TORONTO, Ont. – Report cards are being distributed this week to students across the province but it’s not clear if they’ll be nearly blank or filled with feedback.
The teachers’ union remains unhappy about the contracts imposed by the government but the ongoing protest that’s been affecting students seems to be easing.
In the fall, public elementary teachers were directed by their union to do the bare-minimum when it came to filling out report cards, but this time they’re being encouraged to use their professional judgement.
This directive comes from a two-page memo from the Elementary Teachers Federation saying teachers will not be expected to comment on every learning skill, the Toronto Star reported.
A spokesperson for the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario told 680News the union typically sends out memos to their members about report cards. The union is simply providing routine information to its members.
Report cards were sent home to students of the Peel Region School Board Monday. Toronto District School Board students can expect their report cards Friday.
TDSB expects that one-in-five teachers followed the union’s bare-bones directive in the fall.
Premier-designate Kathleen Wynne has promised to mend fences with the teachers in order to ensure the highest quality of education for students across the province.
“The process over the last few months in the relationship between education and government has not been what it should’ve been,” said Wynne.
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I respectfully disagree with you. I’ve read your flame in this section many times and tried to see things your way. Some things I agreed with, most I did not. On this issue I think your anger has gotten the best of you. Do you enjoy teaching anymore? As a dad, I do read your report card comments. I especially appreciate when a teacher makes it personal instead of a copy paste. It shows they care and know my son. I understand they need to copy\paste sections in order to get through their students cards. I guess you never read one of your hand written report cards your teacher gave to your parents. I did and my mom and I had conversations about how I was doing. You may feel you’re not getting paid to do this, or that it’s a waste of time, or you’re just going to punish some parents and students, but your service is valuable. All of it. You just have to decide whether you’re cut out for this kind of work anymore
I agree. Why is this news at all? Teachers have never been required to comment on every learning skill each term. Learning skills are on the first page of the report card. They are not the language, math or science comments. They are things like organization and self regulation. Commenting on the ones that are the most important to the specific child’s strengths and needs are what makes this section so valuable. The teacher can truly individualize these comments. Commenting on each one, each term does not make sense. This is not something the union made up, it is in the report card document along with many other regulations, rules and advice. Please get your facts straight before attempting to unnecessarily create animosity. Isn’t this suppose to be a piece of journalism, not the comments of a school yard gossip queen?
I don’t even know why this is news. How many parents even read the comments? In High School all the parents care about is the marks and in Elementary parents only read the comments if the kid is struggling and if that’s the case they would have received a phone call anyway. Report card comments are overkill at the best of times.
RE: How many parents read the comments? I find it doubtful that you speak for “all” parents. I have a child in both HS and Elementary. And I always read all comments – and discuss what it means with my children. The Learning Skills comments are the most important to me – it’s things such as organization, self-regulation, and initiative that will help our kids later in life. Someone can memorize a bunch of facts and be able to repeat it on a test, but that does mean it’s a sign of future success. If you know how to learn new concepts, apply existing knowledge in new ways, and can be creative – these skills will serve you well as you move into the working world. I also tell me children that the marks are not important – I care they they’ve tried their best, and are constantly improving, not whether they got an 80% or 60%.
I hope my children’s teachers give well-thought, constructive comments. I don’t want to hear just the bad news, I also want to hear what they’re doing well so we can encourage those traits. I read the comments, and they are more important to me than the marks.