Chesterbrook Students, Parents Receive Innovative Report Cards Today

Chesterbrook Elementary School students and parents are receiving a new kind of report card today. No more As and Bs in a broad subject area.

Now each subject is broken down into several key concepts. The youngsters receive a series of number grades measuring how well they are mastering each concept. The concepts are tied to the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOLs), that are the required state standards for measuring student achievement.

“We are comparing their achievement to the standards that they should be learning," said Judy Heard, who is in charge of the new report cards. The new report cards are out for a test drive at 10 Fairfax elementary schools today.

Most of us have no children in the Fairfax County schools so why do we care? Two reasons: First, we are homeowners and pay $2.2 billion for the county's school system. More than 50 percent of the county's budget goes to pay for the schools. Secondly, McLean schools are among the best in the county and that increases our property values.

Here are five most frequently asked questions and the answers about the new report cards.

1. This is called a standards-based progress report. In plain English, what is that?

A standards-based progress report give parents more detailed information about what a student is learning and can demonstrate in each content area. For example, instead of just a letter grade in history, a child receives a numerical grade in each of the following: explains how people and events have influenced the present, reads maps and understands geography, understands economic concepts and the impact of economics on culture.

2. Why do we need this change?

The current elementary school progress report (aka report card) does not allow teachers to report on how students are meeting expected standards. The move toward a standards-based reporting system is happening throughout the United States and aligns the information provided to parents on the progress report with how the school system currently teaches and assesses students.

3. Isn't this a huge change for teachers too. What do they think?

Now, teachers only have to keep track of how students are doing in mastering the standards. They no longer have to track assignments, Heard said.

Steve Greenburg, president of the Fairfax Federation of Teachers, said: "Although there were some initial concerns over the amount of work needed to complete the new cards (last year when they were developing it), we have not heard any complaints so far from the test sites. Teachers are overworked, but the cards themselves are not being identified as a major component of that," he said.

"A less 'competitive' (letter grades, etc.) assessment that focuses on a student's development and progress is better, in the elementary grades," he said. "It helps focus on a student's growth, and eliminates some of the issues teachers would traditionally deal with in relation to parents 'complaining about grades'."

Michael Hairston, president of the Fairfax Education Association, agreed, “We raised the issue about the number of indicators because there were a lot of them. If you are juggling many things, it speaks to the whole workload issue,” he said. But he hasn't heard many complaints so far this year, he said.

The report cards were developed over the past few years by committees that included parents, teachers and administrators, according to the school system.

4. How much does this cost taxpayers?

FCPS has been upgrading an outdated technology to a new student information system, the Integrated Student Information System (ISIS), to meet school system needs. The elementary progress report is part of this new system, so there are no direct costs associated with the technology needed for the new progress report. There will be some costs for professional development and for ancillary materials associated with the new progress report.

5. Since Chesterbrook is part of a pilot program, when will the other elementary schools move to the new report cards?

In September 2012.

A parent's view from Greg Brandon, former president of the Chesterbrook PTA: "I believe the new standards-based elementary school progress reports will better inform parents and teachers about the academic performance of their students with respect to the Virginia Standards of Learning and FCPS Program of Studies. This is fundamentally different from the current reporting system which compares a student's performance against other students."

Parents will have more information available to them in the new progress reports, which may be daunting at first. 

Snapshot of Chesterbrook

Enrollment: 630 students

Diversity:75 percent White, Not Hispanic; 10 percent Asian; nearly 10 percent Hispanic.