But she’s getting a Progress Report Card? Followed by a student-led conference with the parents and teacher?
What in the world are they talking about?
I feel like I’m learning a new language. I understand what A, B, C, and F mean. Now they tell me that the first report back from the school will be a “progress report” using the phrases “progressing with difficulty, progressing well, or progressing very well”.
In our school newsletter, the prinicipal must of had me in mind when presenting this info. They included a translation:
“Progressing with difficulty” indicates that your child is not progressing towards a Level 3 or higher (ie. B, A, or 70%, 80%) for the January Report Card.”
This might not be too bad to interpret after all.
The Ministry of Education posted some information on their site and we received this brochure from school today:
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| Click to see 4-page brochure |
After reading the information, I think that it’s good that the ministry has realized that September to November is a very short period of time to come up with traditional grades. By January, the teachers will have had an adequate period of time to do some testing and have that be reflected in a number or letter grade.
It does sound like an awful amount of work for the teachers. Only a few years ago the schools started using the computer-aided report cards that they have now where comments are selected from a list of pre-programmed options. These new reports will have more comments about the student and less “edu-speak.”
We will receive this new report on Monday and on Friday will be visiting with the teacher for the “student-led conference”. I try to have a student-led conference everyday after school with very little success.
Me: How was school?
Her: Fine.
Me: What did you do today?
Her: I dunno.
Me: Did you stare at the wall for 8 hours? (ya, I’m teaching her sarcasm)
The purpose of the progress report card conference is to:
examine student work that relates to the child’s learning goals and demonstrates his/her application of the learning skills. You are invited to the conference to provide an opportunity for you, your child and the teacher to discuss his/her learning to date. Through collaborative discussions your child will set learning goals and next steps and develop an action plan. A copy of the goals and action plan will be sent home after the conference.
This “edu-speak” is really heavy…. and I really can’t imagine a “collaborative discussion with [my 5 year old] child.”
But after Friday, I’ll be grading this whole process “old school”… and giving it a letter grade.
