Roshen Hasan (997501154)

Growing Success: Report Card

Grading Scale
A Excellent B Very Good
C+ Good C- Adequate
D Poor F Failure

Criteria for Mark Evidence

Assessment
B+ “Where in the teacher’s professional judgement it is appropriate to do so, a number of strategies may be used to help prevent
and/or address late and missed assignments. They include:
• asking the student to clarify the reason for not completing the assignment;
• helping students develop better time-management skills;
……
• deducting marks for late assignments, up to and including the full value of the assignment.” (pg.43)

“On the other hand, many experts in the field of assessment and evaluation discourage deducting marks or giving zeros for late
and missed assignments, arguing that such measures do not make students change their behaviour or help them succeed in the
long run.” (pg. 46)
Feasible for teachers

“The professional judgement of the teacher, acting within the policies and guidelines established by the ministry and board, is
critical in determining the strategy that will most benefit student learning.” (pg. 46)

According to the above quotes, teachers have some freedom in the strategies they want to implement when dealing with
late/missed assignments. This is important, since the teacher is the only person that has the most interaction with the students, thus
they are best suited to make decisions regarding late/missed assignments. However, teachers must also abide by the policies that
are “established by the board and the ministry” (pg. 46). This could restrain teachers from making a fair judgement with regards to
late/missed assignments. For example, if the board/school has a no zero policy, the teacher cannot give a mark of zero for a missed
assignment, even though the student does not make the effort to submit their work or submit it on time, and does not have valid
reasons for doing so. This leaves teacher in a sticky situation, where they are forced to use the board/ministry policies, whereas their
professional judgement might be more suitable. One reason for this, is that the policies might not take into considerations the
circumstances students might face outside of school. For example, a teacher might know that the student is not doing well due to
some circumstances that they are facing outside of school, and thus the teacher might feel that he/she needs to give them a
resubmit their work, or submit it late. However, if the policy does not allow this, then the teacher has to abide by those rules even
though they believe that it is not fair to the student. I think that in such cases teachers should speak to someone when their
professional judgement does not agree with what’s outlined in the policy, and try to see if they can find a solution to their dilemma.
Roshen Hasan (997501154)

B “Determining a report card grade will involve teachers’ professional judgment and interpretation of evidence and should reflect
the students’ most consistent level of achievement, with special consideration given to more recent evidence.” (pg. 39)

“Seventy per cent of the grade will be based on evaluation conducted throughout the course. This portion of the grade should
reflect the student’s most consistent level of achievement throughout the course, although special consideration should be given
Practical for Students

to more recent evidence of achievement.” (pg. 41)

At first glance, taking into consideration the most recent evidence of achievement might seem beneficial to students, since one
would think that students are more accustomed to the course. However, the two statements above do not take into consideration
students’ lives outside of the classroom or the school, since some students might do poorly towards the end of the course due to
circumstances beyond their control. Therefore, the very last achievement might not accurately and fairly reflect the students’ effort
or learning in the course. However, the statement does allow teachers to use their professional judgement. Therefore, if a teacher
sees a significant drop in the student’s marks, then they can try to find out why, and based on their findings they can decide how
much weight they should put on the students’ most recent evidence of achievements. Moreover, it might be more suitable to
consider all students’ achievements throughout the term equally. This would also encourage students to work hard throughout the
course, and thus get the most out of it.
C+ “To the extent possible, however, the evaluation of learning skills and work habits, apart from any that may be included as part of
a curriculum expectation in a subject or course, should not be considered in the determination of a students’ grades.” (pg.10)

According to the statement, there seems to be more focus on the content, and less relevance is given to the learning skills and work
habits. However, learning skills and work habits are very important skills that student need to learn/develop, since they teach
students skills, such as time management, that would allow them to succeed in their studies. They also teach students skills that they
Powerful for learners

would require in their social lives, and future studies and careers. By not assigning a grade to learning skills and work habits, their
importance might be undermined by the teacher and by the students and their parents, since the focus tends to be on what counts
for marks. This can also lead to the misrepresentation of student learning, since learning skills and work habits are part of students’
learning and achievements. Moreover, by not assigning a mark for those two factors, hard-working students who might not
necessarily be getting high marks, might become discouraged, since they would feel that their efforts are not being appreciated.
Therefore, allocating even a small percentage of the grade for learning skills and work habits, would give those factors more
importance, and encourage students to develop their learning skills and work habits to succeed academically and socially.

Additionally, the statement above makes it seem that the content is the most important thing that the students must learn.
Although, this might not be the intent of the author, teachers, students, and/or parents can misinterpret this statement, causing
them to think that those skills are not important. It is most dangerous if teachers misinterpret this statement, since that will cause
them to neglect the importance of the learning skills and work habits. Consequently, they might put in less effort towards helping
students develop their learning skills and work habits, which can in turn have a negative impact on students’ success.
Overall Grade: B