an ongoing basis.

The following information is for all report cards. Specific comments to Kindergarten, Primary and Intermediate report cards follow this section. Key Principles

Effective progress reports: communicate clearly and concisely about the student progress relative to the prescribed

learning outcomes

honour the development of the individual child

support student motivation and learning

enhance communication with parents

Effective Student Progress Report Communication

A written report is most effective when it provides a "snapshot" of a child's learning at the time when it is written rather than a summary of the activities and learning throughout the term. The information needs to be brief, relevant and descriptive, and supported by evidence of the child's learning. It should be parent/student friendly and free of jargon. While making references to things the child has done personalizes the report, it is important to limit the number of illustrative samples to one or two. What the parent really needs is your interpretation and evaluation of this evidence so they have the “big picture" of their child's learning.

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Wording of Performance Scales

Ministry policy defines the wording used in the new performance scales. This wording cannot be changed to match the wording used in the BC Performance Standards or to other wording we might prefer.

The wording of the performance scale for Kindergarten is: 1. Exceeding expectations 2. Meeting expectations 3. Approaching expectations

The wording of the performance scale for Grades 1 to 3 is: 1. Exceeding expectations 2. Meeting expectations 3. Approaching expectations 4. Not yet meeting expectations

Determining Where Students are on Each Performance Scale

Teachers do not have to develop rubrics for each subject area in order to determine where students are on each performance scale. Ministry templates (BC Performance Standards) and District templates (PM Benchmarks) describe each of these levels in detail and provide teachers with information to support their decisions. However, it is up to individual teachers to decide what constitutes meeting expectations in relation to the learning outcomes. While teachers have professional autonomy in making such judgments, they should be able to provide evidence in support of her/his decision. Role of the BC Performance Standards

The BC Performance Standards are used in the School District to support teacher assessment when appropriate. Their use is to provide teachers with information to support instruction and to bring consistency to expectations. The use of these scales provides information and evidence for teachers when reporting on students. In fact some teachers use them very effectively as part of the reporting process to parents, as they may be used to show student growth over the course of the year.

BC Performance Standards have not been developed for all subject areas and grade levels. Other than for District assessments, teachers have individual professional autonomy about whether or not to use these resources in their classroom.

Teachers must use the broad performance scales outlined in the ministry policy. If the BC Performance Standards are used, remember that the levels described are based on April-May student performance. For example, in November, a student whose work is best described by comments in the "minimally meets expectations" column of the performance standards, may be meeting expectations at the time and that is what should be reflected on the progress report. Learning Outcomes on the Student Progress Report

Teacher evaluation of student progress must be in relation to the learning outcomes in the curriculum unless the student is on an IEP. Learning outcomes taught during the term should be shared in parent friendly language on a term overview. In the “comment” areas, teachers should provide anecdotal comments on student learning as per Ministry of Education policy. Specific learning outcome stems may be imbedded in these comments.

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Ministry of Education Policy on Comments requires teachers to use ‘reporting comments’ describing:

what the student is able to do

the areas in which the student requires further attention or development

ways of supporting the student in his or her learning

Principal’s Role

The principal or vice-principal has a legal obligation to approve all progress reports prior to them being sent home. S/he must be confident that the progress report meets all requirements and standards set by the Ministry of Education and School District prior to signing, as well as providing the necessary information about a student’s learning to the parents. Teachers need to be familiar with the various documents.

Documents to Support Teachers

Reporting Student Progress: Policy and Practice (Ministry of Education)

http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/classroom_assessment/09_report_student_prog.pdf

Student Progress Report Order (Ministerial Order 191/94)

http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/legislation/schoollaw/e/m191-94.pdf

Provincial Letter Grade Order (Ministerial Order 192/94)


Required Areas of Study in an Education Program Order (Ministerial Order 295/95)


Learning Outcome Summaries All Staff – Report Card (on First Class)

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Kindergarten and Primary Report Cards Reports for kindergarten and primary students should include consideration of the following goal areas:

Intellectual Development in the Core Subjects Fine Arts (Aesthetic and Artistic Development) Physical Development and Well Being Social Responsibility Emotional and Social Development

Rationale

The BCeSIS kindergarten and primary student progress reports meet the Ministry of Education policy requirements.

The following five goal areas address the developmental needs of the whole child. They are presented here because it best reflects the nature of teaching and learning in Primary classrooms. Primary teachers address children’s development and the curriculum in an integrated way that is meaningful for young children, and focus on engaging children in learning experiences rather than addressing a list of items to be “covered”.

Intellectual Development (Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies) A variety of experiences enable the child to develop:

strategies to facilitate thinking and learning; an awareness of the nature and purposes of language and literacy; listening and speaking abilities; reading and viewing abilities; writing and representing abilities; information processing abilities; number, spatial and statistical sense; a sense of relationships and patterns; and an understanding of the world around them.

Fine Arts (Aesthetic and Artistic Development) A variety of experiences enable the child to:

develop enthusiasm and appreciation for the arts; communicate through the arts; and respond to the arts in imaginative ways.

Physical Development and Well-Being A variety of experiences enable the child to:

learn and practice safety; take care of and respect her or his body; and develop an appreciation and enjoyment of movement.

Social Responsibility A variety of experiences enable the child to:

value and respect diversity and the contributions people make to the community; contribute to a collaborative environment; and develop an awareness of the roles and responsibilities of a member of a community.

Emotional and Social Development A variety of experiences enable the child to:

develop a positive and realistic self-concept; develop independence; and share, cooperate and learn from others.

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Requirements

The ministry reporting policy requires teachers to report on all required subject areas to be taught in Primary:

Language Arts:

speaking and listening

reading

writing Mathematics Social Studies Science Fine Arts:

dance

drama

music

visual arts Physical Education Daily Physical Activity (introduced in 2007/08) Social Responsibility/Emotional and Social Development Health and Career Education/Work Habits (Personal Planning)

Ministry policy requires teachers to use ‘reporting comments’ describing:

what the student is able to do;

the areas in which the student requires further attention or development; and

ways of supporting the student in his or her learning.

Important Notes

For Fine Arts, the BCeSIS student progress report has an area to report on each of the sub-categories. This is to allow different teachers to easily enter their comments.

For Daily Physical Activity (DPA), the teacher must enter “meeting expectations” or “not meeting expectations” depending on the case. Other comments are to be added when a student is “not meeting expectations”

The policy further requires teachers to describe student behaviour, including attitudes, work habits, effort, and social responsibility. Note that on BCeSIS teachers should comment on these areas of development in the general comment area “Term Comment”.

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Requirements for Primary Reporting

THIS CHART INDICATES REQUIREMENTS MANDATED IN THE PROVINCIAL REPORTING POLICY AND THE RESOURCES THAT SUPPORT REPORTING COMMENTS. THESE REQUIREMENTS ARE FOR USE AS OF THE FIRST REPORTING PERIOD, FALL 2006.

REPORTING REQUIREMENTS RESOURCES TO SUPPORT COMMENTS

Curriculum

Comments (# of times per year)

Must use Ministry

Reporting Performance

Scale

Kindergarten Learning Project

Learning Outcomes from

IRPs and Primary Program

BC Performance

Standards

Intellectual Development

Speaking and Listening

3

YES

K Oral Language

Continuum

K,1,2,3 Oral Language

Eng. Lang. Arts IRP

Reading

3

YES

K Reading Continuum

K,1,2,3 Reading and Viewing Eng. Lang. Arts IRP

Gr. 1,2,3 Reading

Performance Standards

Writing

3

YES K

Writing Continuum

K,1,2,3 Writing

Eng. Lang. Arts IRP

Gr. 1,2,3 Writing


Mathematics

3

YES K 2007, pending

Numeracy Continuum K-1,2,3

Mathematics IRP

Gr. 1,2,3 Numeracy


Social Studies 2 YES K-1,2,3

Social Studies IRP

Science 2 YES K-1,2,3

Science IRP

Aesthetic and Artistic Development

Dance 1 NO K-1,2,3

Fine Arts IRP

Drama 1 NO K-1,2,3

Fine Arts IRP

Music 1 NO K-1,2,3

Fine Arts IRP

Visual Arts 1 NO K-1,2,3

Fine Arts IRP

Physical Developmental and Well-Being

Health and Career Education

3 NO

K-1,2,3 PE IRP K-1,2,3

Health and Career Education IRP

Social Responsibility

3 NO

K Social Responsibility

Continuum

K-3

Social Responsibility Performance

Standards

Emotional and Social Development

This includes learning skills and dispositions (e.g. attitude, effort and behaviour)

3

NO

Primary Program Health and Career

Education IRP

MINISTRY REPORTING PERFORMANCE SCALE

KINDERGARTEN GRADES 1 THROUGH 3 Approaching expectations Not yet meeting expectations Meeting expectations Approaching expectations Exceeding expectations Meeting expectations Exceeding expectations

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Writing the Progress Report

Comments

Each of the reporting areas requires a comment. In the “comment” areas, teachers should provide anecdotal comments on student learning as per Ministry of Education policy. Stems specific to learning outcomes may be imbedded in these comments. Anecdotal comments should be brief, relevant, descriptive, free of jargon, and supported by evidence of the child’s learning. Learning outcomes taught during the term should be shared in parent friendly language on a term overview.

Ministry Reporting Performance Scales

Performance scales are required for:


reading

writing

mathematics

science

social studies

There is no averaging of the scales, you have to pick a rating and then use your comments to clarify. Ways to Support Learning

Provincial progress reporting policy requires teachers to describe the areas in which the student requires further attention or development, and ways of supporting the student in his or her learning. Teachers need to communicate with parents informally as soon as an area of concern is identified so that the formal student progress report may simply be a summary of those discussions. Parents should never be surprised by what is on the student progress report.

Tips to consider

Limit the number of areas for further attention or development to one or two only. Students are more likely to experience success if they have only one or two learning goals. Limiting the number of learning goals for each student will also help you as a teacher focus on planning effective instructional strategies.

If a student has many learning needs, choose the one or two things that you think are most important, or could make the most difference to the child's learning. Making this choice may be one of the most important things you do as a teacher.

Ensure the ways to support or challenge the student represent what the teacher will provide. Some parents are not able, for a variety of reasons, to support their child's learning at home. When you meet parents in parent-teacher interviews or three-way conferences, you may be able to explore and suggest ways that they could support their child's learning. Use the comment area to thank the parent/child for the effort they are making in support of the student’s progress.

Term Comments

In this area the teacher should provide a final statement on the student’s academic performance. It is here that the teacher would comment on behaviour, attitude and effort. The teacher may also provide some other suggestions for supporting the students learning. Remember that these suggestions should be manageable for the students and parents.

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Intermediate Progress Report Rationale

The BCeSIS intermediate student progress report meets the Ministry of Education policy requirements. Although optional, School District No. 53 has elected to provide letter grades on progress reports for grade 4 and 5. Therefore, student progress reports for all students, including IEP students, in grades 4 through 7 must, in relation to expected learning outcomes set out in the curriculum, contain

(a) letter grades, and

(b) written comments

The ministry reporting policy requires teachers to report on all required subject areas to be taught in Intermediate:

Language Arts:


reading

writing Mathematics Science Social Studies Language (French/Okanagan) Fine Arts:

dance

drama

music

visual arts Physical Education Daily Physical Activity Social Responsibility Health and Career Education

Teachers should use ‘reporting comments’ describing:

what the student is able to do;

the areas in which the student requires further attention or development; and

ways of supporting the student in his or her learning.

Important Notes

For Fine Arts, the BCeSIS student progress report has an area to report on each of the sub-categories. This is to allow different teachers to easily enter their comments.

For Daily Physical Activity (DPA), the teacher must enter “meeting expectations” or “not meeting expectations” depending on the case. Other comments are to be added when a student is “not meeting expections”

The policy further requires teachers to describe student behaviour, including attitudes, work habits, and effort. On BCeSIS teachers should comment on these areas of development in the general comment area “Term Comment”.

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Writing the Progress Report Comments

Each of the reporting areas requires a comment. In the “comment” areas, teachers should provide anecdotal comments on student learning as per Ministry of Education policy. Stems specific to learning outcomes may be imbedded in these comments. Anecdotal comments should be brief, relevant, descriptive, free of jargon, and supported by evidence of the child’s learning. Learning outcomes taught during the term should be shared in parent friendly language on a term overview.

Since Language Arts and Mathematics are critical areas of study, more extensive comments may be warranted. In Language Arts, comments on all four areas (speaking, listening, reading and writing) are required. Letter Grades

Letter grades are to be based on the student’s achievement at the time of reporting. Letter grades must be reported for all subject areas except Grade 4 French and Okanagan languages. Please see “Adaptations and Modifications” and “Reporting for Students with Special Needs”. Although letter grades and work habits are connected, teachers should use independent criteria to assess each. For example, an “A” student may have poor work habits and a ‘C’ student may have excellent work habits.

Work Habits

Teachers should use comments to report on work habits. This may be done in the different subject areas or in the Term Comment section. Social Responsibility

Performance scales are used for Social Responsibility. Again, the BC Performance Standards may be used as a resource.

Term Comments

In this area the teacher should provide a final statement on the student’s academic performance. It is here that the teacher would comment on behaviour, attitude and effort. The teacher may also provide some other suggestions for supporting the students learning. Remember that these suggestions should be manageable for the students and parents.

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Reporting for Students with Special Needs A few years ago, the terms adaptations and modifications were defined differently by the Ministry of Education. The new definitions have a significant impact on student reporting. All students are entitled to adaptations through differentiation, universal design for learning (UDL), personalized learning, response to intervention, and others. In fact, most students are receiving some form of adaptations. However, it is those students on a special services individual education plan (academic or behavioural), learner support IEP or annual learning plan (AIP) for English language learner that require specific reference on the report card. Please note, that these new definitions require that all intermediate students, other than the very few on modified programs, must receive letter grades. Adapted Program:

1. Students on adapted programs need to be on an IEP or AIP and are often working on learning outcomes from a prior grade level (example: grade 5 student working on reading learning outcomes from grade 2).

2. Report card marks or progress comments usually reflect learning outcomes of a previous grade as outlined in the IEP/AIP. You would expect these students to receive fairly good grades as the work should reflect their needs.

3. Comments would read like, “Joe is working on learning outcomes from the grade 3

curriculum in language arts and math as outlined in his IEP/AIP. Report card comments or

grades reflect your child’s progress on this specific curriculum.”

Modified Program: 1. The only students now on a modified program are those who are not able to access any

curriculum at all – these would be full-time life skills students who are typically dependent handicapped with significant cognitive deficits as well. At the time of writing this, we only have 3 students currently on a modified program in School District No. 53.

2. Secondary students in grades 10–12 may also be on a modified program. In this case a

modified program indicates that a student will not complete a Dogwood Certificate for

graduation and will receive an Ever Green Certificate.

Specialized Services: Classroom teachers must make reference on the report card to specialized services that the child is accessing, such as speech/language, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, counselling, learning support, English language learning support, etc. Please review these guidelines with classroom teachers prior to them starting to write report card.

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Recording Information for Those Not Receiving a Percentage/Letter Grade The decision not to provide letter grades will typically apply to:

those students with special needs such that they are unable to access the curriculum and continue to work toward the achievement of very limited IEP goals (i.e., students with limited awareness of their surroundings, students with fragile mental/physical health, students medically and cognitively/multiply challenged); and/or

AND students whose school-based team, in consultation with parents, determines that letter

grades are inappropriate. As School District 53 utilizes BCeSIS, we need to be aware that the information will not remain on the student’s BCeSIS record following year end transition if no mark is assigned. BCeSIS credit details, PR card, and SADE require a value to be entered to manage and report on student records over time. The code “NM”, representing “No Mark,” has been added to the BCeSIS code table as a standard code to accommodate these uses for all course-based reporting and for reporting in the curriculum module. NM is not a designated letter grade in the Ministry Letter Grades Order and should only be used in cases noted above.

Report Card Options for Students on Modified Curricula

Student: Procedure:

Does not receive a Letter Grade

Students with limited awareness of their surroundings, students with fragile mental/physical health, students medically and cognitively/multiply challenged.

“NM” is placed in the appropriate letter grade location.

Make specific comments on IEP outcomes or goals evaluated.

Receives Letter Grade Letter grade, in relationship to the learning outcomes and goals of the IEP, is placed in the appropriate letter grade location.

The comment states, “Joe’s grade is in relationship to the learning outcomes and goals of his IEP and not in relation to learning outcomes for the subject or course.

Then continue with specific comments on IEP outcomes or goals evaluated.

Use the rubric provided.

School District No. 53 (Okanagan Similkameen)

Elementary Progress Report Guidelines

File: Report Card Guidelines_revised February 24 2014.docx

Student Name: Date:

Course: Teacher:

Aspect C C+ B A

Snapshot

Overall Letter

Grade

Definition

Demonstrates satisfactory

performance in relation to

individualized education plan

goals applicable to this Locally

Developed course.

Demonstrates good


individualed education plan


Developed course.

Demonstrates very good




Developed course.

Demonstrates excellent




Developed course.

Knowledge and

Skills

Satisfactory demonstration of

the knowledge and skills

necessary to achieve related IEP

goals

Good demonstration of

knowledge and skills

necessary to achieve related

IEP goals

Very good demonstration of

knowledge and skills necessary

to achieve related IEP goals.

Excellent demonstration of

knowledge and skills necessary

to achieve related IEP goals.

Effort Satisfactory demonstration of

effort necessary to achieve IEP

goals.

Good demonstration of effort

necessary to achieve related

IEP goals

Very good demonstration of

effort necessary to achieve

related IEP goals.

Excellent demonstration of

effort necessary to achieve

related IEP goals.

IEP Objectives:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Rationale: Students on modified curricula demonstate their learning in relation to individual education plan learning outcomes and goals that have been established

collaboratively between the educators, parents and students - as appropriate - and may receive letter grades on their report card.

Evaluation Rubric for Students on Modified Curricula - Elementary

Not Applicable

Evidence of learning is not

sufficient to provide

assessment at this time.







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