More Victorian schools are scrapping the typical A to E grading system on student report cards following an overhaul of the long-established student achievement reporting system.
From 2014 schools have been able to adjust their reporting arrangements to be consistent with the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority’s F-10 curriculum planning and reporting guidelines (the Guidelines). The Guidelines were updated in December 2015 and give schools a lot more freedom to experiment with their reports. The Age reports that schools are embracing new regular academic updates and ditching lengthy, end-of-semester reports.
The Guidelines state that reporting student achievement has, until recently, changed remarkably little over the past 100 years. The previous rigid and mandated reporting format, according to the VCAA, meant that with the exception of the individualised learning plans for students with learning disabilities, reporting student achievement has been based on a one-size-fits-all approach that has not always provided every parent with a simple, common sense report that provides up-to-date and relevant information about student progress.
Some schools are no longer providing the ‘stock standard’ A to E grades on student reports as they have found that parents and students were paying too much attention to the letter grade, and ignoring other important feedback from teachers about a student’s progress. One school’s assistant principal told The Age that while the previous mandatory reporting style had left teachers feeling ‘boxed in’, the school’s new report cards include contributions from both students and teachers, and rate the student’s knowledge, skills, participation, reflection and study habits.
As in other States and Territories across Australia, there are certain requirements for student achievement reporting in Victoria that must be met by a non-government school for registration purposes. There are also Federal reporting requirements that must be met as a condition of Federal funding arrangements.
In Victoria, the Education Training and Reform Regulations 2007 (Vic) (the Regulations) (Schedule 2, 3) require all non-government schools to ensure that:
The Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA) in its ‘Guide to the minimum standards and other requirements for school registration’ states that for the purposes of registration, schools must provide evidence of compliance with the above regulations in the form of the school’s assessment and reporting policies and procedures, including how it meets Commonwealth Government student reporting requirements.
These Commonwealth, or Federal, requirements for student reporting are slightly more elaborate than the Regulations however still provide Victorian schools with a high degree of freedom in how they choose to present and report student achievement data to the school community.
Regulation 59 of the Australian Education Regulation 2013 (Cth) provides that:
Although reports no longer need to include a standard letter grade, and there is greater flexibility for schools in reporting student achievement, it is critical that schools ensure that all student reports are readily understandable to each person responsible for a student at the school. This may require schools to consider the needs of parents and carers of students who are from culturally or linguistically diverse backgrounds when preparing students’ reports.
In January this year, the Catholic Education Commission of Victoria (CECV) released an updated version of its Guide to Meeting the Minimum Standards for School Registration and Other State and Federal Requirements for Victorian Catholic Schools (the CECV Guidelines). The updated CECV Guidelines include nine additional Federal requirements to the registration process. It is important for schools to understand that these requirements are not ‘new’ but rather additional requirements as they are, and have been, in force under the Australian Education Act 2013 (Cth) for some time now.
By now including these Federal requirements in the CECV guidelines, the CECV is emphasising the need for schools to ensure that they are continuously complying with these nine Federal requirements, including those relating to student achievement reporting. The CECV has also included additional guidance on how to comply with the Federal requirements, and who is responsible for evidencing compliance, whether it be the system of schools, or the member school itself.
Australian Council of Education Research chief executive Geoff Masters told The Age that letter grades are not very useful in monitoring a student’s progress as a student who received the same grade year after year could be making no progress. Now that it is up to schools to determine the timing, frequency and format of reports in consultation with their school community, and having regard to the minimum standards relevant for registration purposes, an Education Department spokeswoman has reminded schools that their reports on student learning must still be ‘clear, individualised and provide accurate information relevant to the AusVELS or Victorian Curriculum standards.’