Subject: New Report Card Format

Hello Upper School parents and guardians,

This packet is the new Upper School report card. We are phasing in a new format, which includes the End of Term Self Reflection and Assessment (R&A) and the Teacher Assessment of Course Goals. R&A gives students a consistent way to assess themselves and to directly communicate that analysis with parents and teachers. Every Upper School student fills one out for every one of his/her classes at the end of the term. The Teacher Assessment portion is used by the instructor to assess the student’s skills specific to the course, which are tied directly to skills from the Trillium Framework. These, collectively, all go home to parents as the report card. The Narrative/Grade report currently in use will serve as a cover sheet to indicate final, amount of credit, and credit area. High school transcripts will not be affected by this change as they will continue to include only the basic information. This new format is designed to give students, parents, and teachers greater insight into what the student is learning and how we can all better support him/her.

Benefits of the new system:

*Gives predictable, uniform way in which students assess their own progress, and get teacher feedback, across classes.
* Supports assessment of progress over time.
o Keeping these forms (which are currently paper copies) as part of the student’s report card will allow the viewer to readily see how the student is developing in specific areas such as participation in discussions or focusing during activities, for example.
*Assessment data is readily apparent to parents.
* Ties classroom learning directly to Framework goals.

Future modifications:

*Have R&A on-line, as part of a database:
o Students would fill out forms on-line. This would save paper as well as sorting time.

Quarter 1 will be a transitional period from the old format to the new. You will notice that most, but not all, of your student's course will be covered by an R&A and Teacher Assessment form. Beginning Q2 we should be using them across the board. Please let your student’s advisor know if you have questions.

Happy Thanksgiving,
Upper School Staff