04.ReportingtoParents

=Learning Challenge=

=Reporting to Parents of Selective Students within a partially selective School=

Why:
The challenge presented was the apparent perception of assessment tasks for selective students to actually measure differentiated outcomes. Selective classes were actually working at a higher intellectual level. And it was given that they had met the outcomes for Example Stage 4.

=
Context: Articulate parents with high expectations and high expectations of their children who had come from, often small primary schools where their child had achieved, repeatedly at a reasonably high level.======

Problematic

1. As a result of the differentiated curriculum and assessment tasks, teachers were grading across the whole range.. A to E. the learning statements on the reports were reflective of the higher level of difficulty ( in most cases ) to reflect the higher range of knowledge & skill. The report showed no indication that the outcomes achieved by the student were in actual fact of greater difficulty to the the comprehensive stream, no indication of the core learning statements and levels. It was merely implied.

2. For parents and for the students themselves, the reports indicated, at times, failure. Students who were not meeting fully the set learning statements for their selective class were graded across the range. For students who may have not met the standard, teacher comments indicated, the student was not meeting the expectations, needs more effort, must show deeper understanding etc.

3. Comments of teachers -Growth being reported also must be measured from a point and Pre testing, or a point of where learning growth has developed. Some evidence that of the contextual pre-test was not apparent in the reporting to parents. And that the learning growth was not being reported clearly or understandable. Comments needed to focus on growth and forward learning. -Also, observed was the trap to measuring a students performance against expectations. Wiggins p.30. This was an apparent perception of some teachers. That they had higher expectations, and when Selective students were not achieving to the expectations, teachers appeared at times harder in the awarding of grades/marks. And this is partly where, we begin to 'view' underachievement.



= = =What:= What we did to address concerns;
 * The reports for both Year 7 & 8 in first semester 2009 were evaluated. Pure emapirical data indicated that infact, students in the selective classes were highly under graded, that students were infact meeting the outcomes and that the assessment schedule/tasks needed to be reviewed in terms of the outcomes, not on the implied expectations of the students being in the selective stream.
 * The reporting of Core learning statements for all selective classes with further learning statements that indicated differentiation and higher level outcomes.
 * Discussions with fully selective schools, executive debate, teacher expectation, assessment and reporting of stage 4 outcomes.
 * Creation of: ** Reporting Absolutes **
 * ======Reporting for selective students in stage 4 semester 2, 2009======
 * ======Mainstream students - each course will report on 6 ‘Core’ curriculum learning statements======
 * ======Selective students each course will report on 4 ‘core’ curriculum learning statements and 2 differentiated selective learning statements (which can be seen to be an extension of the core learning statements)======
 * ======It is expected that selective students will be assessed on the core learning statements in a different way to the comprehensive students i.e. through pre-testing or compacted curriculum learning activities and assessment.======
 * ======It is expected that all selective students will achieve ‘outstanding to high’ on the core learning statements. If the assessments indicate otherwise then an early faculty-based intervention strategy will need to be put in place and a referral made to the GATS team.======
 * ======The overall achievement grade will be based on the core learning statements only. Teachers must over-ride the SBSR software and adjust the grade. It is expected that a minimum of 80% of selective students will achieve an ‘A’ grade based on the achievement levels on the ‘core’ learning statements.======
 * ======It is expected that a minimum of 80% of students will achieve at the’ high to outstanding’ level on the selective learning statements. Students will be provided with explicit quality criteria about how they can achieve at the ‘high’ level at the beginning of the learning unit. Students who do extra will be judged at the ‘outstanding’ level. Students who achieve a below the high level will require a faculty-based intervention strategy and a referral made to the GATS team.======
 * ======All report comments must reflect the grade given.======



HOW:

 * Creation of the absolutes called for conversations about what was teacher expectation. HTs led the conversations with their teams.
 * Reporting comments followed the set script. a) What the student has achieved (growth) and b) area for further development.

RESULTS

 * Intervention with GAT and selective students was obvious, using the GAT committee to intervene with underachievers
 * Selective students and their parents had a clear picture of achievement/ growth and an indication against the standard.
 * Teacher Comments were linked to achievement and improvement.
 * Parent feedback indicates a clear idea of where a student was on the learning continuum.


 * WHERE TO NOW!.... some ideas... **

SOME DIRECTIONS we are undertaking in particular working with Staff perceptions.
Recent Survey asking the hard questions.

Self-starters, Self-teaching, Highly Motivated, High Initiative
// Giftedness is the potential to achieve; gifted students may not be motivated and this results in underachievement. //

**Fast to complete work** // Being “fast to complete work” is more related student engagement than giftedness. Further, there are complicating factors that slow gifted children. // = =

Organised/Disorganised, More/Less Attentive, More excited/calm
// Gifted students often occupy the idiosyncratic extremes one way or the other in respect to many basic personality traits and this can lead to // = =

More/Less Competitive
// While some gifted students are extremely competitive, others are turned off by competition and will seek to avoid it. It is important for teachers to know which way individual students are aligned. //

Quality Teaching Framework
// The Quality Teaching Framework, in its entirety, applies to all teaching. // = =

More ICT
// All students should benefit from increased integration of ICT with the curriculum. // = =

Student-centric Teaching and Self-Directed Study
// All teaching should be moving more towards Student-centric Teaching and should incorporate appropriate opportunities for students to take responsibility for their own education and to choose directions for their work. // = =

Self-Discovery Work and Self-Teaching
// Avoid creating situations that require gifted students to “teach themselves”. // = =

Peer Tutoring
// With the exception of well organised and structured programs that extend beyond the classroom, gifted students should never be expected nor asked to “tutor” their peers. // = =

Over-reliance on Groupwork
// Many gifted students have developed a dislike for groupwork through primary school. Teachers should be aware of this and structure group tasks that ameliorate the underlying reasons for the dislike that gifted students have of groupwork. // = =

More Work/Homework (Quantity over Quality)
// Gifted students require more challenging work, not more classwork. i.e., same level extension tasks/homework should not be given to gifted students. // = =

Activities that are meaningless/irrelevant to Educational Content (i.e., simple puzzles, crosswords, colouring-in)
// Meaningless activities (i.e., on the lower levels of Knowledge or Comprehension on Blooms Taxonomy) are seen as pointless activities by gifted students. It is arguable that they do not learn anything from activities such as this and it is likely that using such activities as “extension” will lead to underachievement. // = = = = = Reporting to Parents = = Plain English report for all parents. = Reports of judgements made about student achievement must be based on quality evidence of what each student has actually achieved against syllabus standards. The evidence that leads to the overall judgement of the achievement level provides the detail for the written comments about areas of strength and areas for further development. It is not possible to include comments on all aspects of the learning program in every report, so it is important to identify those aspects of achievement that are the most important. Evaluate the range of aspects of the student’s achievement and improvements required in order to select the most important matters for the report. Avoid filling the report with less important details and attempting to report too comprehensively about achievements and needs. Ensure the content of each section relates exclusively to that section and not to matters that would best be reported in a different section. The content of the report comment should make links between the areas of achievement specific to that KLA, student strengths and areas for further development.\ The comment will identify areas of strength and areas for further development in each key learning area/subject. The comment in this section should focus specifically on achievement against syllabus standards. It is important to avoid comments that only relate to a student’s task completion or other issues unrelated to achievement. Information included in the areas for further development should provide a clear picture of necessary next steps for the student. This advice should be manageable and realistic. It is not helpful to write long lists of areas for further development. Prioritise and select those areas that are most needed to assist further progression. Report comments should be written in a positive tone. There is always something positive to say about a student. Too many negatives may be counter-productive and cause the student to “turn off” from his/her learning. Use the information from the Other School Activities, Commitment to Learning, and Social Development grids to elaborate on and construct the general comment.
 * ===Report comments: Writing Comments=== ||
 * || The new student report is designed to be a plain English report that all parents can understand easily, and that describes what students have achieved against NSW BoS syllabus standards and where they need further development.
 * Evidence Based**
 * Focus on Key Aspects**
 * Comment Structure**
 * General Comment**
 * Report Writing Checklist** ||~  ||   ||   ||
 * KLA Comments || Identifies areas of strength in each KLA ||  ||
 * || Identifies areas for further development in each KLA ||  ||
 * || Comments focus on the most important aspects ||  ||
 * General Comment || Written in a positive tone ||  ||
 * || Expands on ‘Other School Activities’, ‘Commitment to Learning’ and ‘Social Development’ ||  ||
 * Other School Activities || Recorded ||  ||
 * Commitment to Learning || Recorded ||  ||
 * Social Development || Recorded ||  ||
 * Overall || Report is written in clear, plain language ||  ||
 * || No repetition of comments ||  ||
 * || Comment matches overall achievement and effort ||  ||
 * || Absences ||  ||
 * || Signed ||  ||
 * Self Editing || Spelling ||  ||
 * || Grammar ||  ||
 * || Punctuation ||  ||   ||   ||