FIAE+B1+Chapter+14


 * 1) Click on edit this page.
 * 2) Use the down arrow on your keyboard to get the cursor underneath the horizontal bar.
 * 3) Type your name, highlight your name and then select Heading 3 at the top.
 * 4) Copy and paste your reflection underneath your name.
 * 5) Insert a horizontal bar under your reflection.
 * 6) Click save.

toc

Rachel B.
As a middle and high school students I remember being greatly interested in what my report card said, not just the grades, but the teacher’s comments. Of course I was looking to hear positive feedback in respects of how I had been working hard and doing well but other sorts of feedback are necessary as well. This chapter addressed report card and what is represented on them and how to more accurately record this information in hopes that both parents and students (even colleges) will better understand what is being shown on the report card and the true grade that the student earned. I will refer to this chapter when I begin this process as a teacher. I am sure I will have many questions when involved in report cards and their format.

Rachel F.
“Our reporting symbols (marks) should provide feedback, document progress, and inform instructional decisions” (p. 173). I found this quote early on in the chapter and it jumped out at me because it is exactly the message that these last four chapters has been preaching over and over again. Teachers today have completely lost sight of the true meaning of grades and report cards so they should read this book and get the right idea once again. Chapter 14 mainly discusses the different types of report card formats and what are the best for students. I liked the adjusted curriculum because we grade students against their own progression. The issue I first thought of with this was what if the student already knows their stuff before the class and does well but never really grew in the class? Well, the teacher should have given the student a little more advanced material to challenge the student the same as the others. This way, the student will grow no matter what. I was somewhat interested in the Continuous Progress Report because it went on to monitor the progress of student over two or three years. That is very different than what we are used to. I honestly wonder how that would turn out. Well, I believe that it is about time that teachers give students accurate grades with nothing in them that would warp them in any way.

Courtney
Report cards are similar to how a teacher should format their grade book. A teachers grade book needs to provide some sort of representation of a students overall achievements on a given assignment. I liked the idea of providing a key or legend on the report card to provide information on a certain comment or grade so that there are not misunderstandings. Standards and benchmarks should be the main focus on a report card so that it will show where a student is doing well and what they should be focusing on a little more. I noticed that the report cards used as examples used a 4 point scale to provide the grade which now that I see the four point scale in effect it really seems like it could be a better grading method. The four point scale does lead away from worrying about exact grades and letters. Also I think that it is important that as a teacher I provide feedback on the report card as well even if it does take more time on my part, written feedback can usually be the best especially when side by side with a grade.

Jen P.
First, I realize that report card formats must align with the policies of the school I work at. Next, I understand myself well enough to know that I prefer something simple that my students, their parents, and I can understand. The examples on pages 178 and 179 made me realize this. I like the organization on the format on page 179, however, I do not like the symbols it uses in the key. What I do agree with is a comment section. I believe it is important to give appropriate feedback, as well as give feedback to students and parents about how students are doing //before// students are anywhere near getting their report cards. Report cards should not just be in a simple form, but their contents should not come as a surprise either. I like many of the ideas in this chapter, although I feel as if I need to do more research here as well. I will use as many of the ideas as possible, but I will also make sure that my report card aligns with whatever school I am teaching at.

Karin
Report cards are not something that teachers are generally given a say in creating and formatting. The only thing that teachers have control over is the commenting, and in some instances, this is limited by numbered, pre-generated comments. However, I know that I will try my best to provide useful and helpful comments to all of my students, and especially to those who would benefit the most. I will avoid leaving comments that just “fluff” a student up. I want to be constructive. I think that a progress report will be given in my classroom at the midterm, where students can still do make-up work and to give the student an idea of where he or she is at in the learning process. I will give them a “pencil grade” because I know that is essentially the only thing that most parents care about or can easily understand. However, the emphasis on these reports will be the commenting and feedback and suggestions.

Sara
Just as in chapter 13, many teachers have no hand in the report card process because all the grades are generated online and sent out through guidance (per every high school I have been in). Because of computers hand written report cards seem to have become obsolete. Teachers can add comments digitally to the students’ grade reports before they are handed out. I really like the idea of a continuous progress report. It shows parents, students, and teachers the students’ progress and what the standards they are expected to meet by the final grading period. I agree that report cards should show students’ personal achievements. I however did not find this chapter helpful because as stated before teachers have little or no influence in the report card format and often do not even see the student’s final report card.

Stephanie L.
In my high school, we received both progress reports and report cards. Our progress reports included a list of assignments so far and our grades on those assignments. Progress reports were released half way through each quarter. Report cards, on the other hand, would give the final quarter grade for each class and some teachers even chose a very generic comment to give (i.e. "Stephanie is very attentive in class"). I don't think report cards give students justice. I would like to see a report card that allows for a more personal comment and maybe even includes a reason for why a particular grade might be the way it is. For example, if a student has a low grade, what is the cause? I bring this up because I'm not really sure I understand exactly what this chapter of FIAE is talking about. It seems like they aren't a big fan of grades, and more a fan of using other scales and sometimes even words. I like the progress report in figure 14.2 on page 179. Instead of giving an overall grade for a subject, it focuses on different aspects of a subject, so certain strengths and weaknesses become more apparent.

Megan
If we’re going to make standards and benchmarks the focal point of a report card, then we need to spend more time explaining to students and their parents what they are and how students are going to meet them. I’m not so sure how students and parents would react to a change like that. It would definitely take a while to implement a grading system like that. I personally would not like a grading system like that. Also, I think that it’s important for teachers to make comments on the report card. I think the feedback along with the grade is helpful. I’m not referring to the one liner’s like “a pleasure to have in class.” I think it’s more helpful when teachers write more then that to their students. Sometimes you have the option to write more about the students. Even if I can’t put feedback on the report card, it is still sometime I can type up myself and send home to parents and students. Other than that, I don’t really understand the point of this chapter. As far as I know, teachers don’t have a say in the formatting of report cards.

Geoff
If I had the opportunity to just throw out grades completely, I would (trust me). I get the sense that Wormeli would, too. However, there are two stark realities that destroy any prospects for my dreams ever coming true: we have to grade students, and we also have standards that students must prove that they can meet; and that they are not going to go away. In fact, it seems like calls for “tougher” (which usually just means more) standards are getting louder, because they are obviously the solution to all of our educational problems (just like tax cuts are the solution to decrease the budget deficit, right Republicans?), but I digress. In chapter 14 of //Fair Isn’t Always Equal//, Wormeli discusses different kind of report card formats tailored to differentiated instruction. One of these is the “modified curriculum,” where we simply indicate that the curriculum was modified for certain students, and grade them according to a new set of standards. Now this would be all fine and dandy if we could just throw out grades and standards altogether, but the problem with this scheme is that we can’t, and generally speaking, the standards students are to meet are often spelled out for us in advance but local, state, and federal bureaucrats, out of our control. Therefore, if we give someone an “A” on a modified curriculum, can we legitimately say that that student has met the standards for that course and year? Since we are bound to this way of grading, I like better the suggestion that we provide some sort of supplemental attachment to the report card that better outlines where students stand in terms of meeting the standards. However, how much would this supplemental report cards count for, and would students or parents even read it, if a grade has already been posted on the report card? And if we’re passing students on a modified curriculum, aren’t we just pushing students along like we do now, whether they know the content or not? In a perfect world, grades wouldn’t mean anything, we would use them as little as possible, and a scheme like this would work (I like the idea, I really do). But in a bureaucratic, standards-obsessed system (and society, I might add; even if we changed the system, how would wean students and parents off of their obsession with grades?) I wonder if something like this could ever work.

Jordan
In this chapter, I really like the idea of a feedback based report card. In middle and high school, I used to always look immediately to my final grade and to the short comment any of my teachers would add next to that grade. I think that putting feedback on report cards can be very helpful to the student. I really like the example of a feedback based report card on pages 178 and 179. Using this format, the student gets more feedback as to how their strengths in the class and their weaknesses, rather than a one-liner like I used to get (but still appreciated). I do think that a final grade should also be included on the feedback report card. There are plenty of students (myself included) who need to see a grade along with a bit of feedback as to how to improve or stay on the right track.

John
If it were up to me, I would write an entire case study for each student to take home during report card season. Feedback is extremely important, and any curriculum progress report that utilizes feedback to the highest degree is okay in my book. Wormeli's suggestion that individual categories in each subject be reflected on the report card is a great one- so long as the teacher is willing to give the necessary feedback relative to each one. Rather than simply alerting the parents to what the student has done in the class and giving a grade, the teacher should use the room to write as much feedback as possible. report card samples such as the one on 178 are perfect for this.