Standards Based Report Cards Information October 30, 2018

What is a standards based report card?

Did you ever get a dollar for every A on your report card Did you ever get a dollar for every A on your report card? Did you ever receive the dreaded F? A growing number of elementary schools are switching to a standards based report card which aligns better with the Florida State Standards. As a result, parents will receive more information about their students’ achievement.

On traditional report cards, students receive one grade for reading, one for math, one for science, and so on. Traditional report cards provide parents with either a letter grade, percentage, or both. A standards-based report card lists the most important skills students should learn in each subject at a particular grade level. For example, in writing, a second-grade report card might list these skills: * Writes in complete sentences * Uses capital letters, periods, question marks, and quotation marks correctly * Uses the writing process (prewriting, first draft, revision, and final draft) * Writes a friendly letter with a greeting, body, and conclusion * Knows the purpose and use of a dictionary, thesaurus, and atlas Instead of letter grades, students receive a code that show how well they have mastered the skills. The marks indicate whether the student is exceeding, mastery, progressing with support or below grade level proficiency for each standard.

Report Card Comparison Traditional Standards-Based Math: A Science: B Social Studies: A- English: C LANG ARTS GRADE K LANGUAGE STANDARDS Q1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar & usage when writing or speaking. LAFS.K.L.1.1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, & spelling when writing. LAFS.K.L.1.2 Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown & multiple- meaning words & phrases based on kindergarten reading and content. LAFS.K.L.3.4

Standards Based Indicators E: exceeding or above grade level M: Mastery of grade level standards P: Progressing with support N: Below grade level proficiency

The marks on a standards-based report card are different from traditional letter grades. Letter grades are often calculated by combining how well the student met his particular teacher’s expectations, how he performed on assignments and tests. Letter grades do not tell parents which skills their children have mastered or whether they are working at grade level. Because one fourth-grade teacher might be reviewing basic multiplication facts while another might be teaching multiplication of two- or three-digit numbers, an A in these classes would mean very different things. The parent of a child in one of these classes would not know if their child were learning what they should be to meet the state standards.

Standards-based report cards will provide more consistency between teachers than traditional report cards because all students are evaluated on the same grade-level skills. Parents can see exactly which skills and knowledge their child has acquired. The marks on a standards-based report card show only how well the child has mastered the grade-level standards. These report cards give parents specific information about how they’re child is doing and pinpoint areas in which improvement is needed.

Adjustments One of the biggest adjustments for students and parents is that standards-based report cards focus on end-of-the-year goals. This means that in the first or second grading period, instead of getting A’s for trying hard and doing well on tests, a high- achieving student might have several marks indicating that they are not yet proficient in some skills. Although this is normal — most students will not meet all of the year’s goals in the first quarter — it can be disconcerting to parents and kids used to seeing all A’s or B’s. However, standards-based report cards provide the added benefit of keeping teachers and parents focused on student learning goals from the very beginning of the year.

Questions How can we help? Questions concerning standards-based report cards? Thank you for attending! We appreciate your dedication to your child’s learning and to FCS.