PTS Name: Assessing Student Learning
Element: Communicating with students, families, and other audiences about
student progress
Indicators
As teachers develop, they may ask, “How do I…” or “Why do I…”:
- Provide all students with information about their progress as they engage in learning activities?
- Provide opportunities for all students to share their progress with others?
- Communicate learning goals to all students and their families?
- Initiate and maintain regular contact with families and resource providers about student progress?
- Communicate the results of assessments with my students and their families?
- Involve families as partners in the assessment process?
Descriptions
Examples may include, but are not limited to:
- Teaching students how to monitor their own progress on individual assignment/goal charts, and providing time every week for students to update these charts
- Sharing students’ achievements/accomplishments with families by inviting them to academic celebrations, curriculum nights and informational sessions
- Communicating with families by sending home goal statements, monthly progress reports and/or student-generated class newsletters
- Inviting families to regularly review student progress toward achieving goals via ARIS Parent Link and other educational technology tools
Problems of Practice
Challenges with this element frequently include:
- Informing parents of their children’s learning and achievement goals only at the school-organized parent-teacher conferences
- Failing to give families and others information about student achievement beyond letter and number grades (i.e. the teacher cannot speak to specific areas or concepts in which students are unsucessful)
- Failing to seek needed support to deal with questions and difficulties around assessing student learning