Yes, that seems like an oxymoron, but it's true! The Ministry has released to stakeholders a draft policy document called "Growing Success - Assessment, Evaluation and Reporting: Improving Student Learning". With a planned implementation date of September 2010, some of the elementary-level changes are two report cards and a fall progress report, new report card templates, new learning skills and habits to be reported on, and clarification regarding comments. The new reporting schedules call for a progress report for JK to grade 8 to be used between October 20 and November 20 of the school year. These are primarily checklists, with some space available for comments on strengths and next steps for improvement. The first formal written report to parents will be sent home between January 20 and February 20, and the second will be sent home toward the end of June. ETFO has long lobbied for a reduction in report cards, and these changes, along with the associated collective agreement language, should help to alleviate teacher workload.
On the topic of the collective agreement, don't forget that you should now know the submission dates for all report cards for 2009-2010, as of September 30. You continue to have a half day of release per year, with occasional teacher coverage, to use for planning, marking, preparing report cards, etc. Don't forget to book this time off each year!! In addition, the first PA day in June 2010 is set aside for report card writing. Next year, 2 PA days will be designated for completing report cards, with one day for each reporting period. Finally, don't forget the newest language regarding report card editing: "Every reasonable effort shall be made to limit requests for revision of report cards to no more than once in each report card cycle. Principals will provide specific direction to teachers regarding the revisions that are required. These requests and revisions shall be made in a timely manner" (Article 17.15 d).
