Writing Reports Writing school reports is an intrinsic and much valued aspect of a teacher's work

1. Writing ReportsWriting school reports is an intrinsic and much valued aspect of a teacher's work

2. The role of the teacher • The challenge for teachers is to provide all the relevant detail about students’ progress and ensure that the information on the report is clear and concise and grammatically correct. • It is important the report is coherent and there are logical links between the achievement of the student, areas for improvement and actions the school and parents might take.

3. Be honest, encouraging and professional • Students SHOULD be improving throughout the year and that's what you want parents to see. • An effective report is one that focuses on areas of improvement rather than dwelling on the negative nature of a child's past performance. Even if a student is below expectations in a particular subject, there is no reason to turn that experience into a negative one • Whatever the ‘evidence’ or ‘estimate’ used in a written report, a possible test for ‘meaningfulness’ is whether the evidence provided to the audience is understood by the student, particularly if it is to have value for the student’s learning.

4. OTJs • Written comments should be consistent with the overall teacher judgments made and the expectations. • Recommendations for improvement need to be consistent. • Comments about student achievement should also be provided.

5. Use evidence • Reports of judgements made about student achievement must be based on quality evidence of what each student has actually achieved against the expectations/standards. The evidence that sits behind the overall judgement and the scores and rating assigned provides the detail for the written comments about specific: • areas of strength and specific areas for improvement • ways to help the student continue to learn and develop future pathways • ways for parents to assist the student’s learning.

6. What to Say and How to Say It • Reports should give both the students and parents an overview of the student's continued progress in a term in the academic, personal and behavioral areas of interest, hopefully displaying steady improvement throughout the year. • Write your teacher report comments in simple or "layman's terms" so that parents will clearly understand what you're trying to say.

7. Expectations • Choosing the curriculum expectations for the year is crucial! • Teachers must plan according to these expectations and (depending on the principal or school board) all or almost all of the expectations in the curriculum guide must be covered by the end of the year. • "Next Steps" is included to specify the areas that the student should focus on for the next term/year.

8. Vocabulary • Reports look more professional if the vocabulary is descriptive and concise so it is better to avoid using the words ‘good’ ‘well’  and ‘average’. • These words give a very general picture and so they are not very informative.

9. Using simple verbs will allow you to describe the strengths of each student • Applies, Builds, Compares, Completes, Constructs, Continues to, Creates • Demonstrates, Describes, Develops, Evaluates, Experiments, Explains, Expresses, Extends • Has learned, Illustrates, Interprets, Is able to, Knows, Organizes, Operates • Participates, Performs, Produces, Recognises • Shows, Solves, Understands, Uses, Works well…

10. Even when a need is present to describe a particular weakness, there are ways to create a positive spin by turning what a student lacks into what a student simply needs assistance with. • attempts to, makes attempts • continues to - needs help with • encouragement with/to • is being encouraged to • is benefiting from practice with

11. Tell it like it is! • Reports are a very important communication tool between you, the students and the parents /whanau of a student. • They are an essential part of being a student and being a teacher – remember they are meant to encourage the students whilst also being truthful. • Information must be meaningful to both the student and to parents/whanau • You MUST tell it as it is – if you don’t, how can the parents support you in putting it right?

12. Other Things to Keep in Mind • The final comments should be calculated from daily work, homework activities, classroom activities and NOT just from assessment

13. Students • If the student has done well this term/year, acknowledge this and encourage them to continue doing so. • Acknowledge progress made. • If students recognise that you have seen their achievements they will try harder.

14. The “Student comment” and “My learning goals” • This feature of reports requires students to develop their own awareness of their successes, their learning needs and areas of improvement.