PYP and Report Cards

I was really hoping to do at least one post in the middle of the week, but many of you know sometimes it is hard to juggle all the paper work, volunteer work, assessments, and oh yea and the actual teaching we have to do on a daily/weekly basis.

This week is report card week. EEK! They can take up a lot of teacher's time, especially if they do not receive a "Records Day' to work on them (Does anyone have those at their school/district???) The report cards that we complete at our school are very different from what you see at a typical public school. More IB/PYP schools are adopting their report cards to fit the curriculum, but it is not a standard report card.

Like most of you, we have each academic subject (Math, Reading, Writing, Science etc) and we give our students a 1-4 scale on each subheading within that report card. For example in math students are given a 'grade' for their fact fluency, solving problems using multiple strategies and understanding math concepts. 

But something that is unique to our school, an many IB/PYP schools is that we also give students a 'grade' for their transdisciplinary skills. We know that there is more to just students doing well on tests or quizzes. It is important that students are improving in areas that are not typically 'graded' or seen on standardized tests, which is where the transdisciplinary skills come in. Students are 'graded' on their social, self-management, thinking, communication and research skills. 

Could you imagine if there was a way for administrators, school boards and politicians to see what amazing abilities these students have that cannot be found by a simple test score??? There are so many students that are able to problem solve, find answers to questions they have while researching and keep themselves organized and on task at school. Unfortunately there's no test to see that. 

That is why I love that we show growth in our students in more than just academic areas. Parents and students can see growth in their ability to work with others, use their time wisely and apply the appropriate steps of inquiry. And when our students go to high school or move to another school teachers will really have a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the whole child before they step foot in the door.