Report Card Language

At this time of year, teachers in schools across the province are working hard to prepare report cards for families.  The teachers at David Cameron are no different.  We are so fortunate to have an incredible group of professionals working with and for our students.  This is certainly reflected in the care and attention put into report cards.  Our teachers struggle with getting the comments just right to make sure there is a caring blend of support and direction for improvement.

One of the things we all struggle with; teachers, parents, and students alike, is the language that gets used.  Sometimes we get caught up in "eduspeak" and move away from stating what is happening for a child in clear and simple language.  This happens in all professions where vocabulary specific to that profession emerges, and while we do our best not to head down that road, it does happen sometimes.

The bigger issue is the language of achievement.  These are the words like, "Johnny is fully meeting expectations . . ." that appear on report cards.  By Ministerial requirement, all report cards must include what the student is able to do, areas for improvement, ways to support learning, and a statement of achievement.  This is where the language can become confusing.  In the primary and early intermediate grades the term "exceeding" gets used to describe a student who is doing exceptionally well.  It becomes difficult for teachers and parents to determine what exceeding means.  Granted, there are examples on the Ministry Performance Standards, but the word is difficult to pin down.  Does it mean that the student has surpassed the expectations of the grade and is working on material at the next grade level, or does it mean that they have surpassed the expectations of the teacher?  Letter grades use a different term to describe "A" level work; that is work that is excellent or outstanding.

At the other end of the spectrum we have the terms "approaching", "minimally meeting", and "satisfactory" work.  Approaching is used on primary report cards to denote someone who is meeting expectations but at a lower level.  The term seems to suggest someone that is not yet meeting the expectations, but is approaching them.  Minimally meeting expectations is the phrase used for early intermediate to denote the same level of achievement, while the letter grade language of "C" means satisfactory.

It would be great if we could determine a common language that was truly reflective of what a student is able to do and that is clearly understandable by parents and the public.  In the meantime, the one valuable thing that all of this language does do is to create opportunities for teachers and families to connect in conversation about their child.