Change Headed For Elementary Report Cards

If you have a student in Reading’s elementary schools, expect some changes in your child’s report card next year.

The district will soon do away with the classic A through F grading system—and those old, paper pamphlets—and will instead transition to an online report card centered around descriptions of how well the student is mastering each subject area.

“Our current reporting system is 26 years old,” said Richard Davidson, principal of . “That, in itself, speaks for the need for change.”

Davidson and Karen Callen, principal at the , presented a preliminary look at how the report cards will change to the school committee Monday.

Callan said that the new system will resemble how students are graded on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) test, though it wouldn’t be a direct parallel.  For example, Davidson said, the report card will address specific subject areas, such as phonics, rather than a general subject, such as English.

As a result, he said, some portions of the report card may be left blank at the beginning of the year when that specific subject hasn’t yet been presented.

Davidson said he expects the new assessment system to improve communication between teachers, students and parents as to how the students are progressing and to provide more uniform assessment across different classrooms.

He added that he believed that learning the new system could take some time, but that it could mean less work for teachers in the long run.

Callen noted that the existing report card system had been a “point of frustration” for teachers. The existing report card system doesn’t match as well with how teachers are instructing these days, she said, and many nearby towns are already on their second revision of the new system.

The principals said that a 13-member committee has been working on the new report cards for more than two years. Their next step will be to ask for parent input at a series of meetings, one at each school, before implementing the report cards for the first time in November. 

Parent meetings: 

Birch Meadow—Wednesday, April 6

Killam—Tuesday, April 26

Eaton—Monday, May 2

Barrows—Tuesday, May 10

Wood End—Wednesday, May 11

All meetings will begin at 7 p.m.