Shifting Towards Assessment-Aligned Trimester Reporting

Overview

The shift to virtual instruction created an opportunity for leaders at the School District of Cudahy to rethink grades and reporting, something leaders had wanted to do prior to the pandemic.

Approach

District leadership worked with schools to narrow reporting focus to a core set of “power” learning standards, reducing emphasis on attendance and participation. Reporting periods were also changed to trimesters (rather than quarterly) to better align to assessment cycles. Leaders invited parents to participate in the process of designing the new report card, which was launched at the elementary school level first.

Superintendent Dr. Tina Owen-Moore did note that this new reporting approach required some adjustment, saying, “I think one thing that this did do is it really forced teachers to look at the tasks and I think some students struggled with that. Some families struggled with that when they weren't used to being assessed on their work. They were used to being assessed on whether or not they were a good participant in class or were quiet or spoke up and didn’t have any bad behaviors. So that was a learning process for a lot of people. But I think it was really good for the teachers in helping them shift to that standards based grading too and really be focusing on the work that students were doing.”

This strategy is a part of TLA's Hop, Skip, Leapfrog release, which explores the concrete ways in which schools and systems pursued student-centered innovation during COVID-19. Explore the full guide to find additional strategies, insights, and resources.