• A child's report card is as personal and individual as the child. It is best not to compare report cards among children in the family or in the neighborhood. Since children do not develop or learn at the same rate, attempts are made to understand how your child learns best and to teach him/her at his/her level and rate of learning by using appropriate materials. Report cards are sent at the end of each nine weeks. 
    It is recommended that you schedule at least two conferences a year with your child's teacher. If you have questions about your child's work, progress, grades, or other concerns, please call the school to schedule a conference. 

    What does this report card really mean? 
    On the old report cards, parents knew what grade their student "got", but did not know specifically what the student knew or did not know. With the standards - based report card, parents will know exactly what their student "knows" or doesn"t know. 

    Performance Levels 
    The performance level tells parents how their child performed when compared to the standard. The performance level tells you how close your child is toward mastering the standard. In order for a child to be Meeting a standard (level 3), he/she must demonstrate proficiency on all indicators listed for that reporting period. A child will receive Developing (Level 2) until they show proficiency on all indicators under that standard. To achieve Advanced (level 4) a child must be working above or showing a depth of understanding beyond the grade level standards. As you can see the 1, 2, 3, 4 performance numbers are not a match with traditional A, B, C grading. Example: A child could be Developing on a standard because they met 12 out of 13 indicators. That represents outstanding work. To tell a child that a 2 equates to “C”, would be a great disservice to students. The focus should be, “You did awesome. You demonstrated proficiency on 12 of the indicators.” This illustrates the real difference between Traditional and Standards Based Reporting 

    Standards 
    Placed alongside the standard will be Performance Level for each quarter. The Rock Hill School website has three documents that can assist parents in learning more about their child’s curriculum: 
    Curriculum Maps (Find this under on the District Site under Departments/Instruction and Accountability/Elementary Education.)
    State Standards
    Parent Friendly Standards 

    Indicators are the skills required to master a content standard. When an indicator receives a “P”, it means the student is proficient when performing that skill. If there is a "NY” next to the indicator, it means that the child is not yet proficient with that skill. If there is a “T” next to the indicator, it means that the indicator was taught but not yet assessed. That indicator will be assessed during the next reporting period. Indicators that are not marked proficient for one quarter may be marked “P” later as the child has more learning time and more assessment opportunities. This newest version of the report card will grow as the number of indicators taught increases. 

     Here are several other articles that parents may find helpful:
    Parent Information on Standards Based Reporting from the Rock HIll School District

    Rethinking Report Cards
    Article from Great Schools.org

    Article from the NY Times