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report cards

I feel strongly that young children should not receive a report card with any type of grade, especially numerical. 

In New Brunswick, we have an excellent curriculum for each grade. But children still grow in different ways at different times. 

Report cards should be a way for teachers to share how students are growing and what they are continuing to work on.

A number, which can carry negative connotations, is unnecessary, especially in an inclusive education system.

Our school district created a Communication of Learning during our Kindergarten pilot. I was grateful to be a part of a small group of teachers and District Coordinators that met regularly to dream and to help bring change to kindergarten based on developmental needs and research. Report cards were one of the barriers identified when looking to build a firmer foundation. We poured over report cards from across Canada to help create one that would better fit the needs of kindergarten students. We focused on social and emotional learning, literacy and numeracy. It was all anecdotal without any grades, rubrics, or scales. We were able to communicate with parents in this way for three years. But in the fall of 2020, our province had us return to the provincial report card which uses a 1-4 scale. It was a disappointing decision.

While it is encouraging that there is now an exploration section on the provincial report cards and it does not require a grade, we still have farther to go in our province.

Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life