Ottumwa Community School District will be implementing a new reading report card for students in grades K-5 for the 2016-17 school year.
Why the change?
The report card we had been using was inadequate in both meeting the expectations of the Iowa Core and giving specific enough feedback to parents and students about performance in literacy. The district vision is to move to a standards-based, core aligned report card that is supported by a rubric specifying what students know and can do. As a first step, a new literacy report card has been created for use this school year. It is understood that this is the first step on a long journey.
Why are we using a rubric report card?
The purpose of the report card is to improve communication with parents about a student’s progress toward meeting important “end of grade” level standards. This rubric report card supports best practice in our classrooms and reflects the strong link between standards, instruction, curriculum, and assessment in the elementary program. The report card is in compliance with Iowa Core State Standards:
● Clearly show the student and parents whether the student is achieving course requirements at the student’s current grade level;
● Be based on the student’s progress toward becoming proficient in a continuum of knowledge and skills;
● Assure that the student’s academic rating (M=Meeting, P=Progressing, R=Reinforcing) reflects his/her academic performance.
The new report card is set up as a rubric. The rubrics help teachers and students authentically monitor growth and progress toward end-of-the-year learning standards. This will support district consistency across classrooms and grading practices. The rubrics provide a common message of the students’ learning that will take place throughout the school year. Additionally, we will be using ongoing formative assessments to provide detailed data regarding student progress. Since a rubric is being used, there will not be a grade level indicator to inform parents of exact reading level.
Samples of these rubric report cards by grade are listed below.
Kindergarten report card Spanish version
First grade report card Spanish version
Second grade report card Spanish version
Third grade report card Spanish version
Fourth grade report card Spanish version
Fifth grade report card Spanish version