School administration and teachers at Rochester Memorial School as well as the other elementary schools in Tri-Town are excited about the development of a new standards-based report card that will replace what educators believe is an outdated report card format.
On October 6, the Rochester School Committee was presented with a brief primer on what is to come in December when students will be bringing home a more comprehensive and specific report card that Assistant Superintendent Elise Frangos said will clearly demonstrate the strengths and weaknesses as well as the progress of Tri-Town school districts’ elementary school students.
Gone will be the traditional ‘A, B, C, D, F’ system of grading; it will be replaced by a new letter system of ‘M, P, E, and N’.
The traditional letter grades, said Frangos, “…really didn’t tell you a whole lot on what you were particularly good at. It’s kind of a global grade, it’s not quite clear.”
Frangos called the new report card a movement towards clarity and specificity, saying a committee of administrators and educators is excited about the potential unveiling of the new report card this December when first trimester report cards are released.
“We really want accurate and effective communication of student progress to parents and students,” Frangos said. “You’ll see the long view of all the standards your child is going to be taught for that whole year.”
Frangos said the standards-based report card better connects with what is actually being taught in the classroom, with specific observable grade-level skills that measure the student against the standards, making the grades more individualized.
The report card centers around two main categories, one being pro-social skills and approaches to language, the second being the specific academic standards for each area, such as in mathematics, with addition, subtraction, and fractions, for example.
‘M’ would be the highest mark, meaning ‘mastery’ of the standard, or being able to demonstrate the skill a total of five times. ‘P’ stands for ‘proficient,’ or demonstrating learned skill four times consistently. ‘E’ represents ‘emerging’ of skill attainment, and ‘N’ will mean that the student has not yet demonstrated the skill but is working towards proficiency.
“This letter system … is more growth-oriented and reflective of the philosophies we are currently embracing,” said Frangos, adding that Friday’s professional development would focus on training on the new report card.
As the report card is further developed, Frangos said teacher/parent forums would be held eventually, and also recorded and posted online for parents to view. Administration will also develop a handbook relative to the new grading system, and parent feedback would be collected and considered.
Rochester Memorial School Principal Derek Medeiros said the school plans to continue with regular teacher-parent communication, as with parent-teacher conferences, and teachers are enthusiastic about the new standards-based report card, including the larger text boxes which will allow for lengthier comments on student progress and performance in the classroom.
“[The report card] that we are using now is not aligned to what our teachers are teaching,” said Medeiros.
School Committee member Jennifer Kulak pointed out that, as a parent, changes such as this are challenging, but she was pleasantly surprised with the format and the potential that it brings in fostering understanding of student progress.
“What we want to be able to do is improve two-way communication between home and school and making sure that parents are aware of where their students are,” said Superintendent Doug White.
White thanked the committee for its ongoing efforts and said the school committee would receive up-to-date information on the new report card as it unfolds.
“Anything that opens communication among parents and teachers and students is really important,” said Chairman Tina Rood. “[Parents] are part of the conversation and should be part of the conversation with education.”
The next meeting of the Rochester School Committee is scheduled for November 17 at 4:30 pm in the ORRJHS media room.
By Jean Perry