The Teachers’ Corner:

This is the story about a particular jurisdiction in North America which has mandated a system-wide report card for all districts.  The report is relatively standard in form with a section on performance in traditional subject areas:

• Language Arts (separated into two subsections of Reading and Writing)
• Mathematics
• Science
• Physical Education
• etc.

and a section on learnings skills and personal attributes:

• Ability to Work without Direct Supervision
• Cooperation with Others
• Attention to Task
• etc.

The teacher is expected to complete a report on each area covered over the current term or reporting period in the form of a four-point scale including:

1. Requires Remediation and Assistance
2. Approaches Expectations
3. Meets Expectations
4. Exceeds Expectations

Teachers are allowed to use a plus or minus for gradations (i.e.  3+).  In addition, teachers are required to write a comment for each grade.

Here is one such comment on Reading in a Grade 7 report card in a sample district:

This term in Language Arts (Reading) we covered a unit on short stories. Students were taught the basic elements of plot and character in 5 selected stories for the class.  A sixth story was selected by each individual from a collection chosen by the teacher. Jillian {student’s name} selected “The Most Dangerous Game.” Students were then asked to submit a brief report on the story in which they were called upon to identify the parts of a short story as we discussed in class and to present their reports to their classmates in groups of 5. Jillian was very involved both in her presentation and in responding to the stories of others.  (Jillian was assigned a “3 – Meets Expectations.”)

Try and read this comment and understand the grade as a parent. Ask yourself the following questions:

1. What is the readability level of the stories that were covered by the group?
2. What is the readability level of the individual selection, “The Most Dangerous Game”?
3. Given that this unit is a Language Arts unit focused on reading and not literature per se, what specific reading skills were covered? Was there an emphasis on main idea, on vocabulary, on sequencing, on cause and effect, on supporting detail – all major sub-sets of reading comprehension?  In what areas did Jillian excel?  In what areas does she need practice?
4. Since the concluding or summative exercise (the report) was normative assessment (as opposed to a criterion-based one) how did the class do as a whole? How did Jillian perform relative to her classmates?
5. Were there any calculations of mean, median or mode?
6. What was the range of marks in the class as a whole (i.e. number of 4’s)?

The answer to all these questions is the same: “I don’t know. That information or at least part of it is not really there in any form.”  While Jillian’s mark in Reading appears to be fine “Meets Expectations” it is difficult to determine more than that.  If most of the students received a “4” but she earned a “3” does it suggest that the assignment may not have been exacting enough which puts a different “spin” on Jillian’s “Meets Expectations”?

The fault is not with the numerical rating system.  Any numerical system has its problems in areas like Language Arts or Social Studies. What, for instance, distinguishes a 78% from an 81%?  A four-point scale at least allows a teacher to provide range and not a single mark that, in the above subjects, is hard to justify vis-a-vis another mark using percentages or other forms.  Rather the fault is in the lack of understanding, including in comments, four factors that need to be present in any evaluation on any topic:

1. What was a student required to do?
2. How did a student measure up against the specific requirements both in terms of successes and areas for improvement?
3. Based on the above questions, what is the justification for assigning this specific grade?
4. What is the recommendation for improvement – and there should always be recommendation for improvement?

The answer to these questions will be identified in next week’s blog (November 12th) when we look at an alternative comment that, while resulting in the same grade, can give parents and students, a sense of “Where do we go from here?” for the next progress report.

Dr. Dan