Descriptive grade confusion

Although a majority of parents are confused with the new “descriptive” grading terms on school report cards, there is a deeper meaning to the written grade, says the school district’s superintendent of schools.

Trish Smillie, superintendent of School District No. 8 (Kootenay Lake) encouraged parents to speak with their child's teacher if learning updates were unclear. Just over one week ago report cards went home for students across SD8 and many parents are still concerned with the lack of “grades.”

In September 2023, the B.C. government replaced A, B, C, D and F letter grades for students in kindergarten to Grade 9 with the current proficiency scale, while in SD8 it has been in place since 2016. The change stems from efforts to create a more objective evaluation of students' academic progress, and to "maintain high standards for student learning.”

“Descriptive feedback is important for helping students and families understand how students are developing in their learning," said Smillie. "While letter grades can give you an idea of how students are doing, written feedback that clearly explains what students can do and what students need to work on to move forward in their learning.”

However, a study conducted by the Fraser Institute showed that over 60 per cent of parents — across B.C. and SD8 — are unable to grasp the new grading system which uses structural grading with descriptive terms such as emerging, developing, proficient and extending rather than traditional letter grades.

“By switching from letter grades to descriptive grading, the government has made it much harder for parents to understand how their children are doing in school,” said Michael Zwaagstra, a senior fellow at the Fraser Institute.

“Parents in B.C. are clearly confused by the government’s new grading system, which includes vague terms open to interpretation,” added Paige MacPherson, associate director of education policy at the Fraser Institute.

Smillie contended that under the previous system, families had less information about their progression in a class or course. The new system, she said, provides more specific insight in to how students can continue to develop.

"Student grades may have focused more on an average over the course of the subject, as opposed to now, when the system focuses on what students accomplish in their learning by the end of the course or class,” Smillie explained. “The inclusion of student self-assessment and encouragement of personal responsibility is something that is different than previously.”

By including student self-reflection of the core competencies and student goal setting, students become part of the assessment process and are encouraged to personal responsibility for learning, she said.