Vague report cards frustrate parents as assessments don’t match with results

Public school parents are questioning what they see as vague and inaccurate report cards after an assessment report to the Calgary Board of Education failed to reconcile poor test results in math over the past year.

According to 34 pages of data outlining report card results to trustees Tuesday, between 90 and 99 per cent of students in grades K-9 met learning expectations in subject areas including drama, dance, science and math.

But critics argued the results are meaningless because report cards for K-9 score all subjects on a scale of one to four, with only students who receive a one defined as not meeting expectations.

The report comes only three months after the CBE released standardized-test results showing more than 40 per cent of Grade 9 students failed their math exams last year, while officials also confirmed that acceptable standards were much lower than 50 per cent.

According to the data released in late October, only 59.4 per cent of CBE students achieved acceptable standards in the Grade 9 math provincial-achievement test for the 2017-18 school year. In the same week, information came to light that acceptable standards for Grade 9 math provincewide was a minimum score of 42 per cent. And for Grade 6 math provincewide, acceptable standards were achieved with a score as low as 41 per cent.

Trustee Lisa Davis raised a number of questions about Tuesday’s assessment report, saying that report card data does not match standardized test results, particularly in Grade 9 math.

“What really stands out for me in this report is that we show an average percentage of students meeting expectations at probably low 90s, but when we look at the results of PATs, it’s about 59 per cent. That’s quite a difference. How do we reconcile that?”

Davis added that parents have told her report card assessments are not providing them with meaningful feedback.

“Parents are telling me they’re hard pressed to understand exactly what the report card means.”

Sydney Smith, CBE acting superintendent of learning, agreed report card results and test results for math do not coincide, adding that administrators will have to delve deeper into standardized test results to see where kids are struggling.

“We do have some work to do to see how we get those numbers better aligned. It’s part of our math strategy,” Smith said.

Sarah Bieber, a parent advocate with the Kids Come First parent group, said parents are increasingly frustrated with inconsistent messaging from the CBE and teachers on report card assessments.

“Parents are telling me the oneto-four scale really is vague, and they’re getting different information from different people.

“The CBE report basically indicates that a two out of four or higher is deemed acceptable. But when parents talk to teachers, a two out of four might be a real concern. Why doesn’t this report just conclude a three out of four or higher is acceptable?”

Bieber, who was attending a math conference of learning experts from across North America at the University of Calgary on Tuesday, agreed there’s a huge disconnect between what report cards are saying and what students are scoring on their test results.

“Parents are saying to me, particularly those with multiple kids in the system, that their children at similar levels may receive vastly different grades from different teachers. Some teachers just mark really hard, others really easy.

“And many parents feel the child’s grade is just not reflective of their child.”

But board chair Trina Hurdman said it’s important to embrace the existing grading system and see it as an opportunity to improve communication between parents and teachers.

“Sometimes it might be difficult to understand in a summary format on a report card or even just on one PAT exactly how a student is doing. So we’re always encouraging parents to go talk to your teacher to get that understanding.

“Teachers are required to provide evidence to parents on an ongoing basis of what the student is learning and parents should be talking to teachers constantly about areas they can improve on.”

But Barb Silva, spokeswoman for Support Our Students, argued engagement between parents and teachers is becoming increasingly difficult as parents’ lives get busier, teachers’ classrooms become larger and more complex, and more students are bused outside of their communities.

“This is why we need, and continue to advocate for, community schools. If you’ve got your kids going to schools across the city, it’s going to be difficult to engage with teachers.”