As the curriculum has changed, so too must the assessment and reporting of student progress. The goal of Communicating Student Learning (CSL) is to ensure that parents are well informed about their children’s progress, while being aligned with the direction of the revised BC curriculum. A shift from primarily focusing on summative assessment to primarily focusing on formative assessment is a large part of the expectations when reporting on student growth and progress in relation to the learning standards.
The development of Core and Curricular Competencies is driving classroom instruction and assessment practices. Assessment of all forms supports a more flexible, personalized approach to learning and measure deeper complex thinking. Increasingly, formative criterion-referenced assessment is creating the basis for responsive communication between students, parents, and teachers on where students are in their learning and what students need to do to improve.
Strong communication requires ongoing interactions and dialogue about student progress throughout the school year, involving the teacher, the student, and the parent. The goal of this communication is to provide the most up-to-date information about the student's learning. This communication can happen in a variety of formal and informal ways and is central to student success.
Goals for the CSL K-9 Pilot
The goal of Communicating Student Learning is to strengthen communication between home and school so that it is effective and timely, and:
The development of Core and Curricular Competencies is driving classroom instruction and assessment practices. Assessment of all forms supports a more flexible, personalized approach to learning and measure deeper complex thinking. Increasingly, formative criterion-referenced assessment is creating the basis for responsive communication between students, parents, and teachers on where students are in their learning and what students need to do to improve.
Strong communication requires ongoing interactions and dialogue about student progress throughout the school year, involving the teacher, the student, and the parent. The goal of this communication is to provide the most up-to-date information about the student's learning. This communication can happen in a variety of formal and informal ways and is central to student success.
Goals for the CSL K-9 Pilot
The goal of Communicating Student Learning is to strengthen communication between home and school so that it is effective and timely, and:
- Parents are well informed about their child’s progress
- Parents are involved as partners in a dialogue about their child’s progress and the best ways to support and improve learning
- Students are provided with information that is meaningful to them and helps them to improve their own learning
Pilot Reflections and Recommendations
year 1 reflections 2019-2020
Gathering feedback from various stakeholders (primarily at the elementary level) in the first year of the CSL Pilot provided the CSL committee with information to make recommendations for revisions and improvements for year 2. Feedback was collected from surveys, testimonials, and observations. Although the pandemic prevented feedback from implementation in semester 2, three common themes came through from the feedback and experiences from the first year.
From this feedback, along with the current structures as a result of the pandemic, revisions and changes have been made as improvements for year 2 of the pilot.
- The need for consistency – There were too many variables for teachers, admin, parents, students and the district departments that created confusion in understanding the change in reporting procedures. More consistency on formatting and formalities are needed. This was particularly communicated with the open structure for reporting points of progress.
- Understanding philosophy – More time, information and lived experiences are needed to explore and understand the ‘Why’ in this new shift in assessment and reporting. It is important to continue to engage all stakeholders in these conversations.
- Embracing Proficiency – Adopting and developing a deep understanding in using proficiency language to describe growth and progress vs. measuring students with grades is a paradigm shift and will require more time and experience assessing and reporting using this language.
From this feedback, along with the current structures as a result of the pandemic, revisions and changes have been made as improvements for year 2 of the pilot.
Key changes for year 2 2020-2021
- The term 'Written Points of Progress' will no longer be used. It was communicated that this caused confusion regarding requirements, formality and format used along side 'Points of Progress'.
- A Mid-Year Communication of Progress on MyEDBC was created at the elementary level to replace a point of progress for Literacy, Numeracy, Student Engagement and Core Competency communication. This provides predictability and consistency across the system for students, parents, teachers, admin, and the various district dept.s. without recreating a traditional report card including all subject areas.
- Mid-Course Communication of Progress on MyEDBC or an E-portfolio at the secondary level for every subject area. This encourages strength-based feedback and ongoing communication.
Year 2 reflections 2020-2021
Despite the challenges from the pandemic, year 2 of our CSL Pilot provided opportunity to grow in our understanding in the provincial shift in assessment and reporting. Technology played an important role in communicating with students and parents, providing new tools for formative assessment, and creating opportunities for students to engage and show evidence of their growth and progress. As the year progressed, teachers grew in their confidence and embraced many technologies to capture student learning, provide feedback and find ways to stay connected with students and families.
Continued growth across the system in understanding the CSL philosophy and embracing proficiency was evident in the lived experiences, conversations and professional learning not only happening at the K-9 level, but also as teachers at the secondary level began exploring various tools for formative assessment while using the proficiency scale with their students. With various opportunities to explore and collaborate during a pilot to try new assessment approaches and tools, teachers are continuing to explore the shift to focusing on curricular competencies and using a strength-based approach to celebrate and support student growth and progress
Consistency issues from the previous year surrounding written points of progress were addressed by implementing a MyEd Mid-Year/Course Communication of Progress report. Although this helped by ensuring a consistent program and timing of the reports district wide, MyEd continued to provide challenges for communicating and reporting as the current format does not support the educational shift and understanding of assessment and reporting. Feedback about these reports at the elementary level indicated that the timing was not conducive to primary programming and assessment surrounding the natural break in Dec/Jan. Furthermore, due to the restricted MyEd format of these reports, it was recognized that they needed to be more summative rather than a typical formative point of progress.
The pandemic continued to provide challenges with conferences at the elementary level being held virtually and conferences were cancelled altogether at the secondary level due to the shift to a quarter system schedule. Surprisingly, there were silver linings with virtual conferences at the elementary level with many teachers and parents appreciating the flexibility and convenience this format provided despite navigating technical issues at times. Moving forward, virtual conferences will be another tool to reach out and support families who may find it challenging to participate in the in-person conferences.
Digital portfolio use increased during the pandemic as a tool for students, teachers and parents to connect with each other and celebrate growth. Teachers explored various platforms and tools to capture and communicate student learning.
The CSL committee gathered feedback through surveys, testimonials, and lived experiences to provide the following recommendations for Year 2 of the Pilot:
Continued growth across the system in understanding the CSL philosophy and embracing proficiency was evident in the lived experiences, conversations and professional learning not only happening at the K-9 level, but also as teachers at the secondary level began exploring various tools for formative assessment while using the proficiency scale with their students. With various opportunities to explore and collaborate during a pilot to try new assessment approaches and tools, teachers are continuing to explore the shift to focusing on curricular competencies and using a strength-based approach to celebrate and support student growth and progress
Consistency issues from the previous year surrounding written points of progress were addressed by implementing a MyEd Mid-Year/Course Communication of Progress report. Although this helped by ensuring a consistent program and timing of the reports district wide, MyEd continued to provide challenges for communicating and reporting as the current format does not support the educational shift and understanding of assessment and reporting. Feedback about these reports at the elementary level indicated that the timing was not conducive to primary programming and assessment surrounding the natural break in Dec/Jan. Furthermore, due to the restricted MyEd format of these reports, it was recognized that they needed to be more summative rather than a typical formative point of progress.
The pandemic continued to provide challenges with conferences at the elementary level being held virtually and conferences were cancelled altogether at the secondary level due to the shift to a quarter system schedule. Surprisingly, there were silver linings with virtual conferences at the elementary level with many teachers and parents appreciating the flexibility and convenience this format provided despite navigating technical issues at times. Moving forward, virtual conferences will be another tool to reach out and support families who may find it challenging to participate in the in-person conferences.
Digital portfolio use increased during the pandemic as a tool for students, teachers and parents to connect with each other and celebrate growth. Teachers explored various platforms and tools to capture and communicate student learning.
The CSL committee gathered feedback through surveys, testimonials, and lived experiences to provide the following recommendations for Year 2 of the Pilot:
- Revise and condense the CSL handbook for Sept. 2021
- Provide more flexibility for the elementary Mid-Year Communication of Progress
- Determine a format for conferences at the secondary level
- Provide more flexibility for both spring and fall elementary conferences
- Continue to encourage and support digital portfolio use to capture and communicate student learning
- Provide opportunities for Gr. 10-12 teachers to implement aspects of CSL into their practice
- Provide opportunities for teachers to engage in professional learning opportunities with other colleagues to discuss philosophy, pedagogy and share experiences
- Provide further information and learning opportunities on CSL to parents
Key changes for year 3 2021-2022
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Year 3 Reflections 2021-2022
Much of the focus on year 3 was staying the course and ensuring there was consistency and minimal change from the previous year in anticipation of a new reporting policy for 2022-23. With the continued challenges from the pandemic along with other changes throughout the system, the only changes were those recommended by the CSL committee for the 2021-2022 school year. The new provincial reporting order was once again postponed another year and instead a survey for stakeholders to provide their feedback on Communicating Student Learning was given with the ‘What We Heard Report: K-12 Student Progress Reporting’ provided in January.
The most impactful change initiated through the pilot for the 2021-22 school year was specifically related to conferences at the elementary schools. More flexibility in the format was a response to feedback from both teachers and parents indicating that there needed to be more opportunities to be responsive according to the needs of both students and parents. Following provincial health guidelines and our district communicable disease plan, parents were provided the option to have either in-person or virtual conferences in the fall to connect and participate in their child’s growth-plan conference. Although these conferences were still three-way conferences focused on student goals, teachers were able to explore other formats to encourage student voice and parent engagement.
Spring conferences were the most notable change. With pandemic restrictions reduced, teachers were able to provide more flexible and engaging conference formats to support the celebration of student learning and goals achieved.
Although there was increased use of digital portfolios for communicating student learning, the sudden cancellation of Freshgrade as a digital tool created frustration as many teachers had spent years learning to use this tool and mature in their understanding of how it could be used to capture and communicate student learning. The Spaces pilot and later Seesaw reminded us to not focus on the tool, but the purpose of the tool. The analogy of crashing a car and driving a new one resonated as new tools would need to replace Freshgrade moving forward, but the purpose and basic functionality behind them remained the same.
Teachers, administrators, parents, and students have all grown in their understanding of the philosophy and pedagogy in shifting assessment from content to competencies and the use of strength-based feedback and proficiency language. Although more time, professional learning and collaboration are needed to further deepen our understanding and confidence in shifting assessment and reporting practices, dialogue amongst teachers and exploration at the secondary level has demonstrated how participation in the pilot has provided opportunities to shift thinking and practice.
The most impactful change initiated through the pilot for the 2021-22 school year was specifically related to conferences at the elementary schools. More flexibility in the format was a response to feedback from both teachers and parents indicating that there needed to be more opportunities to be responsive according to the needs of both students and parents. Following provincial health guidelines and our district communicable disease plan, parents were provided the option to have either in-person or virtual conferences in the fall to connect and participate in their child’s growth-plan conference. Although these conferences were still three-way conferences focused on student goals, teachers were able to explore other formats to encourage student voice and parent engagement.
Spring conferences were the most notable change. With pandemic restrictions reduced, teachers were able to provide more flexible and engaging conference formats to support the celebration of student learning and goals achieved.
Although there was increased use of digital portfolios for communicating student learning, the sudden cancellation of Freshgrade as a digital tool created frustration as many teachers had spent years learning to use this tool and mature in their understanding of how it could be used to capture and communicate student learning. The Spaces pilot and later Seesaw reminded us to not focus on the tool, but the purpose of the tool. The analogy of crashing a car and driving a new one resonated as new tools would need to replace Freshgrade moving forward, but the purpose and basic functionality behind them remained the same.
Teachers, administrators, parents, and students have all grown in their understanding of the philosophy and pedagogy in shifting assessment from content to competencies and the use of strength-based feedback and proficiency language. Although more time, professional learning and collaboration are needed to further deepen our understanding and confidence in shifting assessment and reporting practices, dialogue amongst teachers and exploration at the secondary level has demonstrated how participation in the pilot has provided opportunities to shift thinking and practice.
Key changes for year 4 2022-2023
The CSL committee gathered feedback through surveys, testimonials, and lived experiences to provide the following recommendations for the 2022-23 school year:
- Update the current CSL handbook (Version 5.0) and website to highlight changes that are new for September 2022.
- Adjust the language in the handbook and website to align with the June 2022 Draft K-12 Reporting Policy Framework; for example shift from "Point of Progress" to "Learning Update" and "Year End Summary of Progress" to "Summary of Learning."
- Standardize and provide support for digital portfolios to be used for assessment and reporting purposes.
- Elementary schools will use Seesaw. Teachers not using Seesaw will use a standard template that clearly identifies something as a learning update. Goal: For digital portfolios to be the primary communication and reporting tool for the 2023-2024 school year
- Secondary schools will use Spaces. Goal: Increase the intent and use of digital portfolios for communication and reporting for the 2023-2024 school year.
- Adjust the Mid-Year/Course Written Learning Update so that if a teacher is using a Seesaw or Spaces portfolio, with consultation with their principal/vice principal they can enter a common statement under the Strength Based Comment and Core Competency, unless an IEP is in place. Teachers not using a digital portfolio will continue to use MyEd BC and provide the required strength-based comment.
- Use the District Learning Team to provide a personalized approach to professional learning for teachers and principals/vice-principals.
- Support schools in parent communication.
As the Ministry of Education has indicated, a new K-12 reporting order will be implemented September 2023, it is anticipated this will be the last year of our SD22 CSL K-9 Pilot.
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Learning together on the ancestral, unceded territory of the Syilx Nation.
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