The way your child is graded at school is changing

School District 19 is holding a public information meeting at RSS on November 22 at 7 pm to provide information to parents about potential changes to the way students are graded. Adobe Photoshop illustration
School District 19 is holding a public information meeting at RSS on November 22 at 7 pm to provide information to parents about potential changes to the way students are graded. Adobe Photoshop illustration

By David F. Rooney

School District 19 is holding a public information meeting at RSS on November 22 at 7 pm to provide information to parents about potential changes to the way students are graded.

“Our Communicating  Student Learning Committee, which currently includes teachers and principals frm each of our schools, is workng on the recent changes to the provincial reporting order (a good overview of the changes can be found at https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/sites/curriculum.gov.bc.ca/files/pdf/educator_update_student_progress_k-9.pdf),” Superintendant Mike Hooker told the board in a report on November 2. “While the report card and letter grades are topics of discussion, the committee has created an extensive list of questions related to potential changes that will provide focus on the goal of ensuring useful, timely feedback to students, which helps them improve their learning.”

The ministry guidelines say that effective communication between the home and the school is central to student success.
“The goal of communicating student learning is to ensure that communication between home and school is effective and ongoing, so that:
  1. parents are well informed about their child’s progress;
  2. parents are involved as partners in a dialogue about their child’s progress and the best ways to support and improve learning; and
  3. students are provided with information that is meaningful to them and helps them to improve their own learning

Communication requires ongoing interactions and dialogue about student progress throughout the school year, involving the teacher, the student, and the parent, to provide up-to-date information about the student’s learning. This information should:

  • be descriptive, and include suggestions regarding ways that parents can support their child;
  • reinforce the importance of self-assessment and goal setting;
  • include feedback from multiple sources, as appropriate, including the student,
  • teacher, peers, and parents;
  • encourage students to work toward their goals, build student ownership, and make clear their role in the communication process;
  • encourage students to use this information to make necessary revisions to their work and set new learning goals; and
  • where appropriate, take advantage of current technological tools to promote and support communicating student learning.

It also said that communication can happen in a variety of ways, including in person, electronically, or in written form.

Please click here to read Hooker’s report, which also includes the Ministry of Education’s guidelines for reporting student progress.

Please click here to view the poster.

Please activate the YouTube video player below to watch the Trustees discuss this issue beginning at the 11:38-minute mark.

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