How will grades be determined for report cards?
- Suyoung Kim
- Mar 24, 2023
- 6 min read
Updated: Apr 9, 2023
Audience: Parents
“Determining a report card grade will involve teachers’ professional judgement and interpretation of evidence and should reflect the student’s most consistent level of achievement.”
(Growing Success, p. 39) How will grades be determined for report cards grades 1-9?
Welcome to all parents! I am going to explain how students’ grades will be determined for grades 1-9 using relevant data, and effective questions. If you have any further questions, please leave your questions, or communicate with TalkPoint communication apps.
There are two different evaluations will be given on the report card when the teacher grades the marks for the student in the report card as 1)Letter Grade 2) work habit and skills
Letter grade:
-According to students' achievement of overall curriculum expectations, students will be evaluated based on the achievement charts. (R: below 50 and need appropriate developmental strategies to deal with students' specific learning needs) If your students are ELLs and students who are supported by IEP would rarely receive an "R")
I: When you can see the I in students' report cards, there is insufficient evidence to determine a letter grade because of the uncontrolled circumstance (illness, recently enrolled in the school or any other reasonable situations.
Learning skills and work habits:
Learning skills and work habits are evaluated and reported as E, G, S, and N identifying students' strengths and areas to be improved. This Evaluation and reporting tell ' development about learning skills and work habits how students play an active role in the achievement of the curriculum expectations, how students developed their skills and work habits in the process of becoming a self-directed learner
Here are all processes of how the educator determines the grade using professional judgement with creating collaborative relationships, and classroom learning culture between teacher and student.
1 ) Why is the grading process meaningful?
-It is the process of gathering quality evidence by creating a classroom learning culture between a student and teacher.
-It is creating learning partners between a student and teacher. It is constructive motivation that teachers can examine the assessment of framework by building up a collaborative relationship in the assessment framework between teachers and students. This is the collaborative assessment working of collecting fair data through students' best assessor through performing peer assessment, and self-assessment.
It is the interactive framework process of creating a classroom learning culture where teachers and students have meaningful communication about the assessment for learning, and as learning with triangular evidence. As a teacher, I get to improve the ways of giving instructions, feedback, and assessment tools to produce fair, accurate valid final report cards to students and parents according to the board policy and special considerations.
2) How is professional judgment used to ensure evaluation is fair, accurate and valid?
Gathering quality evidence through the "assessment of learning" made a classroom learning culture through teacher and students have a meaningful assessment interaction through assessment for learning, as learning to become a "collaborative learning partner"
“Professional judgement can be used to ensure the contents and performance criteria based on the Ontario Curriculum's learning expectations 1)2) after teacher and students know the success criteria and clear learning goals through "making a classroom learning culture" and "Building up a collaborative relationship" between the teacher and a student. Teachers need to apply their professional judgment to interpret "gathering quality evidence about learning as the assessment" when determining a letter grade or percentage mark for reporting.
1) Professional judgement can be used to ensure the contents and performance criteria to
ensure evaluation is fair, accurate and valid
-Each assessment and evaluation was well designed to meet clear descriptions of curriculum outcomes and standards by checking students’ performance and effectiveness to give the right professional judgment for the report cards.
1. Criteria as showing students' understanding of contents and skills 2. Descriptors as showing student's effectiveness of performance
-Each assessment and evaluation can meet the quality of standards through effective assessment tools and ongoing recordings (portfolios, at conferences, tracking sheets)
To make sure the determining a report card, the educator needs to collect triangular evidence and check all tests/ exams including specially considered assignments. To ensure all tests, assignments, and products are fairly evaluated, our collaborative teachers' groups had a meeting to reach “a common understanding” in the determining final grade for students.
-Setting up evident learning goals, and rich task
-Rubric clearness: performance rubric to make a student the best assessor
-Students' ongoing achievement levels and include special consideration
-Bring one case for students' report cards Appraisal of how it was accurate, fair, and valid using triangular evidence
3) Teachers need to apply their professional judgment to interpret "gathering quality evidence
Gathering quality evidence through the "assessment of learning" made a classroom learning culture through teacher and students have a meaningful assessment interaction through assessment for learning, as learning to become a "collaborative learning partner"
-Assessment for learning: Interpreting where students learn using diagnostic assessment, and formative assessment
Students: Creating success criteria, learning goals, rubrics
Teacher: Giving descriptive feedback to their assessment
-Assessment as learning: Making the way students become the best assessor with teacher's modelling like instruction, and scaffolding
Students: Peer assessment and self-assessment using relevant criteria
Teacher: Providing ongoing feedback to students' peer assessment, self-assessment
-Assessment of learning: To make the pivotal decision for producing students' report cards
Making a judgement about the quality of students learning based on the content, performance standards, and created criteria to produce the report cards using all gathering quality evidence
-I collected data through ongoing observational recording, and annotating notes through padlet to see how students produce meaningful conversations in the classroom and meet the success criteria according to the learning expectations.
-I collected clipboard, note paper, and sticker notes through the flexible group with instruction and feedback on the rich task. I gave students the example of success criteria, performance rubric, and checklist to assess other peers. All data were collected in students' digital portfolios, and we had a consultation about how I assessed the peers effectively using the standards.
-I collected tests, assignments, and productions after considering students' interests, and learning styles according to special considerations with creating a test learning environment. The grading was based on the level of achievement chart, and observation sheet with how students are cultivating their work habits and skills in different collaborative learning and rich activities.
4) How can teachers reflect the School’s policies on late and missed assignments properly?
-Teachers can encourage students to finish their assignments in a timely manner if it is necessary with a communication app and extra help with the assignments.
-When there is a late assignment for the students, the mark will be deducted, and students' marks/ grade will not reflect their achievement of the learning expectations. The teacher needs to address this late and missed assignment through effective counselling, alternative assignments, and parent conference meeting.
-All teachers follow the procedure and keep notice of students’ responsibilities too.
“There are a variety of reasons that students submit work late”
5) How will data from large-scale assessments be used?
These provincial assessments provide data about student achievement to principals, teachers, parents, the public, school district staff, and the government and are used to help educators:
• identify strengths and areas for improvement in individual students’ learning;
• identify strengths and areas for improvement in the education system;
• develop education policies, allocate resources, and determine the success of those policies and resource allocations;
• identify the need for targeted interventions and supports and provide them where required;
• identify the need for and make decisions about capacity building and specific instructional practices;
• celebrate successes. (Growing Success, 92pg)
6) How can the teacher help you have a puzzle about students’ learning achievement?
I can help you to make this clear through productive parent-teacher-student conversations and we can build up a positive partnership together to improve students' learning, and your home support is quite important.
-Strength-focused guidelines with encouragement after the consideration of students’ learning profiles a
I will give an effective guideline for students to improve their grades for the next grade using an achievement chart, and work habit/ skills table, and what things I will suggest some changes to Differentiated instruction, and feedback for students’ next learning.
-Evidence-based data focused consultation
I will show the triangular evidence data about students' grades with peer assessment and students' assessment. My role is not for judging the students’ grades but will support them to approach the next level of achievement and excellence in their learning skills.
If you want to check the sample report card, please click the file 106 pages.
I am looking forward to seeing you in talkingpoint communication app or meeting virtual session about the grading system after reviewing this website.
By Sharon
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