Some Schools To Issue Revised Report Cards

Parents with children in Spokane elementary schools may do a double-take when they open those report cards this year.

Students in a dozen or so schools will be trying out new cards, which could become standard next year.

The revised report cards are better measures of the new learning targets for elementary students, which parents will receive this week, educators say.

One new section measures computer skills as early as first grade.

New categories for kindergartners include “understands the meaning of what is read” and “problem solving.”

In grades four through six, students will be graded on how well they communicate their understanding of science.

A new category for all grades measures how children “respect individual differences.”

That means kids are expected to show respect for other students in relation to their race, gender, religion, ethnic origin, disability, sexual orientation and other differences, said Fran Mester, director of educational services.

That matches a student behavior policy the school board adopted a year ago, Mester said.

It replaces a category on the standard report cards that says “willing to explore new ideas.”

“It was felt that no one really understood what (that) meant,” Mester said.

While the pilot cards contain new categories, the grading system hasn’t changed. For instance, students in grades four through six still receive letter grades, and kindergartners still get grades such as “progressing” and “needs more time to develop.”

Kids in first, second and third grades will continue to be ranked on a scale of 1 through 5.

But parents who see a string of 5’s shouldn’t panic.

On traditional cards, that’s the worst possible grade. On the revised cards, it’s the best.

, DataTimes