Standard Based Report Card

In 2010 the State of Connecticut joined 47 other states in the adoption of the “common core state standards”. In September 2012, East Haddam school administrators announced that it would be implementing Standard Based Report Cards for grades K-5. Many were led to believe that Standard Based Reports Cards (SBRC) were part of the adoption of Common Core which is a state mandate. In addition the majority of the community and parents of school age children with the exception of those in grades 3-5 have little to no knowledge of what SBRC is, how it works or East Haddam’s intended progression of this grading system into grades 6-8 and then an evaluation of its usage into high school. Www.corestandards.org is the official website for common core. The site clearly defines the “curriculum” adopted for the subjects of mathematics and English. It does not address process or reporting nor does it list standards for other subjects such as science, social studies or elective courses. SBRC is not addressed on the site. As of September 2012 student performance for students in grades k-5 were no longer measured by traditional grading A, B, C, D, but were replaced with a report called SBRC. SBRC in own town works on a system of a 1-4 scale. (There are different models nationwide) 1= emerging, 2=Progressing toward standard 3=meeting standard 4=exceeding standard. In SBRC there is no grade point average and it should be clearly noted that SBRC levels do not equate in any way traditional grading. Receiving a 1 is not an F or a D, receiving a 3 or a 4 is not equivalent is an A or B. Academic behaviors are also separate from grading. SBRC are confusing for students and parents at the beginning. Once the general concept is understood there is still considerable confusion by parents and students on many of the attributes of the system. Proponents for SBRC advocate it gives a better understanding of a child’s mastery of a standard. SBRC are also very controversial. There is controversy on all levels from implementation to operation and to effectiveness. As a parent the bottom line questions in my mind are “Will this new system improve academic achievement? Is this a state mandate? Is there a proven track record? How many schools in our region are using SBRC in the middle school? “ The best source of educational information on the above questions should easily be answered by State of Connecticut Board of Education and those involved in the implementation of Common core. Sadly, the only question that could be answered was confirming that SBRC is not a state mandate. In two separate emails I was told there was no research available on how many schools used SBRC in Connecticut and no research on the effectiveness of SBRC. In one email response I was told “you are asking very interesting questions.” With the best planning, implementation and tracking SBRC is extremely challenging with parents, teachers, administrators and researchers. I encourage everyone with a vested interest to conduct their research on SBRC. Some of the highlights you will find may find: There are no standards for SBRC – every district designs own method, determines what standards are included or excluded. There is no consistency in grading between teachers, schools or districts. Parent often read 5 page report cards and still wonder “How is my child doing?” Taking out academic behaviors is a two way street. While teachers are no longer giving good grades for “trying” a student no longer has to do homework to reach standard (3). Many argue performance does count in real life. Producing SBRC takes time, revisions and revisions. At some point parents lose faith that their report card design will ever be correct. Producing a SBRC is very time consuming for teachers. This additional time takes up valuable time and effort from the class. Now that you identified a child is below standard at the end of the year the same problem remains “what is the school going to do about it” Reporting achievements toward standards can be done with percentages. There is no definition of what constitutes “emerging or progressing or meeting standards” No one fails but no one excels. Proponents argue SBRC takes out subjective grading while others argue it is creating more. Many find SBRC un-motivating for students and parents. In summary, when it takes more than 700 words to explain a new style report card and many readers will still say “what is she talking about” something is wrong. An issue that is this complicated should have parent support and input from design to implementation to tracking. Many cities, districts and states have instituted SBRC and then revoked it based on many of the challenges listed above. I do not believe SBRC is in the best interest of our students, especially in the middle school.