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A Future Ready Shift in Reporting Student Progress

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Future Ready – minded educators in the San Antonio Union School District in Southern Monterey County, California, received the task of redesigning the primary/elementary grade report cards for the district. The focus of the redesign was to create a template that allowed for reporting on the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) grade-level academic standards as well as the habits that create the profile of a successful student with a Future Ready Schools skills base and mind set.

Led by fifth-grade teacher, Amy Bowen, and under the leadership of Superintendent/Principal Pam Gildersleeve-Hernandez, a team of teachers reviewed both the CCSS and the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) standards as well as how current curriculum and instructional practice are meeting the expectations at each grade level. They worked through philosophical discussions around lingering challenges and concerns in the shift from the previous state standards and curriculum delivery model to instructional delivery that incorporates today’s skill-based standards as well as current digital tools and applications.

The team took on the important task of creating a reporting format that not only communicates progress on skills to students and parents, but also demonstrates the shift in education that includes an emphasis on the 4Cs (communication, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking). In addition, the team sought a format that would emphasize the impact the technological evolution has on preparing students with skills that will set them up for success in a workforce with a skills emphasis that is vastly different than that required in the workforce to which their parents and grandparents currently contribute.

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In addition to reviewing the academic and technology standards, the team spent significant time reviewing reporting templates from other school districts. A part of the San Antonio district culture is to switch hats from the point of view of teacher to student to parent to administrator when developing product, particularly when it comes to communication. In redesigning the report card, the team evaluated the designs of a variety of reporting templates. They switched their point of view for evaluation to support discussion on information they were getting and how they were interpreting it, to the points of view of receiving the report as a parent, being evaluated as a student, meeting the expectations of the administration, and providing clear communication and expectations from the teacher.

The final template incorporates ideas gleaned from other districts, the California CCSS and the ISTE Standards for Students with the incorporation of a Future Ready Schools mind set. Both the team and the district view this template as the first iteration of Future Ready–minded reporting. While the basic foundational skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic continue to hold a role of primary importance to an educated citizenry, the higher-order and deeper-level skills applications of the educated, contributing member to our global society will continue to adapt as the needs of the workforce continue to adjust to technologic advancements.

ABOUT PAM HERNANDEZ

pam-hernandez_professionalheadshot150x150Pam Gildersleeve-Hernandez is the Superintendent of the San Antonio Union School District in Southern Monterey County, CA. She serves as an ACSA Charter President and CUE Administrator Learning Network Co-Chair. Pam is passionate about preparing students for the ever evolving 21st century workforce while creating school and community cultures that embrace an understanding of what it means to be Future Ready.

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