A Guide for Elementary Students and their Parents/Guardians
Reporting Policies for Ontario
As of September 2010, all assessment, evaluation and reporting in Ontario schools is based on the policies and practices described in Growing Success: Assessment, Evaluation, and Reporting In Ontario Schools, First Edition, covering Grades 1 to 12. This policy document introduced new report cards for both elementary and secondary students.
New reporting requirements are outlined in this Ministry of Education document. In elementary schools, the academic year is now divided into two terms with three formal reporting periods. On all of the report cards teachers share students’ information regarding their learning and achievement of the learning skills and work habits and the Ontario curriculum expectations.
Reporting Timelines
| Timelines | Report Card |
|---|---|
| November | Elementary Progress ReportCard (Interviews held) |
| January (endof term 1) | Elementary Provincial ReportCard |
| June (endof term 2) | Elementary Provincial ReportCard |
Learning Skills & Work Habits
The development of learning skills and work habits needed to succeed in school and in life begins early in a child’s schooling. As students move through the grades, they develop and then consolidate their learning skills and work habits in preparation for postsecondary education and the world of work.
In many subjects and disciplines in Grades 1 to 12, the development of the learning skills and work habits is further strengthened through the achievement of the curriculum expectations.
Teachers will work with students and their parents /guardians to help them develop the following six learning skills and work habits:
- Responsibility
- Organization
- Independent Work
- Collaboration
- Initiative
- Self-Regulation
Each learning skill and work habit is evaluated on the report cards using the following scale:
- E = Excellent
- G = Good
- S = Satisfactory
- N= Needs Improvement
Please refer to our Learning Skills & Work Habits pamphlet for more information.
Elementary Progress Report Card
The purpose of the Elementary Progress Report Card is to communicate your child’s progress towards the achievement of the curriculum expectations since the beginning of the school year. It describes how well, at this point in the year, your child is demonstrating the various learning skills and work habits. It serves as a central part of early discussions between home and school.
For this report card, teachers use a rating scale instead of letter grades or percentage marks. The rating scale is as follows:
- Progressing Very Well
- Progressing Well
- Progressing With Difficulty
Teachers also write personalized comments that indicate what has been learned, the student’s strengths and next steps that home and school can collaboratively work on to improve student learning.
Elementary Provincial Report Card
The purpose of the two provincial report cards is to communicate how well your child has achieved the overall curriculum expectations for each subject at the end of a period of learning (e.g., end of term 1 and end of year).
Determining a Report Card Grade
Teachers will consider the quality of all evidence for evaluation that has been collected over time using a variety of methods. The teacher will consider:
- all assignments for evaluation and tests/exams that were completed or submitted;
- the number of assignments for evaluation and tests/exams that were not completed or submitted; and
- evidence of achievement that is available for each overall expectation for a subject.
Teachers will use their professional judgement to interpret the evidence and then will assign a letter grade or percentage mark.
Understanding the Elementary Provincial Report Card
The table below outlines the potential letter grades and percentage mark ranges that students may receive on their Elementary Provincial Report Cards and summarizes what these grades mean in relation to the student’s achievement of provincial curriculum expectations.
| Letter Grade / Percentage Mark* | Achievement of Provincial Curriculum Expectations |
|---|---|
| A– to A+ 80%-100% | The student has demonstrated the required knowledge and skills with a high degree of effectiveness. Achievement surpasses the provincial standard. (Level 4) |
| B– to B+ 70%-79% | The student has demonstrated the required knowledge and skills withconsiderable effectiveness. Achievement meets the provincial standard. (Level 3) |
| C– to C+ 60%-69% | The student has demonstrated therequired knowledge and skills withsome effectiveness. Achievement approaches the provincial standard. (Level 2) |
| D– to D+ 50%-59% | The student has demonstrated the required knowledge and skills with limited effectiveness. Achievement fallsmuch below the provincial standard. (Level 1) |
R Below D-/50% | The studenthas not demonstrated the required knowledge and skills. Extensive remediation is required. |
| I | Insufficient evidence to assign a letter gradeor percentage mark. |
| NA | A checkedbox indicates thata student did not receiveinstruction in a subject/strand. |
| IEP | A checked boxindicates that gradelevel curriculum expectations have been modified and that students are working from an Individual Education Plan. |
| ESL/ELD | A checked box indicates that modifications have been made to curriculum expectationsto address the language learning needs of Englishlanguage learners. |
* Note: For students in grades 1-6, achievement is reported using letter grades. For students in grades 7-8, achievement is reported using percentage marks.
References
Growing Success: Assessment, Evaluation and Reporting in Ontario Schools (Grades 1-12) is available from The Ontario Ministry of Education’s website.
Ontario Elementary curriculum documents via Ministry of Education website