Switch to report-card numbers too ‘broad,’ says Wildrose critic
Members of the Wildrose Party are calling for changes to report card grading at Calgary’s public school board, asking the province to consider guidelines for all Alberta school boards.
Calgary Board of Education students in grades K-9 have their progress tracked using a 1-4 number scale instead of traditional letter grades and percentages. Formal parent-teacher conferences are held twice a year in November and March, leading parents to express confusion and frustrations with how students are graded.
Wildrose education critic Leela Aheer called the CBE number grades “so broad they’re meaningless” and said the province should consider using percentage grades for older students.
“I think the biggest issue we are looking at is (the number system) doesn’t give teachers the ability to tell the parents how their children are actually doing,” Aheer said. “I just don’t understand what’s confusing about percentages.”
Changes to the grading scale were introduced in the 2014 school year after a move to replace teacher comments with words such as “evident,” “emerging,” or “support required,” were met with disapproval.
The CBE said teachers are required to summarize a term or semester of learning for K-9 students with report cards twice a year, while grades 10-12 students receive two formal report cards per course.
Students receive numbers from 1 (Not Meeting) to 4 (Excellent) on each outcome in a course.
While he did not offer specific comments on the CBE’s grading system, Education Minister David Eggen said individual school boards in Alberta develop their own methods of tracking student performance.
“School boards are responsible for communicating with parents about how students are progressing and if they are meeting the requirements of the Alberta curriculum,” Eggen said in a statement. “Our government believes that teachers and school boards are in the best position to assess students on a day-to-day basis.”
Aheer said the current CBE system does a “disservice” to teachers and called the number scale a “pilot project that is using our kids as guinea pigs to see how it works.”
“I just cannot see that this is an effective way to give a full picture of the children that we so desperately want to make sure have the best education in the world.”
The government tracks student performance through diploma and provincial achievement tests. Eggen said schools are expected to provide parents and guardians with a student’s results after each test.
In a statement, Wildrose Leader Brian Jean said the CBE’s “vague” report card system lacks clarity, leaving teachers and school boards with little support from the government.
“Any system that prevents parents from supporting their kids’ education needs is wrong for Alberta, and needs to be scrapped,” Jean said.