New Report Card Gets an 'A' from Parents

Letter and number grades will once again be part of student report cards. Some schools across the province are involved in a pilot program that has students and parents testing a new report card this year.

The new program is part of a plan to improve information on student progress. Education Minister Jane Purves announced eight schools today, Dec. 6, that are participating in the pilot program, designed to provide parents with clear and understandable information about their children's progress throughout the year.

"This new report card responds directly to parents' requests for more concrete and accurate information on how their children are doing in school," said Ms. Purves. "The report card will focus on student progress and paint a clear, accurate and honest picture of achievement and the steps for continued development."

The new report card and pilot program are part of the province's Learning for Life plan to improve the quality of education in Nova Scotia.

"As parents, we need clear information that will encourage our kids to set goals and help us in supporting learning at home," said David Gough, parent of a student who attends Inglis Street Elementary School in Halifax. "We look forward to this new report card in the hope that it will help us to achieve these goals to improve student learning."

Common report cards will be used in primary, elementary, junior high, and senior high. Letter grades will be used on reports for students in grades Primary to 6; letter grades tied to number ranges will be used for junior high; and number grades will be used for high school reports. High schools will also make course averages available to parents.

"The point of this pilot is to present a standard report card and hear from parents, teachers and students on ways to make it even better," said Ms. Purves. "It fulfills a promise to give parents accurate and regular reports on their children's progress."

The report card includes sections for reporting on student achievement in each subject and a separate section for reporting on student development and work habits. For the first time, progress reports for students with individual program plans (IPPs) will be given to parents based on specific individualized outcomes. Reporting on IPPs is a recommendation from the Report of the Special Education Implementation Review Committee. All report card templates will include a response form for parents and students to comment and ask questions.

Two other key elements of the pilot program include a school communication plan and a teacher's communication plan. The school's communication plan will include a schedule for reports, formal meetings and parent-student-teacher conferences, the types of communication methods to be used by the school throughout the year, and other contact and communication information.

The teacher's communication plan will provide an overview of the course or program, expectations for student-learning success, ways students will be assessed, evaluation procedures, and ways that information will be communicated to parents, both formally and informally.

Schools involved in testing the new framework are Hantsport School, Jubilee Elementary School, Douglas Street School, École secondaire de Clare, Inglis Street Elementary School, Inverness Academy, Greenfield Elementary School and Islands Consolidated School.

Parents, school advisory councils, teachers and students participating in the pilot program will comment on the reporting framework and report cards throughout the year and make recommendations for improvement.