Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - November 3, 1995, Winnipeg, Manitoba Editor Gerald 6977231 email the education Page Winnipeg free press november m i kids make the you should know or can to improve teachers notes on Childs rating need translation How to read a report card Grade these report cards Are meaning that the teacher offers written comments without any of the traditional letter or number for such reports can be frustrating especially so if the teacher has used benign Lan Guage 16 disguise real problem other report cards use checklists of ratings like not devel Oping and highly developed to describe your Childs the first Parent teacher meeting is a Chance to talk facet face about your child and make sense of whats on these report cards Middle years dont expect the report card to Tell you How Well your child is doing in comparison with other More often the Marks Are criterion referenced Well does Kyla do what i ask her to do and not Norm referenced How Well does Kyla do in comparison with the average child a teacher can usually give you an estimation of this but Only if you Many Middle schools use letter at one c was aver the Ordinary Stu Dent tends to get a the very Good and excellent students get a Grade of might Well indicate a problem in Effort or High school High school report cards have always been less informative than elementary school computerized comments teach ers Are Given a list of thirty to 200 possible All guaranteed be inoffensive have managed to remove the last area where a teacher could try to Tell you How Shannon thinks or the Only Way to find out what shannons hard really Means is to ask the source the school solution by Paul Kropp and Lynda Hodson Thrift super stores grand opening continues unbeatable savings on ladies and mens clothing kids clothing furniture bedding Knick Knacks More now open at 1077 James Street at Sargent 1530 Regent Avenue its Chic to be cheap schools abandon portfolios by Aldo Santin education reporter teachers and officials in the Brandon school division Are developing a new Way to assess student the impetus came two years ago when the division abandoned standardized tests and went looking for a More relevant assessment division officials said there is greater urgency to get a new method soon because of the Deci Sion by the Filmon government to introduce province wide we dont think standardized tests really reflect on a students said Barry Prin Cipal at Kirkcaldy school and co chairman of a Brandon division committee developing new assess ment we want to complement standardized tests with a better form of the department of education has mandated that Standard for grades and will begin across the province in june 1997 in other subjects will follow in later critics of standardized tests say they Are Only a snapshot of a Stu dents abilities on a particular in Many educators and parents believe that some subjects and skills cant be measured by a test that every child must How do you put a percentage on creative music or arts said Lynda an author and retired Ontario we know being Able to work As part of a group is but How do you measure that How do you measure making presentations traditional assessment methods have seen teachers measure Stu Dent performance with presentations and the teacher would Grade the work and at the end of each term calculate an average Mark and Wayne free press Adam gives presentation to Grade 6 class at Leila where student led appraisals replace report stamp a percentage or a letter Grade on a report but Many educators feel such an average Mark is an artificial Cre in like other parts of Manitoba and across the educators Are relying on Gooden said portfolios and Stu dented Parent conferences Are being recommended As the primary complement to the province wide Standard portfolios allow students to com pile All their work projects in a single working with the Stu dents set goals for identify their weaknesses and Grade their own during the students use their portfolios to show their parents what Treyve a com students can demonstrate their strengths and How they have improved in weak portfolio assessment has been used by teachers for More than 10 one Winnipeg Ecol Leila has abandoned report cards entirely in favor of portfolios and student led Olha Hnatyshyn said her children have blossomed under the portfolio methods of assessment at Leila in finding i get a much better picture of How my children Are doing versus the old report card Hnatyshyn Hnatyshyn said she was initially Uncertain about the method but now has no i checked it out and gave it a in goodens committee has developed criteria for a typical Grade 6 creative writing the intent is for students to judge their skills based on the pre determined he said its hoped that similar criteria will be established for other subject Linda principal at Leila said Shes opposed to standardized tests but is confident her children will do Well on a test is a on shot Deal but life is not like Paul we get second chances to practise and these Are skills that we want kids to Gooden said he knows parents want More testing and More teach ers Are providing but he adds parents will learn More about their Childs academic abilities from a portfolio than a standardized Alvin Brandon superintendent of elementary said if portfolio assessment is approved by the it will be used from kindergarten to Grade Klassen said expectations of Stu dents will vary according to their but he added All students will adapt to the Paul said teachers at Leila North found students had to be but they adapted we find there much harsher graders than teachers Paul there More Paul said one of the teachers key roles is to ensure students set realistic goals and work towards Hodson warns that for the portfolio assessment method to work prop school divisions must help teachers to learn the its a lot More easier and less Tim consuming if a teacher were to simply stamp a b or c on a report Hodson 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