Vera Teschow.ca
  • Home
  • About
    • Overview
    • Education & Diplomas
    • Consulting & PR
    • Teaching Experience
    • Workshop Facilitation
    • Volunteer Experience
    • Extra-Curricular Leadership
    • Writing
  • Learn
  • BLOG
  • Contact

Anchor Marks: Reporting Drama in the intermediate Grades and the importance of relationships

1/10/2015

0 Comments

 
What better way to procrastinate on digging myself out of mounds of marking and report card writing than a nice little blog post on assessment?  :)

Returning to an Intermediate classroom this year has brought many interesting challenges and opportunities, and as assessment is always a hot topic amongst parents and teachers alike, I thought I'd share some practical resources and information on the eve of report card writing season this term.

One change in reporting as students move from Grade 6 to Grade 7 in Ontario is the move from Levels 1-4 (or letter grades D-A) to percentages.  To complicate matters further, the ministry and Board have developed "anchor marks" in an attempt to align good assessment practice and the reality of reporting.  (The research -- see paragraph on Feedback and Grading near the bottom -- shows that holistic assessment grounded in descriptive feedback is a far more effective way to move student thinking forward than marks on a page, and yet, teachers are required to plug in marks on a report card that compartmentalizes learning and academic skills.  So we are asked to still assess holistically and provide descriptive feedback, but then have the challenge of turning our proverbial gold into straw three times a year in order to fulfil the requirements of an archaic reporting system!)

Anyway, even for those who never got more holistic, and continued to happily plod along with an endless parade of paper and pencil tasks they could "grade" and then average out into a neat and tidy percentage... GONE are the days of 99% -- each "level" or letter grade now translates to a specific percentage (for example, an A- is equivalent to an 84%, according to the anchor marks, and a good, solid B, or Level 3, is noted as 75% on the report card).

But for those teachers who have been reading and implementing the research, and have been recording anecdotals and/or more holistic marks, how do we translate these comments and levels into the required percents for reporting purposes?  And for families reading the number on the page next to each subject level, what does that number really MEAN?

I am hopeful that the one-page chart below will be helpful to both parents and teachers alike: Colleagues, print it off and post it next to your computer or stick it in your marks binder.  Families, post it on your fridge or somewhere near where your child does her homework each night.  Learn the language, so that you can understand that a 68% means your child's work demonstrates adequate but inconsistent skills for that grade level expectation, but that she is moving towards provincial standard, or Level 3.  Know that comments like "solves problems with considerable accuracy" means level 3, or 75%, and that "communicates with a high degree of clarity and precision" means Level 4, or 91%, depending on how much clarity and with what consistency it's happening.
(Got an issue with downloading the doc above?  It's here, to the right, too, in editable WORD format.)
levels_percents_anchors_assessment_evaluation_chart_doc.doc
File Size: 36 kb
File Type: doc
Download File

Perhaps more importantly than all the jargon, though, consider the "next steps" comments the teacher has made to your child verbally or on her work in writing, and support your child in engaging in those next steps.  And remember that teachers are imperfect, and are doing the best they can given the often limited resources and sometimes extraordinary challenges they face in their schools and classrooms each day.

Regardless of when marks are plugged into a program or when a 4-page report is printed and the time elapsed before it is signed by the office and sent home, it's the RELATIONSHIPS between you and your child, and between your child and her teacher, and between your family and the school that are going to be major influencers on the level of personal and academic success she experiences.  So after a reasonable amount of time and attention spent on the report card, put the sucker away, and go read a book or do a fun math challenge or go to a show with your kids.  And then take a few minutes to thank your child's teacher for his time and efforts with your most precious commodity.

That goes for you, too, teachers -- no matter how many hours you spend on these novellas, they are going to be imperfect literary works picked apart by your colleagues, supervisors and families.  Let it go and presume positive intentions.  And then go take a nap or walk or go out for dinner with someone you love.

Happy Report Card Writing Season, Y'all!
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    About Vera...

    Vera & her Sons, April 2021
    After writing for several teacher and multiple birth publications, including ETFO's Voice Magazine, Multiple Moments, and the Bulletwin, Vera turned her written attention to prolific blogging for some years, including BiB,  "Learn to Fly with Vera!"  and SMARTbansho .  Homeschooling 4 was her travel blog in Argentina.  She now spends more time on her Instagram (@schalgzeug_usw)  than her blog (pictures are worth a thousand words?!) 
    DISCLAIMER
    The views expressed on this blog are the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the perspectives of her family members or the position of her employer on the the issues she blogs about.  These posts are intended to share resources, document family life, and encourage critical thought on a variety of subjects.  They are not intended to cause harm to any individual or member of any group. By reading this blog and viewing this site, you agree to not hold Vera liable for any harm done by views expressed in this blog.
    Picture

    Categories

    All
    Argentina 2013
    COVID 19
    COVID-19
    Cycling
    Family
    Flying
    Geocaching
    Honduras 2011
    Lakeshore
    Lgbtq
    Math Eyes
    Music
    Other Stuff
    Prince Edward Island
    Teaching And Learning
    Teaching-and-learning
    Travel

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    March 2022
    January 2021
    September 2020
    August 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010

Vera C. Teschow, OCT, M.Ed., MOT
Toronto, ON & St Peter's Harbour, PE
www.verateschow.ca 2021
Photos used under Creative Commons from Sean MacEntee, Studio Paars, Bengt Nyman, zeevveez, GoodNCrazy, CJS*64, Accretion Disc, CharlesLam, Courtney Dirks, CJS*64 "Man with a camera", Accretion Disc, Bobolink, Ian Muttoo, BioDivLibrary, Alaskan Dude, IsabelleAcatauassu, runran, Transformer18, jglsongs, Create For Animal Rights, david_shankbone, Paul J Coles, foilman, Newport Geographic, Photo Everywhere, kevin dooley, Claudio , Alex Guibord, Tscherno, f_mafra, Terry Madeley, musee de l'horlogerie, BobMacInnes, wwarby, jonathangarcia, amboo who?, chimothy27, Elin B, cliff1066™, Grzegorz Łobiński, Rennett Stowe, Farhill, Phil Manker, Guitarfool5931, airguy1988, dierk schaefer, Rob Stemple, katerha, StockMonkeys.com, Ramotionblog, andrewk3715, charlywkarl, AJC1, rachel_titiriga