TLS3003 (10E2050E) S12 Activity 2 Analysing strengths and weaknessed of examples of report cards by Min YANG https://padlet.com/myang9/c04uygfhygmg Please discuss the two questions according to the principles of good reporting with group mates and upload your answers to Padlet en-us 2018-02-28 16:19:17 UTC 2018-03-05 07:40:34 UTC hello@padlet.com Sanduni's group https://padlet.com/myang9/c04uygfhygmg/wish/236995853 Report card example 1:

1)For the first report card, it is relatively simple and brief compared to the other two. It briefly reports the students’ performance and achievements with few comments and remarks. It would be difficult for parents to understand how the students are performing because they rarely know about the details. The scale is also too elementary in which we can hardly be informed of how the students’ psychological development. However, there is one main strength of this report card is that it summarizes the students’ performance in short and simple form especially the extra-curricular activity. It allows a short but detailed description on students’ achievement explicitly which could be easy to understand for all parties.
2) To further improve this report card, we think a detail students’ psychological column can be added. For example, does the student able to achieve problem solving skills, cooperate with other classmates and participate in different aspects etc so that the teachers and parents as well as the students themselves can examine on students’ achievement and also their psychological development which is also essential.

Report card example 2:

1) In the second report card example, there are strengths and weaknesses. For instance, one of the strengths is the addition of the ‘awards and achievements’ section. This helps summarize and recognize the student’s achievements/efforts throughout the year. It is very straightforward and easy to understand by both parties. Another strength would be the subcategories included under each subject. For instance, English is divided into writing, speaking, listening, reading, etc. This allows the student to pinpoint his/her weak area in the subject and make improvements in it. Usually, in some report cards, a specific grade/mark is given to the whole subject, such as English: B+ which confuses the student/parent about which component is dragging the student’s score down. 
As for the weaknesses, first of all, there is no section for the teacher to make comments on student’s general behavior, achievements, subject-related etc. There is also no addition of attendance and conduct section in the report card.
2) Firstly, comment/remarks sections for different purposes, such as extra curricular activities, general comments, subject-related should be added in the report card to allow teacher to give more concise comments and suggest what student can do to learn better.
Secondly, attendance percentage and conduct grade should be given on the report card. This is important since it gives parents an insight of their child’s affective development. Moreover, addition of a part summarizing the student’s psychological development can also be included. Adding all these in the report card ensures both parties are aware of what to work on except academic so that the student grows into an all-rounded person.

Report card example 3:

1)In the third report card example, the strengths include having a lot of room for the comments of each subjects's achievement. Also, in the subject category of the report card, there is sub sections on a specific subject. For instance, if the subject being assessed is English then there are sub categories such as English writing, reading, oral and vocabulary. This is important because it allows the stakeholder(student) to identify where they need improvement. Furthermore, this report card focuses on the student's personal and social development aspects. This information can help stakeholders (parents) to monitor their children's development not just academically but also their psychological and social development. Thus, if they see something concerning they can perhaps readjust their parenting strategies or find other sources of help. 
As for the weaknesses, the report card does not explicitly provide details of the student's achievement. For example, the report card only has a section for comments and not a grade. This would pose issues for some stakeholders (teachers) since they would not be able to judge the standards of each student based on a set of levels. This would make it difficult in the long run to assess the progress of student's since there is no reference point.
2) One improvement could be the addition of attendance and punctuality. This is the report card of a primary school and we are more likely to acquire habits when done from an early age, Thus, it is important to stress on attendance so that both the school and parents can keep an eye on the student's progress. Furthermore, the personal and social development section is quite limited in that there is no room for the teacher to write their own opinion. Having an extra "other" option is a good addition since that would allow the teacher to write specific comments according to individual students and not just an overall general picture of the student.

]]> 2018-03-01 16:09:54 UTC https://padlet.com/myang9/c04uygfhygmg/wish/236995853 10E group 3 Alfred, Kelly, Daffy, Idrill https://padlet.com/myang9/c04uygfhygmg/wish/237302120 Example 1: 
Q1. At first, I disagree with the way of featuring students' achievement in terms of grades (i.e. A, B, C, D...). After all, these grades are not very good indicators. First, parents do not know the composition/source of these grades (eg. does it include CA marks?). That said, the school can utilize these data to differentiate high-achievers from low achievers when arranging which class students are to be put into, especially if the school is implementing the elite system so as to arrange the personnel and teaching resources more effectively. Above all, there is a column called teacher's remarks besides each grading of each subject. This serves to complement the inadequacy of the grades being the indicator of students' true performance in that subject. 

Q2)  There is no section showing the personal growth, interpersonal development nor the attitudes of students. I suggest that the part of General Comments be split into several sub sections featuring the aspects just mentioned so as to provide a more holistic view of the students' learning, academically, psychologically, and spiritually. 

Example 2
Q1&2) The strength of this report card is the break-down of the marks and the subject performance is presented in terms of marks. This is good because the message conveyed through marks will be a lot more than that conveyed through grades. Also, this is a fairer way of acknowledging the efforts of students in that their daily efforts and performance in class, homework and etc. are being taken into account and featured so that parents know that whether their kids really learn something in school and make a progress in their everyday learning. However, there is only a space to fill in achievements and awards. What if the student does not achieve anything substantial, like championship in certain contests, does that mean he/she is not performing well? I believe there should be the inclusion of extra-curricular activities so as to demonstrate to parents that their children do learn through informal learning though they may not be awarded any rewards. Most importantly, there lack the evaluation of the students' personal growth in terms of attitudes towards learning, interpersonal development, conduct and so on. Teachers should also write some unique comments on different individuals concerning their area of competency in the subjects and also their social skills in collaborating with one another. Without evaluating the generic skills students have/have not achieved, it is meaningless for him/her to be seen as exceptionally academically-competent.
 
Example 3
Q1)
The subjects can be divided into major category with the subcategory, so it can be easily read. However, the second part which is related to personal and social development is so general that may not fit in the characteristics of different students.

Q2)
Add a place for teachers to write some other comments. Because of the diversity of the students, teachers should give some comment which is based on the characteristics of different students. Therefore, the students will know how to improve their behavior. Moreover, the individual comment can also show teachers’ caring on every student.



]]> 2018-03-02 07:50:40 UTC https://padlet.com/myang9/c04uygfhygmg/wish/237302120 Group 4 https://padlet.com/myang9/c04uygfhygmg/wish/237337194
Example 1) The fact that this report card includes achievements and reporting not only of students' academic learning, but also on in-class activities (Principle 2). However, the grading scale, which is using 'excellent', 'very good', 'good', 'moderate', and 'need improvement', it can be rather vague and unstandardized. If the teacher is able to give more detailed commentaries on the remarks section, it could subjugate that weakness.

Example 2) This report card is solely based on student's performance, which is also only expressed through marks. Such systematic evidence- and standard-based reporting is clear to see the level of the student (Principle 4). However, it definitely lacks the 1st principle of good reporting, which should allow the room for comments and feedback from teachers for both parents and the students themselves to identify weaknesses, strengths, and points for improvement.

Example 3)
This reporting card is very much detailed and shows each of the consisting areas of assessment, so that it allows the parents especially for a more of an in-depth understanding of  what is expected of the students. Since the reporting is majorly based on the teachers' comments, it can inform the different parties not only in academic achievements, but also of extra-curricular and psychological development. One room for improvement would be, it would be better for the report card to also entail a grading scale or marks as to give more objectivity and evidence-based feedback as well.]]> 2018-03-02 10:33:28 UTC https://padlet.com/myang9/c04uygfhygmg/wish/237337194 Group 1 https://padlet.com/myang9/c04uygfhygmg/wish/237416425 Example 1)
Q1: The first example is very direct and concise for people to understand. The evaluation key they use to measure student’s performance is the grade of A,B,C,D, which can mostly ensure confidentiality​of the information on student achievements. Meanwhile, it is very appropriate for the part of extra-curriculum activities, since they provide the explicit description on student’s work. However, it also causes the difficulties for the parents to know students’ performance in class as well as the psychological development in details. Furthermore, this report doesn’t provide the evidence to parents to know students’ field achievements and get detial feedbacks from teacher’s general comments.
 
Q2: It is necessary to provide one more part about students’ psychology analysis and evaluate students’ attitudes. Meanwhile, the reports should add one column for teachers to write students’ learning performance in detail rather than only give one general comments.
 
Example 2)
Q1: The second report is very detail and specific to evaluate students’ work for the whole year. Firstly, this report not only provides student’s exam grade to parents, but also record their daily performance to make parents easily understand students’ attitudes and psychological performance. Secondly, it divides each subject into more specific part. For example, the English, they not only provides the grades for the whole subject, but gives more detail grades on writing, reading, and listening etc., which enables the parents know students’ weakness and their achievements. However, this report doesn’t provide the comment part for teachers giving feedback and summarize students’ performance. Thus, the teachers and parents are not easy to communicate from this report. On the other hand, there is no attendance notice on this report. In this case, the parents cannot trace student’s in-school performance.

Q2: The second report has already get a part to tell students and their parents information about the students’ achievement and awards. However, the awards may not contain the students’ day-by-day achievement in their school work. Thus, a chart shows students’ process of improving can be added.

Example 3)
Q1: The third report card has a large space giving to detailed and straightforward comment. And it can show students’ achievement from both personal and social aspects which ensure the confidentiality of information on students. Also, it shows students’ mental development. However, there lacks a clear grade so that other parties may not easily understand the report. Plus, the students’ development are showed in a inflexible chart, some unique characteristics of a certain student may not be mentioned.

Q2: A timely record can be added in order to see the daily progress of students’ learning. And the report of the developments of each students can be more flexible so that it can be fit to everyone. A more clear grade can be added to make the report more friendly to other parties so that they can understand.
 
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