Standards Based Reporting - Grades K-4
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In the 2014-15 school year, the South Harrison Township Elementary School District began using a standards-based report card (SBRC) in grades K through 2 to report student progress. In the 2015-2016 school year parents of students in grade 3 received a standards based report card; and parents of grade 4 students received standards-based report cards in the 2016-2017 school year. The report cards have been newly revised for the 2018-19 school year, and examples are provided on this webpage. We hope the information provided below will explain our school district's grading philosophy.
- What is Standards-Based Reporting?
A system of assessing and reporting student progress towards mastery (proficiency) of meaningful specific skills and goals derived from the standards.
All SBR report cards include specific clusters of standards in all content areas. They provide an overview of the standards relating to the knowledge and skills your child should meet by the end of the year. The following scale will be used to reflect your child's progress towards meeting each cluster of standards.
The Standards-Based Reporting Scale is as follows:
Earning a “E” means the student has advanced understanding and exceeds grade-level expectations. A “E” is difficult to obtain and indicates unusually high achievement.
Earning a “3” means the student has proficient understanding and meets grade-level expectations. A “3” is something to be CELEBRATED!
Earning a “2” means the student has basic understanding and partially meets grade-level expectations. A “2” indicates that a child may need extra help or time to understand a concept or skill.
Earning a “1” means the student has minimal understanding and does not meet grade-level expectations. A student receiving a “1” may need interventions in order to meet grade-level expectations if progress is not being made.
In addition, do not be alarmed if your child receives performance indicators of 2 or 1 for the first trimester. In most cases, minimal and developing understanding and demonstration of the skills is exactly the level of mastery that students should have at this time of year. Your child's teacher will communicate to you if there are specific areas of concern. By the end of the year, we expect students to receive performance indicators of 3 (The student has met the grade level learning standards in this cluster) or in a few instances an E (The student has exceeded all grade level learning standards in this cluster).
The standards-based scale is not a linear scale that correlates to a numerical parentage such as an A or B. Instead, it is progressive and allows students to think of their leaning on a growing continuum.- What is the value of Standards-Based Reporting?
Standards-Based Reporting encourages:
* More effective and concise feedback for students, parents, and educators to monitor student learning.
* A focus on specific skills and multiple opportunities to demonstrate mastery.
* A celebration of student learning, instead of earning grades, which increases student’s motivation and self-esteem.
* Real world evaluation, which aligns to state assessments.
* Academic indicators to be separated from extraneous factors (e.g., work habits, homework, behavior, participation).- Why assess student progress through a standard-based report card?
Classroom teachers are better able to identify students’ strengths and weaknesses in a standards-based learning environment, thereby permitting a more informed approach to individual student instruction. A standards-based report card identifies how well a child is mastering each skills.- What will a standards-based report card tell you about your child?
A standards-based report card is effective in informing parents about specific skill achievement as measured against state academic grade level requirements and benchmarks. For example, instead of a child earning a “B” in reading, he or she will be evaluated separately in areas such as comprehension and decoding.- How are standards-based report cards different from traditional report cards?
By evaluating specific skills within each subject, parents, students, and teachers can be better informed about any areas requiring additional work. Standards-based report cards differ from traditional report cards in that there are no averages calculated for an overall subject area. Instead, proficiency towards a specific skill is measured. Proficiency is measured in various ways in the classroom, including formal or informal assessments, performance tasks, or verbal responses. Proficiency is reported as the most recent representation of multiple points of data based on end-of-year grade level outcomes. Proficiency is measured on a growth scale ranging from 1 through 3.- Will student 21stCentury skills still be assessed?
21st Century skills, such as critical thinking and problem solving, communication and collaboration, and flexibility and adaptability, facilitate students learning and growth. The standards-based report cards indicate progress in these areas though not always as part of the assessment of students’ academic skills. Instead, there is a separate area of the report card to assess these research-based 21st Century Skills.
The format of the SBR report card will identify the group of standards in each grade-level content area and document how students are progressing towards proficiency towards curricular and end of the year goals. Standards-Based Reporting benefits students, teachers, parents and guardians by creating a common language for discussions well as establishing expectations of student development in academic and non-academic areas.Standards-Based Reporting Sample report cards for K-4:
Report card rubrics for Math and ELA:
Kindergarten
1st Grade
1st Grade Language Arts Rubric
2nd Grade
2nd Grade Language Arts Rubric
3rd Grade
3rd Grade Language Arts Rubric
4th Grade
4th Grade Language Arts Rubric
Social Studies and Science
4th Grade Social Studies Rubric
21st Century Skills
21st Century Skills K-4 Rubric
Here’s a helpful resource for families:
