Designing the Classroom Curriculum Designing the Classroom Curriculum | Page 120

Designing the Classroom Curriculum
Table 8.1: 8 Principles of Reporting in NSW Schools 48
Reporting Principles Details
1. Student
Reports
should
meet
specified
requirements. Reports need to meet specified Department guidelines; including A-E reporting, learning area
reporting, reporting against state wide syllabus standards, written comments and requirements
for ESL students and students for whom accommodation and or learning adjustments have
been made.
2. Student
Reports
should be easy to
understand. Reports need to be written in plain English. Teachers, like other professionals, have a specialised
language for communicating among themselves about what children are learning and about the
difficulties children are experiencing. Reports to parents need to use plain, everyday language.
3. Student
Reports
should show what a
student is now able
to do. 4. Student
Reports
should show students’
progress. 5. Student
Reports
should show what is
expected of students. Reports need to summarise where a student is up to in his or her learning—the skills and
understandings that are demonstrated now. Some schools may use marks, grades or numerical
levels, but these are not sufficient. Reports need to contain objective information about what
has been taught and about students’ current levels of knowledge, skills and understandings,
including areas for further development. Written comments may be particularly useful for this
purpose. A portfolio of examples of a student’s work for discussion at a parent-teacher
interview, or samples of the child’s work on a confidential web page, are two strategies for
providing supportive evidence.
Reports should show progress and allow progress to be monitored over time. In any given year
level, children are at very different stages in their learning. Reports need to give an accurate
picture of where each student is up to in his or her learning in a way that allows parents to
monitor learning. Reports need to focus on learning and progress, rather than make judgements
of the child.
Reports need to indicate the achievements expected of students at a particular year level. For
example, a report for a Year 3 student could indicate how the student is performing in relation
to other students in the same year level.
6. Student
Reports
should include social as
well as academic
information. 7. Student
Reports
should be constructive. 8. Student
Reports
should
be
ti me
efficient
and
manageable to prepare.
Reports need to provide information about how students are progressing socially as well as
academically. Schools not only develop children’s understandings of subject matter; they also
develop personal skills such as working independently, dealing with frustration, and completing
tasks with concentration. Schools teach children to respect the contributions of others, to learn
from others, to cooperate in joint activities, and to live and work together, sometimes putting
the needs of other children ahead of their own. Reports need to provide information about all
aspects of development, not just academic development.
Reports need to provide information in a constructive manner with reference to actions likely
to support further learning. Reports will not only show parents what their child is able to do
and what progress they are making over time, but will also suggest practical ways in which
parents might support their child’s further learning. Ideally, reports will form the basis for
discussion between teachers, students and parents.
Reports need to draw on the formal and informal evidence that has been collected routinely
and recorded systematically as part of teachers’ ongoing classroom assessment practice.
Principles of Reporting
According to the NSW Department of Education and Training [DET] (2008, p.1), Student Reporting is “the
process of communicating information to a range of stakeholders about student learning—including a
Principles of Assessment and Reporting in NSW Public Schools (2008). Located at
http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/timetoteach/policy_doc/principles_ar.pdf
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