The 2018-2019 school year focused on growth in the area of Communicating Student Learning. The staff embraced the opportunity to collaboratively alter assessment practice and shift the process of communication to parents.
The journey began through multiple meetings in the spring of 2018. As a staff, we decided to use Growth Based Assessment language and to primarily communicate student learning through the digital portfolio Fresh Grade .
The work continued at a summer professional development day where we took the first steps in creating a Growth Based Assessment visual that would be used by all teachers, Kindergarten to Grade 6. This was really important to staff as we wanted to develop a common language that could be accessed by all students to help them understand and take ownership over their learning. Throughout the school year, the teachers worked with their students to develop an understanding of this language which allowed them to assess their own learning and confidently speak about their learning. BHE Growth Assessment Visual.pdf
Staff collaboration continued at Implementation Day in early October and through the school year during staff meetings. The focus of the morning at Implementation Day was to learn about best practice on creating quality posts on Fresh Grade that encompassed the Growth Based Assessment language. In the afternoon, a member of the Instructional Leadership team helped the staff decide what was important to include in a report card that reflected the ongoing communication through Fresh Grade. All of the ideas were collected and two staff members created a report card template that could be used by all teachers K-6 and be adapted to their individual needs. Bankhead Report Card Template.pdf
The changes to assessment and reporting were communicated to the parent community by the classroom teachers, at PAC meetings and a parent evening. All parents were invited to attend a parent evening dedicated to conversation about Communicating Student Learning. Multiple staff members, the principal, the Central Family of schools Assistant Superintendent and other district personnel attended the event to provide information and insight into the changes. These changes have been well received by the Bankhead parent community.
Staff were given the opportunity to collaborate on communicating student learning and reporting at staff meetings throughout the school year. Adopting the growth assessment language and applying it to communication with parents and reporting required a significant shift for the teaching staff. The staff is commended for all of the effort put into making these changes go smoothly with students and parents. This effort was ongoing throughout the school and growth was observed through both Fresh Grade posts and report cards.
The use of Growth Based Assessment, Communicating Student Learning and reporting will continue to be part of the focus during the 2019-2020 school year.