The days of sneaky students crafting a D into a B with the stroke of a pen are long gone since report cards went digital decades ago. And the evolution of academic reporting continues.
This past September, North Vancouver School District moved to paperless report cards for all classes in both elementary and high schools, along with other tweaks. Now students and parents in West Vancouver are being asked for input on potential changes to reporting by taking an online survey that asks about frequency, format and content.
West Vancouver superintendent of schools Chris Kennedy explained that the move comes on the heels of curriculum changes introduced by the province last year. New research and a shift in thinking about student assessment in general has opened the door for a broader discussion about communicating student learning, which naturally includes reporting on student progress.
Kennedy said it seems like the right time to look at the ways schools are talking with parents and the kind of information parents want, especially with digital tools. There may be new ways parents would prefer for schools to communicate with them, he noted.
“In elementary schools there has definitely been new research and a shift in thinking that letter grades, for example, are sometimes not the best way to communicate how students are doing, that sometimes using letter grades end conversations and they don’t give useful information to parents about what they can do to help support their child improve,” explained Kennedy. “What we’ve been hearing from parents is especially as some teachers began to use new digital ways to communicate through online portfolios or hosting marks online that (that) was something the parents really appreciated. And so what are the ways that we could communicate more regularly digitally, I think, is something we’re hearing more from parents.”
North Vancouver School District has been using online tools since the start of the new school year. Although the amount of reporting is the same, the format is different and some schools are offering two report cards plus an in-person conference between students, parents, and teachers instead of the traditional three-report-cards-a-year approach.
School district spokeswoman Deneka Michaud said a new reporting order from the ministry in conjunction with the new curriculum allowed for more flexibility. A pilot project is also in place at five North Vancouver schools that involves teachers using an iPad app to provide ongoing, even daily, communication with parents that may include photos and videos of what the students are doing in class. The project is a move away from summative assessment.
“This approach allows them to do ongoing formative assessment,” explained Michaud. “What they’re doing is they’re regularly assessing the kids.”
The North Vancouver changes were made without parent input but teachers have been surveyed for their opinions about the new systems.
“As always, teachers are available and are in regular contact with parents, so report cards are one way to provide parents a snapshot of the learning at that time, but there are many other methods as well, and those lines of communication are open,” said Michaud.
For West Vancouver schools, shifts in reporting could start as early as this spring and be applied by next school year depending on survey results.
“What parents say is that so many other places in their life (have) more ongoing communication . . . but often with schools it’s a paper report card three times a year,” said Kennedy. “This seems like a time to modernize that.”
Students and parents are welcome to have their say at westvancouverschools.ca.
