This update is intended to provide guidance for teachers and parents with regard to the assessment of students’ academic progress during the learning-at-home period.

Background

On March 20, Alberta Education defined the expectations for continuity of education during the pandemic.

To identify what content needs to be delivered, teachers will evaluate curricular outcomes that have not yet been covered, prioritize remaining outcomes based on what is manageable for students working from home, and will plan specific tasks and projects for students.

Content delivery for each grade is broken down as follows:

Kindergarten – Grade 3

• Education content will focus on language/literacy and mathematics/numeracy outcomes of the provincial curriculum.
• Teachers will assign an average of five hours of work per student per week, and will be expected to work with their students and parents on the delivery of these materials.

Grades 4-6

• Education content will continue to focus on language/literacy and mathematics/numeracy outcomes, and there will be opportunity to incorporate science and social studies outcomes through cross-curricular learning.
• Teachers will assign an average of five hours of work per student per week, and will be expected to work with their students and parents on the delivery of these materials.

How does this impact report cards?

We are all concerned about next year. We often look to the final report card as the document that describes the student’s preparedness for the subsequent school year.

• A report card’s main purpose is to summarize the students’ level of academic achievement compared to grade level standards.
• Students, parents and next year’s teachers are the main audience for this information.

We need to align with the expectations described by Alberta Education for the rest of this school year. We must also consider the purpose of the final reports. Pembina Hills teachers will be determining and reporting a final grade based on their assessment of the student work that they have seen.

• Students’ work has always been just one source of information that teachers use to assess a student’s level of understanding.
• Prior to the learning-at-home time, teachers were able to assess the work done plus they were often interacting with students during the completion of the assessment tasks. This means they could consider daily observations and conversations.
• More recently, teachers are assessing students similarly, but with various limitations.
• And, the amount expected has been significantly reduced. For instance, grades 1-3 have no specific expectations for science and social studies for the remainder of the year.

So how will teachers determine a final grade?

It is safe to assume that most students would have continued on a very similar path through to the end of the school year. Therefore we have instructed teachers to:

• presume this trajectory would have continued from the learning that took place at school
• estimate of the levels of achievement displayed by the students’ work during the learning-at-home period
• and assign final grades accordingly.

Parents can expect to hear from teachers with regard to students who were on Individualized Program Plans.

Key factors that will contribute to a student’s final report card

In-class work completed prior to spring break

• A student was performing well in class and all assignments and expectations were up to date
  • It is reasonable to report on completed units of instruction in the final report card
  • This student is likely to be prepared for the next grade level
• A student was under-performing or had not completed work assigned while in class
  • It is reasonable to expect that incomplete work be completed at home and submitted
    • If it is not completed, the teacher will have less evidence upon which to base a final grade
  • These results must be communicated in the final report
  • This student is likely to be less prepared for the next grade level

Learning-at-home after spring break

• A student continues to provide the teacher with something to assess during the learning-at-home period.
  • It is reasonable to report a final grade consistent with work completed in-class
  • This student is likely to be prepared for the next grade level
• A student does not submit work regularly
  • A teacher cannot assess work that has not been completed and submitted and therefore must report this gap
  • This student is likely to be less prepared for the next grade level

Subjects that are not studied during the learning-at-home period

• The province has reduced the expectations for grades 1-6 and focused on literacy, numeracy and core subjects.
• Students will not receive instruction in certain content for the rest of this year
• Teachers will report on units that have been completed prior to the spring break
• If a unit of content was planned to be addressed in spring, and therefore will not be addressed at all, the teacher will leave a blank space on the report card for that unit
  • and state the reason for the missing mark in the comment section (“Content not addressed due to pandemic”)

What will next year’s teachers expect?

As always, next year’s teachers will be responsive to individual student needs and will plan and support accordingly.

Every student in the province is dealing with this change in their education.

To help teachers prepare, we plan for transition meetings that will have more detail than in typical years. In these meetings:

• Teachers will describe the content that they have not covered
• More importantly, they will describe their assessment of each student’s individual strengths and challenges
• We recognize that next year’s teachers will spend time reconnecting and developing relationships while transitioning to increasingly more academic expectations
• It is reasonable to assume that next year’s teachers will extend the period of time they allot to reviewing and diagnosing their class’s needs
• We have good tools at our disposal to do this work including numeracy assessments and literacy assessments. Teachers may also use ADLC’s Preview-Review materials to help accelerate students’ return to grade level.

Who should parents talk to about helping their children now?

Teachers have committed to providing support directly with students.
We encourage you to reach out to your teacher if your child is struggling with concepts or assignments.
Please reach out to principals or school counsellors for help and guidance on how to structure your child’s day.

School contact information