Digital Learning Environments

winter 2011

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INSIDE the Elementary School Progress Report

By Judy Heard, ISD manager
Integrated Curriculum Projects

Truth be told, the progress report we are currently using in the elementary schools is essentially the same progress report I used when I began teaching in FCPS three decades ago. The difference is that we now need to work more closely with parents to provide them with as much information as possible about how their children are progressing.

Our new standards-based progress report not only accomplishes that goal — it reflects the fact that we want each child to develop a passion for lifelong learning.

At Kings Park Elementary, for example, teachers meet in grade-level teams at the end of each grading period to discuss what they have taught, what they have assessed, and how their assessment data translates to grades. Their conversations about teaching and learning have helped them tune in to the standards they are teaching so that they meet each student’s needs.

What kinds of marks will we put on the assignments that go home to parents? Throughout the district, field-test teachers have moved away from marking assignments with single letter grades and have moved toward giving students more specific feedback about their assignments.

For instance, the teachers at Chesterbrook Elementary School often write comments on assignments about what students have learned and areas in which they can focus their learning. They have also become more explicit about with which standard a specific assignment aligns.

Sunrise Valley Elementary 6th grade teacher MaryAnne Rossbach and her colleagues are very intentional about including a variety of assessment types when assessing students.

By keeping track of student learning with checklists and anecdotal records, teachers look at multiple ways that students demonstrate understanding. This approach is typical of what we’ll be seeing at elementary schools throughout FCPS in the coming years.

About Judy Heard

A graduate of Fairfax County Public Schools, Judy Heard has been an educator in the district for 32 years. She received her undergraduate degree in Early Childhood Education from James Madison University, her Masters in Curriculum and Instruction at George Mason University, and her endorsement in Administration and Supervision at the University of Virginia. She has won numerous awards for her work, including the William C. Lowry Award for Excellence in Teaching Elementary Mathematics, and the Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching Mathematics. Questions? Send Judy an email: judy.heard@fcps.edu.

3. Elementary School Progress Report Project

The goal of this project is to redesign the Elementary School Progress Report to ensure that it communicates achievement of standards as it incorporates research-based best practices in student grading and reporting.

Life, work, and citizenship skills will be aligned with the School Board goals and will be reported separately from achievement.

The standards-based progress report will be delivered through iSIS (the integrated Student Information System) and will be completed electronically by teachers.

The acceptance and definition of mastery learning in FCPS will develop as part of this project; that includes the concept of holding achievement constant and allowing the time students spend in pursuit of understanding the concepts to vary.

Goals

The ultimate completion of this project creates a vehicle for teachers to provide information to parents that mirrors the standards-based instructional model where students are striving to master their understanding of the content material in each subject area.

The framework that supports this pedagogical shift is the teacher’s use of frequent formative assessment data to determine and provide instructional focus at an individual level.

The new student-progress report provides a means to separately report student achievement in content knowledge, effort, and life, work, and citizenship skills, which directly align with the School Board goals.

Lastly, the delivery of this new process will move the teachers out of the antiquated system of paper/pencil (bubble) completion to an electronic format that can also provide on-demand progress information throughout the school year.

Current status

This project includes the continued utilization of the new progress report (delivered through Excel format) in the 10 pilot schools.

Numerous focus groups have been held throughout the project with parents, teachers, and principals, and valuable feedback has been incorporated into the project.

The project team is working to complete the final version of the progress report, rubric, and grade-level parent folders to communicate details to parents.

Extensive work is under way designing and constructing two eLEARN IT courses for teachers; the first — on the philosophy of standards-based grading — will be available to teachers in spring 2011.

The current target date to roll out to all schools is fall 2012.

Funding information:

The funding for this project began in 2007 and is integrally tied to the iSIS project. Various levels of funding have been utilized to support this project, and following is a summary of estimated totals and future projected needs.

2008-2009: $25,000
ISD funding supported an early consultant, best practices materials, focus groups, substitutes, and beta school training and reporting.

2009-2010

ISD funding for training materials ($11,250).
PMOC funding for summer curriculum work ($12,315); substitutes for focus groups ($11,255); to support online training modules, print and ancillary materials, substitutes, and training ($49,677).

2010-2011: $93,200
PMOC funding for field-test teachers and focus groups ($50,000); instructional supplies for teacher instructional books ($10,000); online training modules ($10,000); development of materials/resources and training ($23,200).

2011-2012: $90,000
PMOC funding for the full implementation training needs to reach all ES teachers to include substitutes to cover teacher training ($50,000); instructional materials/books ($20,000); and curriculum development for implementation ($20,000).

Photo: Students at Franklin Sherman Elementary School try out their new crayons on worksheets. Image by www.fcps.edu

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Prev: 2. Best Practices for Teaching and Learning

inside is an online publication published by the Fairfax County Public Schools Instructional Services Department. Its mission is to share thoughts and ideas about curriculum and assessment that are fundamental to the good work FCPS principals and teachers are doing with students.

Questions and comments are welcome and should be directed to Peter Noonan: peter.noonan@fcps.edu / 571-423-4510.