D.Lambert | Secondary | Science
I think in post-primary education we get reporting all wrong. When I say reporting I mean the sending home of reports on students at least twice a year. I think we get it wrong because they are an unfair, misinterpreted and ultimately ineffective.
Imagine being a parent to John and seeing his 2nd year winter report.
English – 90% - an excellent result and is working well at the moment. John could ensure he has completed is homework fully next time.
Maths – 50% - an excellent result for John here and one he should be proud of. He is working well and is always willing to challenge himself in class.
Irish – 70% - A disappointing result here from John as he is currently working really well in Irish and is certainly capable of showing a much greater command of the Irish language.
Science – 75% - John is struggling with science this term and this is due, in part, to the lack of homework completed and the lack of engagement in class. Hoping for a greater improvement for the next term.
First impressions is that John is a good student and is doing well in 2nd year. We are instantly drawn to maths, with the lowest percentage on the report of 50%. As a parent would you be concerned? It says it is his lowest score but the comments say he is working well. How can a student be working well and get 50%? As educators we know that this is absolutely possible and very common. But the question is, do parents know that? Do parents know that for the maths assessment it was an hour long, and it covered content from 1st and 2nd year? Do they know that the highest in the class was 62%? Which piece of information gives a better picture of how John is doing in 2nd year, the percentage grade or the teachers comment?
Now let’s look at science. A very impressive percentage of 75% considering he often complains about science but the comment says he is struggling and points to where improvements can be made. As a parent you might be thinking that 75% doesn’t suggest he is struggling, in fact it suggests he is actually doing quite well. Can the comment be taken personally? Does the teacher not like John? The report does not say that the science grade was based on a poster to which John met all the criteria for a rubric and by default the teacher had to give the marks. If John sat a science exam on the content covered recently he possibly may have failed. The assessment would have shown this.
I hope you are catching my drift with where I am going but let’s do one more. Put back on your parent hat for one more moment. John did well in Irish with 70% but the comments say it is disappointing result? This can’t make sense can it? Shouldn’t we praise John for achieving such a high grade considering he only took up Irish 5 years ago when he moved to Ireland? The comment seems unfair. But what if the teacher is right? What if John is that good at Irish? What if he excels in his class and the day to day evidence is that he is making excellent progress and that the teacher is expecting him to reach in the 90+ percent range as it was an assessment on the easy side.
I see 3 problems with reports like these
Firstly the information sent home is unfair. Slapping a percentage grade to subjects allows for an easy comparison, but it is fundamentally flawed if each assessment has its own range of expectations. Is it fair to compare a 1 hour assessment on content from 1st and 2nd year to a poster on a research topic? What do the percentages even mean here? I can achieve 100% of a 100m sprint but only complete 55% of a marathon; which form of athletics I probably stronger at? Any percentage sent home should be from a similar source. Each subject has the same exam time allocation and the same percentage of a subject exam paper. For example in a 45 minute exam the students will be assessed on 40% of a total exam paper. Every subject does this. This doesn’t allow percentage comparison to be fair but allows it to be fairer.
Does every report need a percentage? This blog and the scenarios above are all fixated on the percentages and their meanings. What if the comment was the only thing conveyed. This stops students and parents being blindsided by the grades. John did get a disappointing result in Irish because he has been excellent in Irish since 1st year and is certainly capable of learning from this which we have no doubt he will. I’d argue that only the summer assessments need a grade, with the exception of 6th years, who should receive a grade on the winter report. 60% could mean just keep doing what you are doing in one subject and a disappointing result in another. They never convey the full message alone. The comment can be over shadowed when they used together.
When do parents need to see reports? A quarter of the way through the year after the school settles into a new term? Half way through but is this too late? A summer report to encapsulate the whole just gone? What do parents do with reports? What changes will we see in the students from when the reports go home?
Take for example sending home a report just before Christmas, just before the school breaks up. Students sit their exams in mid-November, teachers correct tests and write reports and reports go home in time for Christmas. For many, Christmas is a busy time of year and a report going home may not have the same impact as it should because there is so much going on. Also students and parents will have forgotten about the feedback when the two week break of school comes to an end. So all that feedback for nothing. Time to given to feedback that is not acted on is a waste of time. Should exams happen right up to the break but reports go out early in January so they arrive when everyone
is fresh for the new term?
The overall point is that reports can be unfair, misinterpreted and ineffective. Do I think parents should get reports? Absolutely. But does too much effort go into reporting when we are left wondering if they are having the desired impact we need to have?
