I have finally come out from under the cloud that report card time causes, so now I can blog about it....
I overheard a comment at the arena on Feb. 14 from a parent who did not know that I was a principal. She said something to the effect that reports were coming out and she'd see "what the teacher slopped on the page." Slopped on the page??? I brewed about that awhile, but then I came to realize that most people probably don't know what goes into a report card. So here is the explanation. This is the explanation for how we do things at Eastdale. The process won't be exactly the same at every school, but the time and effort involved is the same in every building across the province, I am certain.
Provincial assessment guidelines mandate that marks on the report card must be the most recent, most consistent marks. That means that teachers must use several pieces of assessment for each subject to find the consistency required. This assessment takes place over the term with an emphasis on the end of term to be the most recent evidence of student learning.
I estimate that each teacher spends about 1 1/2 to 2 hours per report card to translate the work in their mark books, and student work into comments that reflect curriculum expectations but written so that parents will understand them on the report card. In a class of 30 that means an additional workload of up to 60 hours, crammed into about 2 weeks.
Once teachers have finished writing the reports, they email me to tell me they are ready. Our reports are done on an online forum, so I read each report for each student online. This way I can fix up any typos or find things that have been missed. That being said, the odd time things get passed me... I can usually read a class set of report cards in about 1 1/2 hours. I send them back to teachers for clarification or editing, if necessary. I usually have about 3 days to do this.
Once the reports have been edited and revised they get sent to Mrs. Newman who prints them out for us. She usually spends time having a look at each set to make sure the attendance has been added correctly and that no lines have been cut off etc.
When she is satisfied she sends them to me. I do a quick glance over each one and then sign them all.
I pass them to teachers who also give them a quick glance, sign them and then fold them for the envelopes.
I am so proud of how my staff recognize and respect the importance of the report card. I have staff regularly email for advice for how to use the exact right words to convey what they need to say. I tell them "be honest, but kind," and I think our teachers often agonize on how to do that. No one wants a report card that crushes a child's spirit but we are also responsible for conveying next steps if the child is struggling. Often the next steps come in the learning skills areas and teachers are aware that is also often the hardest thing for a parent to hear that their child is having trouble with the basics of character.
Report card time is not my favourite time of the year. My eyes burn, teachers are stressed and I worry how the reports will be received. It takes me weeks to catch up on my "other" work -- hence the "cloud" I mentioned earlier.
One thing I can say for certain is that the information on the reports is placed there with utmost care -- there is no "slopping" what so ever.
As always, if you have a concern or question about the report cards then please contact your child's teacher or myself. We will be happy to walk you through the comments.
