GROWING SUCCESS: A new way of reporting progress and

achievement!

Reporting student progress and growth to parents is an important task and this year,
families will notice changes in how we go about communicating student learning as a
result of a new Ontario Ministry policy document (Growing Success) regarding
assessment practices and report cards.

Some of the changes that families will notice include:

• One mid-term Progress report on a student’s development of the learning skills
and work habits during the fall of the school year, as well as a student’s
general progress in working towards the achievement of the curriculum
expectations in all subjects, with particular feedback on Math and Language
progress.
• Two provincial report cards will be sent home to parents; one in February and
one at the end of June.
• Six Learning Skills (instead of 9) and work habits are now at the beginning of
both the Progress Report and Provincial Report cards. (still reported on using
Excellent, Good, Satisfactory, and Needs Improvement) Students are working
together with classroom teachers to identify what these skills look like in the
intermediate classroom. Example behaviours include:
1) Responsibility- complete assignments and homework on time, take on their
share of work during group-work and take accountability for their own
behaviour
2) Organization – use their planner to map out a timeline for when work should
be done, makes sure that they use all information given to them by the
teacher when completing work, including the list of expectations, checklist or
anchor chart.
3) Independent Work- follow instructions, gather and use resources, require
minimal supervision with tasks, and willingly seek help when they are stuck
from friends or teachers so that they can continue on.
4) Collaboration- offer ideas to the group, take risks in participating in group
projects, can take on different roles when needed and value and encourage
others and their contributions.
5) Initiative- seek out new learning opportunities, offer help to others,
approache new tasks with a positive attitude and advocate for what’s right in
a situation.
6) Self-regulation- persevere with difficult tasks, monitor their own progress,
reflect on their own reactions and thoughts and deal with conflict and
frustration in productive, respectful ways.
• Progress Reports will show “Progressing with Difficulty”, “Progressing Well”, or
“Progressing Very Well”. Marks or grades do not appear on the Progress
Report.
As partners in supporting your child's education, parent/guardians will be asked to
review and complete the bottom section of page two of the Elementary Progress
Report Card before returning that portion. Students will have already entered in their
own comments and goals on the report at school. The signed portion will be attached
to the file of the Progress Report Card and filed in the Ontario Student Record folder.
Report cards are one of the tools that teachers use to communicate with parents
about each student’s learning, growth and areas for improvement. Parents are
encouraged to contact their child’s teacher at any time to discuss questions or
concerns that may arise.