Edina Electronic Elementary Report Card
FAQ’s for Families

View Powerpoint presentation.

This year we will continue to pilot exciting changes district-wide in a revised, electronic elementary student and parent report on academic progress.

Why are we changing the report card?
Currently our elementary schools use a report card that is over ten years old, and duplicated through the use of a paper carbon copy format. The indicators of success and academic progress vary by site and are not well matched to the current academic, standards based endeavors in our schools. Teachers often must create multiple documents, with additional information to fill the gaps in reporting.

Why ‘standards’ and ‘benchmarks?’
These identify the essential skills and knowledge that are to be taught and learned; that students and teachers are held accountable for. They are spiraled through the grades and woven into our curriculum and adopted materials to provide students with the opportunity to develop increasing levels of understanding over time. The focus on standards and benchmarks assists in consistency in marking across sites as well as on student learning.

What was the process for creating the current draft?
A committee was convened with classroom teachers from each site, representing primary and intermediate levels across all grade levels. In addition, CP, specialist and Immersion representatives joined the group, who collectively met, researched options, debated indicators and marks, piloted two products and provided lots of input and feedback at all points. Parents and staff involved in this ‘mini-pilot’ selected the vendor and shaped additional edits. The 2006-2007 draft will be piloted with all elementary students.

Why is the new report electronic?
The electronic entry is intended to provide a quicker generation process for teachers. The new progress report will be generated electronically, and will eventually allow teachers to automatically link to student assessment, attendance and other information in the creation of the report, much as secondary staff are currently able to do. This change will also allow for easier teacher access to longitudinal student information for use in planning instruction as well as assessing progress. It is more flexible and allows for greater personalization in reporting progress as we continue to refine it. Looking ahead, the potential for sharing information electronically with families exists.

Will families receive a report electronically?
The report will be distributed to families this year in ‘hard copy.’

Is this version the final one?
The present draft is the one we will use for the 2006-2007 school year. Since this is considered a district-wide pilot, we will collect additional input that is likely to assist us in making further improvements for the future. With the spring report, there will be a short survey and we will again, seek parents willing to participate in a focus group effort as we further refine our work in preparation for fall 2007 revisions. In addition, standards from other content areas, available in ‘drop down’ menus are a goal for 2007-2008.

How are these changes being communicated to families?
‘Report Card FAQ’s for Families’ on the website and copies available in buildings, as well as a PowerPoint are all available. Reports can be shared with students by teachers in preparation for marking. The use of 4-3-2-1 on assignments will provide early insight into the scoring points. Newsletters will have an article, followed by a letter to parents. Information will be available at conferences.

How are letter grades and the 4-3-2-1 scoring points comparable? What do 4-3-2-1 really mean? Why use them?
They really are not comparable, since the criteria are standards-referenced rather than based on percentiles. Some schools have used other criteria as well. In our move to a consistent set of criteria district-wide, these levels are used to report student achievement:
4 - Advanced; independently exceeds standard at this time
3 - Proficient; independently meets standard expectations at this time (an excellent score)
2 - Partially proficient; making progress toward basics of standard at this time, with support
1 - Needs improvement; lacks expected progress towards standard at this time
The score points assist teachers in maintaining a focus on the learning expectations, and encourage frequent diagnosis of how well students are meeting them. This focus has been shown to increase student achievement because it helps to align learning expectations, teaching and feedback.

When is ’NA’ used?
‘Not assessed at his time’ simply means that the content area or indicator was not assessed for the trimester for which the report is provided. In the first trimester, for some Kindergarten standards, and in some specialist classes, it isn’t yet appropriate to provide this information. In some other content areas, teachers may be balancing the distribution of content so that one or two areas are the focus in the fall and another in the winter so they will have no score.

How is progress reported for special needs students?
Progress by all students is reported against the same criteria; the standards/benchmarks for that grade level. A lack of proficiency on any standard does not signal failure – but that we need to continue to assist student development in that area. Teachers can include information on student progress on individual goals through the teacher’s comment section of the report, as well as to share if the student has a ‘replacement curriculum’ or the grades are actually provided by another teacher.

Where can we see the standards and benchmarks that clarify grade level expectations?
MN required standards and benchmarks are part of the curriculum and materials we use at all grade levels. They can be found at the MN Department of Education website http://education.state.mn.us/mde/Academic_Excellence/Academic_Standards/index.html. The Edina learning expectations are viewable within curriculum unit outlines, found at http://www.edina.k12.mn.us/

Remember!
Conferences and on-going one-on-one communication among teachers, students and parents will continue to be the best way to accurately report individual student progress and to support success for all students.