School reports—cracking the code     013

Twice a year, and sometimes more often, parents receive their children’s school reports.  Teachers don’t like writing them and most parents don’t enjoy reading them.  The main reason for this is that parents worry too much.  And to make matters worse some schools are so mean they have done away with the traditional printed report.  Instead parents receive an email version. Well this saves money and also makes sure that school reports actually reach parents. But for parents paying school fees an emailed report can be disappointing. Reports then can cause a lot of trouble.

Although each school has its own format, school reports are surprisingly similar. Achievement is typically reported using five levels or achievement bands. The presumption is that if children are in or near the middle band then they are certainly on track, at grade or year level. Indeed these days nearly every child seems to be on track since very few children appear in the bottom or second bottom band. This could mean that children are mostly achieving at the level they should, or it could mean that levels have been set a little low, or it could mean that teachers and schools are being too optimistic. Well it could mean a lot of things but the important thing is what the report means for your child.

Most children, and for most of the time, find themselves in the middle achievement section. Some parents get discouraged because they want to see their child up and out of the middle section and into the top or at least the second top section. However things may not be that bad. At most schools the middle section contains a large number of children since most children achieve at this level. So children can in fact improve significantly and still be in the middle. Parents then need to look at other aspects of the school report.

One of the best indicators of progress is the place in grade. If a child has moved from 60 out of 120 up to 30 out of say 119 then his mother and father should be pleased. Some schools however report only a place in class and this is less reliable. Parents need to know how the classes are organised. Sometimes schools have a top and second top class, and the rest are at the same level. The aim here would still to be to advance in terms of place in class, but more importantly, to reach the top or second top class.

Teacher comments are of vital importance and should be read very carefully. Sometimes teachers write comments such as, “John would benefit from writing practice essays” or “Mary needs to carefully revise her assignments before submitting them”. These are comments which could perhaps be written about many children but parents still need to pay attention. It could mean that John has no idea about writing essays and needs help, and that Mary simply hands in any old rubbish to her teacher.

Other types of comments are more specific. “Samantha has improved in spelling” or “Brendan is now making more use of phonics when attacking new words.” These comments are encouraging but parents should remember that the comments relate more to improvement and less to the student’s current level. If for example Brendan was in Year 3, where most children have mastered phonics and wouldn’t need a comment, there could still be cause for concern.

You see teacher comments do need careful interpretation. Here is another comment: “Henry is to be congratulated on his progress in contributing to class discussions.” Sounds positive but is it?  Well the true situation could be that Henry never puts his hand up or speaks but now puts his hand up and speaks once every two days. Yes, that’s an improvement but Henry may be on his way to failing every job interview he will ever have. So parents need to relate teacher comments to what they know of their own children.

In high school, and in some primary schools, there are comments from quite a number of teachers. These need to be compared. If your child is inattentive in English, well this can happen. But if three teachers complain that your child is not engaged, then action is needed. Compare results in subjects such as English and history. If your child has no trouble writing essays in history but can’t seem to write essays in English, then perhaps your child doesn’t get on with the English teacher. Another issue to be investigated.

All school reports have an indication of student effort or approach to learning. Children are given gradings—for example ‘always’ or ‘often’ or ‘sometimes’—on attributes such as ‘completes homework’, participates in discussion’ or ‘takes responsibility for own learning’ etc. Now here’s the point: if your child’s gradings mainly appear in the middle, then this is no good at all. Top achieving students always have gradings in the highest boxes, on all attributes. It’s just tick-tick-tick right down the best column. This is something in which your child can and must improve.  He or she needs reminding about this from time to time.

When examining your child’s report always get out the previous two reports. Do not be concerned about variations here or there—probably the ship is basically still on course. No, you are looking for distinct trends over time. This can be particularly useful in identifying problems which do now require intervention. This usually means a trip to the school to talk with your child’s teachers. But don’t get too upset, or even angry. Remember that 10 or 15 years from now—when you child is a billionaire—the reports will have ceased to exist. But of course they are relevant now. If you are worried then make an appointment at the school. This will give the teacher time to consider the situation and also give you time to calm down.

Teachers do put a lot of time and effort into writing them and you should consider them carefully as they are a valuable source of information. So then, good luck with your child’s reports.

All content copyright—Mark Thackray—Australian Educational Services