FIAE+B2+Chapter+14


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Sarah McGinley
Fair Isn’t Always Equal Chapter 14: Responsive Report Card Formats 3/23/10

There are so many different formats when it comes to gradebooks and report cards. However, inconsistency among the students’ classes is not good for the student, parent, or teacher. One format could be the standard format of assessments and scores or another format that has progression charts and the students’ personal progress compared to standard that the students have achieved. There is one main purpose for a gradebook and report cards. This is to be able to show teachers, parents, and students what the students understand and what the students need to improve on. Although, there is so much information that is connected to a report card it should not be difficult to read. If the report card is not clear on the students’ understandings and areas in which the student needs to improve on then the format of the report card needs to change. One of the formats listed in this chapter was the responsive report card. I like the look of this report card format because it is easy to read exactly what it is the student is being graded on. This report card shows no negativity and gives emphasis to the standards and the students’ personal achievements. It is able to show that the student will need some improvement in some of the assignments or benchmarks but it does not show failure. I would like to use a report card format like this one to show most of the information I will be grading the students on.

Jason Malbon
Report cards can also follow the differentiated path. Modified curriculum for example can be graded and shown with an asterisk. The asterisk is simply a clue for the next educator in line is dealing with a student who showed good progress but needs specialized instruction and support. The grades we give out on report cards sends a message to the student, family and community about how we measure hard-work, effort and personal growth. Effort and personal growth matters in the real world. Those who are sincere and put forth great effort are the ones trusted with more responsibility. I student who comes from a family that relocates a lot may be in a position of constant remedial learning. As long as progress is made as a result of real effort, the grade should be differentiated in kind. That means that the student may be at a different stage of learning than the rest of the class. That’s ok. As long as the report card shows progress and mastery at a given level, the student’s success will be measured fairly.

S arah Robinson
This chapter teaches that all teachers should have report cards that focus on the standards that the students are trying to meet and what the students personally want to achieve, but at the same time have a place for comments so student and part will understand and know where the student stands in the class over all. Teachers, administrators, and parents are looking for ways to create a report card that communicates how the student is both mastering the subject, and how they are growing in the class. The first suggestion that the book gives is adjusted curriculum, which allows teachers to grade students on their own progress in the class. This can be beneficial to the students because it allows them to know exactly what they are being graded on so they can understand the report card very clearly. The chapter then talks about the dual approach, which grades both the personal progress of the student and the regular standards of the student. I know I will be using this in my future classroom because it is easy for the students and parents to understand how they are doing in the both the achievement of the standards and how they student is growing in the classroom. Continuous progress report is also something is good to use when creating a report that is beneficial to the students and parents. This chapter gives some great examples of report cards to use in classrooms, I can’t to start teaching and see which approach works best for my classroom and students.

Amanda Fitzpatrick
The opening quote of this chapter spoke about what teachers want from report cards versus what parents want. Which is more important? Should report cards cater to the needs of a parent because that is the primary reader of report cards or should they be teacher-friendly so when questioned about a student's grades teachers can clearly see why it was that a particular student received such a grade? I think that because there doesn't seem to be a happy medium, the best thing a report card can do is clearly explain to a parent how their child is doing in a particular class. (And if that means that they put where they are in comparison to the other students then they should include that.) I also think that the chapter is right when it says that report cards should come without an instruction manual, and I question whether MSAD 9's report cards can really say that that is true. (From what I have seen the report cards look really complex.) After reading the chapter, it seems to me that perhaps the most effective report card would be one that instead of having a simple letter or number grade would include comments (that teachers can actually make, not automated feedback) about how the teacher feels each student is doing. Although it may be more extensive, parents need to know the specifics on how a student is doing. For example, if a student is getting an A and that is the only explanation on the report card a parent would most likely be thrilled. However, if at progress report time there is an A in addition to a comment that says that the child is not challenged and puts minimal effort into the work, a parent may reconsider if the class that their child is in is adequate to their personal learning level. Report cards can really be effective when done correctly.

Mike Lawson
Chapter 14 Looking at a report card can be fairly confusing. It can also tell a parent a lot or very little about their child. Some report cards give a lot of feedback and comments that allow parents to see how their student is doing. However, there are some report cards that don’t even allow space for comments. As a teacher I hope to be able to craft my own comments on the little slip of paper that parents see. I want to be able to give a lot of feedback on how their student is doing on work, classroom exercises and whatever else I feel is necessary to be said. A clear and good report card doesn’t just inform a parent about how their child is doing it also gives the student a good idea on what they need to be focusing on. Maybe the student hasn’t been doing too well in class. Once they see the report card they know that they will need to focus on that particular class. On the other hand if they are doing well they can see that, get a confidence builder, and then concentrate on doing it again the next grading period. The asterisk next to the grade idea is interesting. Being able to have teacher-to-teacher communication about how a student did in their class is cool. I would assume that they would normally communicate through talking with one another, but if a teacher wants to see if there are any interesting comments about a student of their grades. One idea from the chapter that I really liked was the Dual Grading approach. I like the idea of getting a letter grade for the actual grade they get in the class and then a number showing how much they progressed throughout the year.

Jared Merrifield
Chapter 14: Responsive Report Card Formats

If there are any people who dread seeing a student’s report card, they are the parents. Parents care infinitely about their child’s progress through school, and without the proper report card format, how can we ever hope to satisfy them? Of course, we have to let parents know if the curriculum has been modified in any way to meet the student’s needs, but not in a way that will worry them or scar the student. I can empathize with these people who wish to inform anyone reading the report card that these changes were neither positive nor negative; that they are just changes. A full explanation is much more helpful than a single word, and surprisingly less “painful.” Before reading this chapter, I had never heard of a grade report that incorporates both progress and achievement against standards (A3), but it actually seems like a great idea. Although I believe a student’s final product should undergo the most consideration when grading, the student’s actual progress and growth should by no means be tossed aside. The multiple categories echoes one of the gradebook formats from the previous chapter, and if I am not mistaken, Mt. Blue utilizes an altered version of this formats for its own report cards. This way, the student and parents can know “exactly” how well a student is doing in any given subject.

Diana Quinlan
In the words of Wormeli grades are meant to be an “accurate and developmentally appropriate rendering of mastery that is clearly communicated to students, parents, and other educators” (173). Grades should also reflect a student’s experience in the classroom and the differentiated instruction which was provided for them. Differentiation is sometimes shown in the title of a class in words such as “honors” or “remedial.” Often times however there is a lot of different differentiation taking place in the same class. This type of differentiation can be shown with an asterisk next to the grade so that only the direct community knows that the curriculum was altered. Simply writing “adjusted curriculum” could be detrimental to the student when future colleges or employers look at the grade and don’t fully understand what differentiation is. Another approach to reporting differentiated grades is known as the dual approach. This system uses a letter to represent personal progress of the student and a number to represent where the student is in comparison to the standards. For example the final grade would be an A3. I am interested in trying this approach because it shows the level of mastery accurately but also provides feedback which can be used from making important decisions about placement in the future.

Alicia Kenison
Wormeli explain the importance of making the report card or any official document clear in this chapter. We need parents and students to understand what we mean when we put certain grades on a report card. If we record two grades, we should give students the higher grade. But, if a lower level student achieved we need to show the achievements as well as preparing the next teacher for his/her struggles. We must be fair, but explain how we got there. In some schools they put the letter and than a number next to it (A3). The letter is the grade and the number is the achievement/growth 4 being highest and 1 being the lowest. If you have a straight D student who doesn’t try he or she would get a D1, but if you have a C student who work extremely hard to get a higher grade, you could record a B3 to show growth and the grade he or she deserved. Parents and students must be able to understand the grading process and this might include using a key. I think it would be hard to grade for everyone fairly. Hopefully this advice will help me.

Eric Cole
For this chapter, Wormeli decides to focus on different ways to write up a report card. Now for every child the report card is one of the most dreaded items that they will receive in school. They know that as soon as they walk home their parents will jump all over them and want to see the report card, and then they will ask a million questions about it. In order to avoid this from happeneing Wormeli demonstrates several ways to write up the report card in a clear way. My favorite of these ways to to report where students were at the beginning of the year compared to where they are now. When I first read this way I got excited because I thought this was a brilliant way to not only make the student feel good about themselves, but to make the parents feel proud of their child. Then I read some more. Why are we adjusting the curriculum? I understand that not every student is going to be able to understand certain component so the curriculum, but what does it say about us if we just give up on the student and tell them “Hey! Your to stupid to get this, so we are going to have you work on easier stuff!” Teachers need to stop being so lazy. Every student should be required to meet the same standards as everyone else. How they get to show mastery of those standards are different for each student and their ability level, but they should be able to meet them nonetheless. It is up to the teacher to figure out a way to make that happen, not just “adjust” the curriculum, and avoid the situation.

Jared Boghosian
I do agree that districts need to expand the number of comments they can use on a report card. I got pretty sick and tired of seeing "pleasure to have in class" from every single one of my classes. I never got to experience report cards and the mysticism behind them in the field so this chapter just kind of stewed in my brain but never came to a roaring boil. I have never seen the "adjusted curriculum" comment in all my years of being a student but I can only imagine how devastating that could be even though it is neither bad or good by nature. The one thing I really took to heart and might consider for the future is the whole dual approach. Having a traditional grade for achieving standards and then a secondary grade that tracks their progress and their growth throughout the year.

Scott A. Bowden
This chapter was about report cards. I like the idea of a dual representation report card that has both the student's grade as well as his material growth in a subject. If a student were to receive an A1 for A level work with little growth, that would tell me as a teacher that the student was too low in placement where as a D3 student with a D grade but a lot of growth and progress that he or she isn't quite where they should be, but are making the leaps and bounds necessary to get to where they need to be. I like the idea of an addendum to the report card that goes to the parents and discusses what differentiation is done. If I'm teaching Algebra I and a student needs additional help or modification of coursework, I would write in an addendum that the student was working hard to master Algebra I but needs more time with it, just as a heads up to the parent. On the converse, I could also write "your student really understands Algebra I but isn't challenged in class and I have recommended him for Honors Algebra I [or Honors Geometry] as a result." The addendum is a powerful tool for teacher and parents alike.

Susanna Cooper
I liked the point this chapter made about students that fall behind. I think that grading should show if a student has improved in something, not if they are on par with the rest of the class, or have reached the standard level. If they aren’t quite there but have progressed a lot then I agree with the book, as teachers we should show that. It is better to show the positive side of a situation then the negative. I also thought the chapter showed a really cool way of grading. The A3 system seems like it would work out really well. If the A,B,C system showed standard improvement, and the 321 showed personal improvement, then there are now many more options to make combinations when assessing students. Parents could easily see if their child was not academically doing well, but still working hard. I think this would help teachers assess students much better then the plain ABCF system.