ELEMENTARY REPORT CARD CHANGES Beginning in the School Year

Why are we changing the report card? This year, all teachers will be using a new report card system to communicate student progress with parents. Throughout the school year, focus groups were held and an elementary report card committee was formed with representatives from teachers, parents, building administration, and central office directors.

Why are we changing the report card? The committee’s main task was to revamp the current report card system for Kindergarten through 5 th Grade to…  Align indicators to new standards and curricula.  Make the report card easier for parents to read and understand.  Transform Power Teacher and the report card into a more informative tool for communication.  Ease the burden of record keeping for teachers.

What’s the Same?  K-5 Report card indicators are still standards- based.  There is still a place for open-ended comments (with a word count limit).  Scores will still be inputted into Power Teacher.

What are the biggest changes?  The K-5 indicators to be scored are all new  The previous report card had from separate indicators to score, the new report card has 34 items for all K-5 teachers.  The K-5 scoring system has changed from a 4-point system to a 9-point system.  The move to a 9-point system was made to provide parents with a better sense of student progress across marking periods. (see proceeding slides).  The K-5 effort scoring has changed (see proceeding slides).

What are the biggest changes?  The “Responsibility of the Learner” section is now scaffolded into grade bands (K, 1-3, and 4-5).  Kindergarten teachers will use the regular report card for the first marking period; the Kindergarten checklist is optional.  The Grade 6 report card is assignment based; students will receive letter grades for their classes.

The Nine-Point Scale Exceeds Standards 9: Exceeding standards with distinction 8: Exceeding standards Meets Standards 7: Beginning to exceed standards 6: Meeting the standards Partially Meets Standards 5: Meeting most of the standards 4: Partially meeting standards 3: Beginning to meet standards Far Below Standards 2: Far Below standards 1: No evidence of meeting standards

Sample Indicators and Rubric

The Nine-Point Scale  Four-point rubrics have been developed for ELA, Math, Science, and Social Studies.  After deciding where a student’s performance falls for each indicator within that rubric, teachers will use their professional judgment to assign a score on the nine-point scale.  By using this nine-point scale, we will better be able to showcase students’ incremental growth across marking periods.  Once scores are entered for each indicator, Power Teacher will calculate a final grade for each subject.

New Effort & Responsibility of the Learner Ratings New Report CardOld System OOutstanding GGoodEExcellent SSatisfactoryS IImprovingNNeeds Improvement NNeeds ImprovingUUnsatisfactory

Changes for Grade 6 Teachers  Scoring is now assignment-based for sixth grade students and teachers.  Gradebooks for each subject must be setup in Power Teacher to submit scores.  Students will ultimately receive final letter grades for each subject.

Changes for Grade 7/8 Teachers in Grow-Out Buildings  Teachers of grades 7 and 8 will now be adhering to four 10-week quarters for grading purposes.  This allows K-8 buildings to use the same system and school ID. Under the previous system, they could not.  This change affects ONLY 7/8 teachers in grow-out buildings. All teachers in 7-12 and 9-12 secondary buildings will continue with six marking periods.

THANK YOU!