Understanding Standards-Based Reporting

Reporting standards are written benchmarks for students that explicitly state what each student should know and be able to do by the end of the school year. Some reporting standards are discreet in nature, which means they could be mastered earlier in the year. However, the majority of the reporting standards are not intended to be mastered until the end of the year. In Massachusetts, these standards are detailed in the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks. The Nashoba Regional School District Curriculum is developed, aligned, and regularly reviewed to ensure these grade-level standards are taught effectively. 

Standards-based reporting highlights the priority standards to be mastered across the year. Formative and summative assessments are used to measure how well students are progressing toward meeting these standards.

Reporting tools allow teachers to illustrate student growth in relation to:

• Academic standards as articulated by the Massachusetts Frameworks

• Portrait of a Nashoba Graduate Competencies and Work Habits

A standards-based report card communicates a student's progress in meeting learning standards. Teachers evaluate individual student performance against the specific and observable grade-level reporting standards as shown on the updated Report Cards. This updated report card is a valuable tool for improving our shared understanding of each student's academic growth and development of responsibility skills, including their individual learning styles.

Our standards-based report card uses clear and objective indicators to show your child's academic performance. These indicators are directly linked to grade-level standards, which are the specific learning goals that outline what each student should know and be able to do by the end of the school year. These standards form the foundation of our curriculum, teaching methods, and assessments, and they reflect your child's individual learning progress. 

It is important to note, that throughout the year, learning expectations become more challenging as students work toward mastering grade-level standards. This progression involves developing greater complexity in thinking, more advanced reasoning skills, and a deeper understanding of concepts. The performance levels on the report card reflect this continuous learning journey and illustrate your child's progress toward achieving mastery of the end-of-year standards.

Instruction is based on end-of-year expectations, so most students will not earn a score of 4 in Trimester 1 or Trimester 2. A score of 4 early in the year is rare and usually only occurs for a specific skill that can be mastered quickly.

As students learn more complex skills over the year, their performance may change. A student who was close to mastering a standard in one trimester may need extra support later as the content becomes more challenging. Throughout the year, learning expectations increase, requiring more advanced thinking, reasoning, and a deeper understanding of concepts. The report card scores reflect this ongoing learning process and shows your child’s progress toward mastering end-of-year standards.

As shown in the chart, students earn a numeric score from 1 to 4 based on how well they have mastered each standard.

4 – Student meets the standard

3 – Student is approaching the standard independently

2 – Student is approaching the standard with support

1 – Student needs more time and support to access the standard

 They may also receive:

NA – Standard not assessed this time

INA – Introduced Not Assessed