Evaluating your child's progress at school

Evaluating student progress
Most elementary schools in Canada issue report cards on student progress three times a year. Your child's report card is meant to give you a good understanding of your child's achievements. If the report card doesn't enlighten you about how your child is doing in each subject evaluated, it may be because of an overdose of educational terminology: outcomes, benchmarks, indicators, standards, and pat phrases may be confusing. Here's how to "assess" the report and interview your child's teacher so that you have a clear picture of your child's progress.

Teachers have a variety of techniques to evaluate student progress at different ages. They may include the following:

Ages five and six: Kindergarten and grade one
• Observation The primary means of evaluation at this age. The classroom teacher notes her observations daily or weekly on your child's work and contribution in class.

• Performance Students perform a task to show how well they can apply the knowledge and skills they've developed during each term.

Ages seven to nine: Grades two and three
• Both observation and performance.

• Portfolios The teacher and the student put a selection of the student's best work in a folder. Its contents may include book reports, tests, drawings, or videotapes. Students help choose the samples of work collected in the portfolio over the school year. The range makes the student's progress over the year more obvious for the student, the teacher, and the parents. At parent-teacher meetings, parents can discuss with the classroom teacher how their child's level of ability and understanding is demonstrated in the work.

• Tests or quizzes Teachers usually develop tests or quizzes to assess what students have learned in each unit of study throughout the school year.

Large-scale assessments

• Curriculum-based tests These tests are based on the provincial or board curriculum and measure the students' mastery of the curriculum. These tests usually are undertaken during grade three (nine-year-olds), grade six, and grade ten.

• Standardized tests In some boards or provinces, students may participate in a board-wide or province-wide test, like the Canadian Test of Basic Skills (CTBS), which measures their general skills and knowledge. The results are analyzed (often by computer) and reported in different printouts that allow educators and parents to compare each student's achievement with other students of the same age and grade.

Ages 10 to 12: Grades four, five, and six
• Projects These take on greater significance. Students are assessed on their ability to work independently or in a group on a project with a specific deadline for completion.

• Journals Students are encouraged to express their ideas and feelings, ask questions, and respond to open-ended questions in their own journal of learning. Their classroom teacher gains insight into the students' learning processes, as well as their social and personal growth and intellectual development.

• Tests and quizzes Teacher-developed quizzes and tests assess what students have learned throughout each unit of study in the curriculum. The results in each subject area contribute to the year-end marks.

• Observation, performance and portfolios These continue to be important parts of the teacher's evaluation.