Grading and Reporting
Elementary Report Cards
Fall conferences provide an opportunity for teachers and parents to discuss student strengths and set goals for the year. Elementary report cards are distributed twice per year - in January and in June. Winter conferences provide a check-in point for goals.
Standards represent end-of-year goals. It's likely that students will take much of the year to meet a particular standard. In addition, not all standards are assessed in a particular grade period. For more on standards-based reporting see the resources page.
The following numbers and descriptors are used to report progress:
4 | Mastering | The student exhibits knowledge and understanding of the concepts, skills, and processes the standard requires and can readily apply this knowledge in a variety of settings. |
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3 | Meeting | The student has a thorough knowledge, understanding, and application of the concepts, skills, and processes the standard requires. |
2 | Developing | The student is gaining understanding of the concepts, skills, and processes the standard requires, but has not been able to consistently demonstrate the learning. |
1 | Beginning | The student is just starting to understand the concepts, skills, and processes the standard requires and needs consistent support. |
0 | No Evidence | No evidence of learning has been submitted during distance learning. The student has not engaged with or applied the concepts, skills, and processes the standard requires in the hybrid or digital learning environments. |
Detailed descriptions of standards for each discipline by grade level:
Help Support Your Child's Learning
Activities you can do with your child to support what they're learning in school:
Consistent with School Board Policy 6015 and guidelines from the Minnesota Department of Education, the elementary report card reflects all standards adopted either by the Minnesota Legislative statute or national organizations, depending on the discipline. The report card was developed with extensive research, input from a teacher committee and review by all K-5 teachers in the fall of 2014.
Secondary Grade Reporting
Report card for grades six through twelve are issued four times per year.
- While the district has not moved to a standards-based report card in the secondary grades, work is being done to move in that direction.
- Students do receive instruction based on standards and assessments are written to reflect these standards.
- Assessments in individual courses are based on academic standards adopted by the state of Minnesota.
Minnesota Department of Education: Standards, Curriculum, and Instruction
Information on Standards-Based Reporting
Standards based report cards measure students against a standard rather than each other.
They communicate student progress by measuring student learning on a well defined standard.
For example, the Minnesota English Language Arts Standards ask that students in grade 1 read fluently. We measure fluency (the ability to read accurately and with expression) by listening to a student read grade level text. Our criteria for fluency is that students read with expression, 71 out of 100 words per minute on a grade level passage by the end of the year.
Our standards-based report card identifies the major learning goals that students will be expected to achieve within each subject area at each grade level. Levels of competency have been established for each goal, and your student’s report card will reflect how they measure against each standard’s criteria.
A student's performance will be determined by a body of evidence including grade level work and grade level assessments. The following levels of competency have been modeled after the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCA) descriptors assigned by the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE):
Performance Indicators
4 | MASTERING | The student exhibits knowledge and understanding of the concepts, skills, and processes the standard requires and can readily apply this knowledge in a variety of settings. |
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3 | MEETING | The student has a thorough knowledge, understanding, and application of the concepts, skills, and processes the standard requires. |
2 | DEVELOPING | The student is gaining understanding of the concepts, skills, and processes the standard requires, but has not been able to consistently demonstrate the learning. |
1 | BEGINNING | The student's is just starting to understand the concepts, skills, and processes the standard requires and needs consistent support. |
*Students on an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) may receive a modified grade on the report card.
The four components of Standards Based Report Cards
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The Minnesota Academic Standards outline what our students should know and be able to do at each grade level.
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The curriculum which is based on the Minnesota Academic Standards that supports and drives student learning.
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The assessments teachers use to determine the extent to which each student has met the standards.
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The communication tool that allows a teacher to report accurately a student’s progress toward meeting the standards.
What is the difference between a Traditional and Standards-Based Report Card?
TRADITIONAL REPORT CARD |
STANDARDS BASED REPORT CARD |
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Reporting is based on teacher defined criteria. |
Reporting is based on grade level expectations from the Minnesota Academic Standards |
Work habits may be calculated in the letter grade (missing assignments, late work, homework, effort, etc.). |
Work habits are reported separately and are not calculated in students’ proficiency towards a standard. |
Measures how well students do in comparison to their classmates. |
Measures how well students are doing as measured by a specific criteria based on a body of evidence. |
Frequently Asked Questions
- Why use a standards-based report card?
- What does standards-based mean?
- How is a standards-based report card different than previous report cards?
- What marks will I see on my child’s report card?
- Does a 1 mean my student is failing? Does a 4 equal an A?
- How are marks determined?
- Why are we only given a report card twice per year?
- Can I help my child work to meet or master standards?
- What if I have more questions?