Elementary students to get new-look report cards

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NAUGATUCK — Elementary school students will still be learning their ABCs this coming school year, but the familiar letters will no longer be found on their report cards.

The district won’t be using traditional report cards with letter grades for elementary school students any more in favor of a system that looks more in-depth at student growth.

Rather than listing a letter grade next to each subject, there will be a list of competencies, or expectations of performance, under the subject, Curriculum Director Caroline Messenger said during last week’s Board of Education meeting.

The competencies will show if a student is performing at, below, or above grade level, Messenger said.

For example, Messenger said, rather than just grading a student in math, students will be graded on whether they know skills such as understanding and applying number systems.

“What it is going to do is show you more completely if that child is above, at, or below grade level. It is a very visual report card. I think that it is going to reflect our values and beliefs around education,” Messenger said.

Messenger said the district was concerned that the traditional report cards were not accurate enough in letting parents know how students were performing.

“If I get an A in math what does that mean? What if I get a C? What am I good at and what do I need to work on,” Messenger said. “An overall grade in a vague category like math doesn’t help us understand how a child is doing.”

Messenger said the district has spent the last two years making sure there are standards in place that would accurately track student growth across multiple grade levels. These standards are the same across all of the elementary schools in the district, she said.

“Parents will be able to see where their students will need assistance and where they are thriving. That way we can work together to get children where they need,” Messenger said.

Naugatuck is the only district that will use this type of report card, Messenger said.

Messenger said it’s going to be a change for teachers, who will have to use an electronic gradebook to better track students’ progress.

“This is going to be a learning process for all of us,” Messenger said. “We want to make that it’s easier for everyone. Nothing is written in stone. While we spent a year developing this, we want and value feedback. We want to make it the best product it can be.”

The first semester’s report cards will come with a letter explaining the change and how to read them, Messenger said.

While Messenger sees the new report card as a step in the right direction, it is not the only step the district is taking to help parents track how their children are doing in school.

Messenger said the district is going to have a “Parent Portal” on the website that will allow parents to track their child’s progress in real time throughout the school year. She said the portal is expected to be open when teachers have become comfortable with the new grading book.

The district is also hoping to use the new report cards for all grade levels eventually, Messenger said. She said officials are looking into how to provide that specific information effectively to higher grades and will move forward when and if it is ready.

Messenger said she knows parents will question why the district changed the familiar grading system. She hopes parents will see how much better it is once they have the new report cards in their hands.

“My hope is this will make parent conferences and conversations with parents more strategic and more fruitful. We will know where the children are and can plan how to better assist them,” Messenger said.