Understanding Your Child's Report Cards

Evaluation is the collection, analysis, and judgment of the work of students that is used to determine their progress in an educational program. The fundamental goal of evaluation is to enable students to improve and inform teaching practice. Since evaluation is such an integral component of the learning process, evaluative methods must be clearly related to the goals of the curriculum.

Furthermore, evaluation must reflect the values of an interdependent Catholic learning community, based upon varied instructional approaches, guided by best practices, and ultimately structured and communicated so that students know what they have learned, and how to improve their learning.

Students and parents must understand how work is assessed and evaluated. Evaluation practices and procedures must adhere to the guidelines within this policy.

Definitions

“Evaluation” is the judgment about the student’s level of performance in relation to standards and requirements of Alberta Learning.

“Assessment” is the collecting and interpreting of student work that is used to describe the progress students are making towards attaining the required knowledge and skills to be learned.

“Formative evaluation” is designed to let the teacher and student know what concepts have been learned and which skills need to be further developed before a summative assessment takes place

“Summative evaluation” which occurs period-by-period on a daily basis, refers to how well a student demonstrates grade level expectations based upon a body of learning that is represented by letters, percentages, or descriptors. Ultimately, final written reports are based upon these evaluations and are used to communicate progress to students and parents.

“Rubric” is a set of criteria on a scale that describes the characteristics of products for each part of the scale.

“Reasonable body of evidence” is a set of summative assessments based upon the scope and sequence of the Program of Studies and is weighted according to the expectations in it.

“Punitive grading” is a mark deduction mechanism that significantly minimizes evidence of student achievement due to behaviors extrinsic to the “body of evidence”collected by a teacher. 

Ongoing Communication

In addition to report cards, East Central Catholic Schools uses many other tools to communicate with parents and students about student learning on an ongoing basis. This may include, but is not limited to:

  • phone calls to parents;
  • school open houses;
  • student portfolios;
  • exhibits of student work;
  • notes to parents;
  • online repositories (ie. PowerSchool Parent Portal);
  • parent-teacher conferences;student-led conferences;student self-assessments; and
  • parent feedback forms.

ECCS supports ongoing two-way communication. Parents are encouraged to contact their child's teacher whenever they need information or have a concern that needs to be addressed. To ensure effective communication between parents and their child’s school, it is important for parents to provide up-to-date, accurate contact information to their child’s school. Contact information can be updated at any time during the school year by contacting the administrative assistant at your child’s school.

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