Kindergarten Reporting System
During the summer a team of staff members which had representation from
kindergarten through fifth grade, special education, specialists, and
administrators from Manchester and Essex Elementary schools met to discuss a
new structure for our reporting system (report cards and conferences).
The committee recommended a more aligned report card in first through fifth
grades and using a combination of portfolio assessments and increased
conferences in kindergarten. Essex kindergarten teachers have been using the
portfolio approach to assessing and sharing with children and parents and are
pleased with the results. While the committee is still working on developing
an aligned 1st-5th grade report card, the following schedule will be
implemented in kindergarten this year.
Conferencing will take place on the following days:
• November 5: No school all day for children
• November 10: Early release for children
Both days will be for an initial meeting with parents. Baseline alphabet and
math skills assessment will be shared with the parents.
During the last week of January each Kindergarten teacher will have a
substitute teacher to cover their class while they conference with the
parents. The conferences will be on different days of the week so that all
teachers do not require subs on the same day. At this conference the mid-year
math assessment, the initial phonics assessments, and December writing prompt
will be shared along with DRA results (reading assessment).
As you may know, the school wide conferences on April 15 are scheduled at the
discretion of the teacher and parents in order to discuss students who would
benefit from an additional meeting in between the January and June
conferences.
During the second week of June there will be an end of the year conference
when the student work samples from the portfolio will be given to the parents.
At the June conference the end-of-the-year math assessment along with the
final phonics assessments, May writing prompt, and final DRA results are
shared with parents. As in January, substitute teachers will be hired to cover
the class during the conference times for the teachers.
We are excited about this new reporting system as it seems a more appropriate
way to involve children and parents in order to increase good communication
between home and school. At the end of the year we will assess the
effectiveness of this reporting system and make any necessary adjustments.
