A new provincial, parent-friendly report card written in plain language will make student achievement clearer for parents. This announcement was made by Education Minister Nancy Allan.
“Manitoba parents want the best education for their children. This important initiative will improve the quality of our education system by giving parents and teachers a clear and understandable way of tracking how kids are performing, where they need help and where they are excelling,” said Allan. “The parent-friendly report card will allow teachers to enrich reporting with personalized information about each student and ensure parents get the information they need to be full partners in their children’s education. Parents will now get consistent, clear information about how well their children are learning, what steps will improve learning and give parents quality information they can use to help their children succeed in school.”
The new report card, which was unveiled today at Sister MacNamara School, was piloted in the 2011-12 school year in selected schools and has been mandated for use in all public schools in Manitoba by the fall of 2013. This will ensure consistency throughout the province, the minister said adding that, currently, report cards differ from division to division.
In addition to information about academic achievement, the new report card features information about students’ learning behaviours, so parents can understand their children’s effort and attitude in class, Allan said. The new high-school report card (grades 9 to 12) contains a completion of requirements for graduation chart, showing the student’s progress toward graduation.
An advisory committee made up of members of the Manitoba Association of Parent Councils, the Manitoba Association of School Business Officials, the Manitoba Association of School Superintendents, the Manitoba Teachers’ Society and the Manitoba School Boards Association was involved in the development of the new report card.
“In the past, parents told us they struggled to make sense of report cards, which were highly technical and didn’t paint a comprehensive picture of the student’s progress,” said Allan. “With input from parents, teachers and the public at large, I am confident this new report card is more functional, understandable and informative about where children are excelling and where they need more support.”
Several school divisions are now participating in training session offered by Manitoba Education, as they prepare for the implementation either in fall 2012, as part of the voluntary implementation, or in fall 2013, when mandatory provincial implementation will take place. For more information about the new provincial parent-friendly report card, go to www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/assess/report_card.html.
