Standards Based Report CardsStandards Based Report CardsAlbert D. Lawton Intermediate School

What are standards?

A standard defines what a student should knowand be able to do in each subject area at each grade level.

What are standards?

All academic areas have grade level standards, including language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, foreign language, PE, music, art and family and consumer science.

What do standards do?

Standards help shape the curriculum from one grade to the next and help teachers know what instruction has already occurred

Why standards based?

Standards-based reporting gives students, families and teachers information describing how well a student is performing based on what the student is expected to know and be able to do

Why standards based?

Performance on standards has a direct impact on students learning what they need to know to be successful at the next grade level and on state assessments.

Why standards-based?

Families and students will get more information about:What students are expected to learnStrengths and weaknesses specific to each subject area

Work habits and behaviors important to learning (habits of mind or learning dispositions).

Why Standards-Based?

Single grades hide student strengths and weaknesses (A, B C, etc.).

Single grades combine many different factors making it difficult to determine areas of strength and weakness.

Why Standards-Based?

Methods used to report progress and grade vary widely from one teacher to another, even among those who teach at the same grade level within the same school. Standards based grading provides a framework for consistency.

Why Standards-Based?

Standards based grading focuses on learning and measures progress based on specific criteria rather than on how students compare to each other.

What other details are there to know?

Report cards are produced electronically through our student information system-PowerSchool.

Report cards will be sent home three times a year, once each trimester (12 weeks).

In addition, progress reports will be sent home three times a year (in the middle of each trimester).

What other details are there to know?

ADL students will not receive overall letter grades in subject areas, rather the report card will indicate progress towards a subject area standard each trimester and in some standards, across the school year.

What other details are there to know?

Work habits (habits of mind or learning dispositions) will be reported separately to clarify how these behaviors affect progress in each class.

What other details are there to know?

At ADL, families and students will have a better picture of how work habits impact progress. Work habits will be clearly defined and assessed. Because students will be assessed on specific criteria with target expectations, teachers will be able to evaluate work habits more consistently.

What other details are there to know?

Homework completion will be reported as a work habit.

What students learn by doing homework will be reported in the academic area of the report card.

What will motivate students to do homework?

Ways to increase motivation to learn:◦Clear learning goals-no busy work◦High quality tasks-doable◦Relevant assignments-choices◦Engaging tasks-interesting

How is this different from traditional reporting?

The most important difference is the focus on what students actually learn, not just what is taught

If we teach it and they don’t learn it, it doesn’t count. Both teachers and students need to keep working at it!

What is a rubric and where can they be found?

A rubric is a chart of specific standards that outline the target expectations as well as descriptions for Expanding, Securing, Developing, and Beginning performance levels.

Teachers provide students with rubrics at the beginning of units of study and sometimes for individual assignments.

How does ADL communicate with families?

Report cards and progress reports are only two ways to communicate student progress.

Also used are:◦ Student-led conferences (fall and spring)◦ State assessments◦ Open House (fall)◦ Trimester newsletters (posted on line)◦ Homework◦ Email◦ Phone calls (teachers and/or administrators with questions or concerns)◦ Assignment book