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Choosing a FrameworkOver the past several years, Alberta has seen significant changes in how schools report student learning. Many school authorities have now firmly established these shifts. Schools and teachers across the province have widely adopted electronic reporting systems to communicate student learning. At the same time, more elementary schools have shifted toward outcomes-based reporting, and some jurisdictions have begun extending these approaches into junior high and high school settings. These structural changes coincide with a stronger emphasis on assessment for learning, the recent implementation of the new curriculum, and a persistent public focus on how learning is evaluated and shared. Alberta schools primarily use two reporting frameworks. Outcomes-based reporting lists specific performance statements by subject, while holistic reporting offers an overall subject judgement. Both use teacher comments for further context on student progress and next steps. Opinions vary on the most effective approach to reporting to parents. Assessment design, evidence collection and storage, and parents’ information needs all influence the choice of reporting format. School authorities, therefore, seek to balance clarity, accuracy, and usefulness in reporting. Understanding each framework’s purpose helps support stronger decisions at the system and school level. Jurisdictions may also blend elements from both approaches to better serve their communities. |
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Selecting the Outcomes to be Included in Outcomes-Based Reporting
Purpose of Clustering Outcomes: Determining how to cluster outcomes in the reporting process should be intentional and collaborative, requiring thorough, thoughtful analysis of the curriculum.
Understanding the Full Curriculum: Teachers should engage deeply with their grade-level curriculum and also gain clear insight into prior and subsequent learning expectations. This perspective helps educators pinpoint the most essential and high-priority outcomes for meaningful assessment and reporting.
Collaboration Across Grade Levels: Collaboration among teachers ensures these clusters represent a coherent learning progression, establish consistent expectations, and support students’ continued development.
Creating a Purposeful Reporting Process: By thoughtfully clustering outcomes, educators can develop a reporting process that is purposeful, focused, and aligned with both curriculum intent and students’ developmental needs.
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Supporting Teachers in Implementing a New Reporting System
The Challenge of Implementation: Implementing a new reporting system is complex and requires time, planning, and sustained effort. Success hinges on thoughtful system design and comprehensive support for the educators who use it daily.
Providing Support to Educators: Jurisdictions support teachers and administrators during implementation through professional learning sessions, access to resources, and ongoing guidance from curriculum or instructional coaches.
The Importance of Collaborative Time: A critical factor is providing teachers with time to collaborate. This enables them to explore the system, share practices, address challenges, and develop a shared understanding, thereby strengthening consistency, building confidence, and supporting meaningful implementation across the school or district.
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Making Decisions about Student Performance Categories
Determining How to Report Student Performance: When designing a reporting system, decide how to communicate student performance. These decisions guide how teachers assess learning and how families and students understand progress.
Considering Jurisdictional Guidelines: The Guide to Education provides clear reporting standards for student achievement, using letter grades and percentages as a framework. Jurisdictions have the flexibility to follow this framework closely or to adapt it by creating performance levels that align with local priorities, educational philosophies, and the unique needs of their students.
Exploring Reporting Options: Reporting options include letter grades, descriptive categories, percentages, or narrative comments. Selection should consider students’ ages, grade levels, and the reporting purpose: feedback, growth, or summary.
Aligning Decisions with Learning Goals: Performance categories should foster clear communication about learning, helping students, parents, and teachers identify achievements and next steps. The approach must align with curriculum expectations and students’ developmental needs.
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Deriving Input from Parents, Students, and Educators
- Focus groups
- Survey after implementation
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In this video, the speaker describes how parent feedback through surveys, meetings, and conversations informed the redesign of progress reports to provide meaningful information about student learning.
Reflect and Discuss
Teachers:
- How could you use parent feedback to make your progress reports more meaningful and actionable for families?
- What strategies can you implement in your classroom to ensure that the progress reports communicate clear information about student learning, beyond just grades?
Leaders:
- How can leaders support teachers in using parent feedback to design progress reports that provide meaningful information about student learning?
Examples for Leaders to Consider:
- Provide structures for gathering parent feedback
- Support teachers in interpreting and using feedback
- Offer guidance on meaningful communication of learning
- Create opportunities to refine reporting practices
- Ensure alignment between feedback and reporting expectations
Ensuring Policy Supports Reporting: School Division Assessment Policy Review
To what extent does our assessment policy support the use of parent feedback to inform meaningful reporting? If this grading and reporting practice is absent from policy, is it important enough to embed in policy, and if so, what changes are needed?