There’s something new in The Creek: Standards Based Report Cards. Elementary Report Cards have changed. The traditional way of determining grades has been replaced. Why? Because the standards based style of reporting student progress provides students and parents with more targeted and accurate information regarding the students’ progress toward meeting what is expected of students at their grade level. So how is the new standard based report card different than the traditional report card? How were the old traditional grades determined ?

Swartz Creek Community Schools Standards Based Report Cards

The second ingredient is PARTICIPATION

EFFORT

WORK TIME

EFFORT WORK TIME ATTITUDE

EFFORT WORK TIME ATTITUDE ATTENDANCE

EFFORT WORK TIME ATTITUDE C+ ATTENDANCE

EFFORT WORK TIME ATTITUDE C+ ATTENDANCE ?

NO, it doesn’t. We need to SEPARATE the academic achievement from other non-academic topics like: COMPLETES WORK ON TIME WORKS INDEPENDENTLY, USES TIME WISELY, WORKS COOPERATIVELY, and so forth.

For scoring ACADEMIC SUBJECT AREAS we use a four point RUBRIC. What is a RUBRIC? A rubric is a scoring guide; a set of scoring criteria. The teacher uses the scoring guide to assign a performance level to a student’s work.

Swartz Creek Community Schools’ Academic Rubric 4- EXEMPLARY- Student exceeds grade level expectations with independence and a high level of quality. 3- PROFICIENT – Student meets grade level expectations with consistent accuracy and quality. 2- DEVELOPING – Student is developing an understanding of, but is not yet meeting, grade level expectations. 1- LIMITED- Student is not demonstrating an understanding of grade level expectations. NA - Not Assessed at this time M- Modified Standard

Here’s a humorous adult example of a rubric. Your assignment is to clean and organize your refrigerator. Find your performance level by using the following rubric (scoring guide).

Items stick to the shelves when they are picked up. The smells linger long after the refrigerator door is closed. Several items need to be thrown out, Tupperware and all. SCORE: 1

Some of the shelves are wiped clean, although there are some crusty spots. There are some suspicious smells. Items are in containers, but there seems to be some green stuff growing in some of the Tupperware. SCORE: 2

The refrigerator is wiped clean. All items are relatively fresh, and in some type of container and are orderly and sitting upright. SCORE: 3 This is what we’re looking for: a neat, clean and orderly refrigerator: this is the “STANDARD” or “BENCHMARK”.

The entire refrigerator is sparkling and smells clean. All items are fresh, in proper containers (original or Tupperware, with tight sealing lids), and are organized into categories on the shelves for easy access. SCORE: 4 This is the EXCEPTIONAL; the one in a hundred refrigerators. This goes beyond the standard, that is, what is normally expected.

Here is an example of an actual rubric that is used in fifth grade: Reading Response Scoring Rubric. A 3 on this rubric is grade level work and meets the expectations.

Standards–based Report Cards also have NON-ACADEMIC TOPICS for evaluation. These are important traits or behaviors that will improve ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

One kettle holds the academic topics : reading, writing, word study, science, social studies, and math. The other holds the non-academic topics such as “shows best work in daily effort”, “uses class time wisely”, “completes and returns homework”, etc. No longer will a student’s reading grade include credit for non-academic things like “turning in work on time”, “working well in groups”, “participating in classroom discussions” and so on. NOW, the reading grade will be the result of reading assessments (tests) and other reading performance tasks. This information will tell you whether your child is meeting the grade level standards for reading performance. That is, reading at, above or below grade level expectations.

After the teacher studies the results of assessments and performance tasks in reading and mathematics, he or she develops a plan of improvement that is crafted just for your child. This plan is called an Academic Improvement Plan or AIP. The teacher will present and explain this plan to you at conferences. The teacher may also ask you to participate in the plan in some way, such as reading daily with your child, or to quiz your child on his or her math facts. The next and final slide in this presentation gives you a look at the AIP form that will be given to you at Parent-Teacher Conferences. Questions? As a first step you can call the principal of your child’s school.

A.I.P. Goals and the plans to achieve those goals are discussed with parents at: Fall Parent-Teacher Conferences in November and Spring Parent-Teacher Conferences in March MLG102510