Assessment Update

An update from SPERD Central Office

Reporting on Student Learning: Assigning Marks and Grades to our Students

As we progress with at-home learning for the remainder of the 2019/20 school year, we would like to update you on our plans for reporting student progress and assigning grades. As per Alberta Education:

 Every student will receive a final grade and students who were on track to progress to the next grade will do so in the next year.  Teachers will be responsible for assessing a student’s progress and reporting their progress.

For all K to 12 students  All students will receive a report card at the end of the school year.  There will be no final exams or cumulative type projects.  Both Diploma and Provincial Achievement Exams are cancelled.  As circumstances allow, we hope our students will put in a reasonable and honest effort into their work right through until the end of June.  The last day of school will be June 24, 2020, and students will be provided ongoing learning up until this date. IMPORTANT TO NOTE: When classes were cancelled on March 15, 2020, high school students in semestered courses completed only about 25% of their learning. While Alberta Education mandated that students in all grades that were on track to progress to the next grade/course will do so in the next school year, we also very much know that simply advancing students will cause difficulties for them at the next level. All courses and grade levels rely on the skills and knowledge developed in previous grade levels. For instance, Grade 10 math relies on skills and content acquired from a full Grade 9 math course. As such, it is absolutely critical that students remain engaged and learn as much as possible with feedback from their teacher. While a student may pass their course and receive credits this year, next year’s teachers will be teaching all the required learning outcomes and students will have to meet these standards. Teachers will certainly be reviewing the learning that was missed during at-home learning, but students who put in minimal effort now may struggle more next year and could be unsuccessful.

Kindergarten to Grade 6  For K to 3, education content will focus on language/literacy and mathematics/numeracy outcomes of the provincial curriculum.  For Grades 4 to 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.  For Kindergarten to Grade 6, students will still receive their regular outcomes based report card. Rather than assigning a letter grade/achievement indicator, students will receive feedback about their learning in the comments section.  For the remainder of the school year, teachers will provide feedback to help move learning forward. Grades 7-9  Education content will focus on core mathematics, language/literacy, science and social studies curriculum outcomes.  Students will receive a final grade on their report card for core subjects.  For non-core courses, the delivery method of learning may vary greatly and teachers will use their professional judgement to assess any student progress during at-home learning. A final mark for all non-core courses will still be provided.  Marks will continue to be updated in Powerschool.

Grades 10-12  Education content will focus on specified and core courses required for high school graduation requirements, including language (English, French and French language arts), social studies, mathematics, biology, chemistry and physics.  Content from other courses will be delivered where possible, and accommodations for students unable to complete courses are in place.  Students will receive a final grade for all courses in which they are enrolled and credits will be awarded.  Those who are on track to receive 100 or more credits will still be eligible to graduate and receive a high school diploma.  If the student is unable to complete a course that would have led them to achieving a high school diploma, such as a work experience or a career and technology studies course, principals have the ability to award unassigned credits to ensure the student graduates.  Marks will continue to be updated in Powerschool. Determination of Final Marks in Grades 7 to 12  For grades 7 to 12, if students are engaged with at-home learning, marks will not go down from when classes were suspended on March 15, 2020.  Student marks may increase based upon demonstration of further learning. For more information, please see the following link from Alberta Education: Education Continuity Plan: COVID-19