Ungraded Report Cards - A deeply valued practice at Churchill Alternative

The History and Current Status of Ungraded Report Cards at Churchill Alternative

In early 2001, when it looked like the practice of ungraded report cards at Churchill was threatened, a delegation of Churchill parents and a student traveled to the Ministry of Education in Toronto to advocate for their continued use. Churchill teachers sent a letter strongly expressing their support for this practice. The result was that the school was permitted to continue to give parents a mark-free version of the report card, but a version with marks was required to be put in each student's Ontario Student Record (OSR).

In 2020, the OCDSB began providing online access to report cards where grades were included.  When the Churchill school council checked, we were notified that the Board had no ability to remove grades as the online platform  was administered by the Ministry of Education.   However, Churchill continues to use ungraded report cards with support from school administration.  We send home paper copies of report cards without marks so that families can benefit from this valued practice.

Prior to 2020 when graded report cards were made available online, families had the option to ask the school administration for a copy of the report card with grades included.  In Spring 2020, our principal was questioned about the number of families who had previously requested graded report cards. She noted that it was consistently fewer than five families.  The practice of ungraded reporting is supported by the vast majority of our community!

Why Ungraded Report Cards

Ungraded reports at Churchill developed because of concerns about some of the negative effects of graded reports on children’s learning and development.  Graded report cards, most often based on marked assignments, quizzes and tests, provide only a limited, moment-in-time picture of student achievement, and cannot adequately capture the complexities of the learning process.

When parents receive a traditional, graded report card, how do they know from a number or letter grade what specific material their children has grasped, and what they still need to learn? How do they know what they, as parents, can do to assist and support their children’s further learning? A mark-free, anecdotal report card can provide both parents and students with this meaningful information.

Other concerns about the use of graded report cards that Churchill staff and parents have raised over the years are:

• that they divert the focus away from the actual learning and towards the marks - not what did I learn, but what mark did I get?;

• that students will be less willing to take risks and to engage in deeper, more complex and challenging learning opportunities for fear of receiving a lower mark  e.g., that they will choose a shorter book or a simpler project in order to minimize the chance of getting a poor grade;

• that students will hide what they do not comprehend from their teachers in order to receive a higher grade instead of working openly and collaboratively with them to improve understanding;

• that competition for marks will replace the supportive, reflective, non-judgmental, cooperative learning environment that Churchill has worked so hard to develop.

What does the research show ?

There has been much research over the years regarding graded and ungraded reporting methods. A few studies mention the challenges of using mark-free reports (difficulties with students adapting to this new reporting system, skepticism from parents who have been socialized to think grades matter more than learning). However, as Alfie Kohn, a pioneer in the field, reports on grades “when students from elementary school to college, who are led to focus on grades, are compared with those who aren’t, the results support three robust conclusions: 

• Grades tend to diminish students’ interest in whatever they’re learning.

• Grades create a preference for the easiest possible task.

• Grades tend to reduce the quality of students’ thinking."

Other research has found that a grade-oriented environment is associated with: 

• increased levels of cheating (E. M. Anderman & T. B. Murdock, 2007);

• a fear of failure even among high achieving students (Pulfrey et al., 2011).
  
  

Non-graded reporting has been shown to:

• improve the relationships between students and teachers (O'Connor & Lessing, 2017 );

• promote intrinsic motivation (Deci, Edward L., Richard Koestner, and Richard M. Ryan. 2001);

• develop students' capacity for lifelong learning ( McMorran et al, 2017) 

What do Churchill staff, students and parents say about their experiences with ungraded reports?

Stacey Whitney (current Churchill teacher)

In a school that aims to promote inclusion, cooperation, and a passion for learning, competition can be seen as a conflicting principle. Graded report cards, by extension, can hinder the cooperative tenant we at Churchill strive to foster.

By focusing on teamwork and encouraging individuals to work toward a common goal, community is built. When working together, stronger relationships are built which leads to a more positive learning environment. 

Many have said that collaboration sparks creativity - working together generates ideas which leads to more in-depth thinking. By working together, students learn to effectively communicate by listening to and speaking with others whose viewpoints may differ. 

When the focus is on learning instead of the marks, students are seen as contributing to our community and, therefore, play a role in the development of our Churchill family.

Overall, cooperation promotes a more inclusive and supportive environment.

Emily Addison (current Churchill parent)

Why do I like ungraded report cards? Looking back on my entire high school and university career, the grade was the only data point that mattered to me. It became the central focus of my study style and work patterns. I worked so hard to get straight As. However, when I got to my teaching degree all the courses pass/fail – no grades!  It was then that I realized that my focus on the marks meant that I had been missing out on opportunities for deep learning. Of course good grades can be very helpful, or even necessary to succeed in certain careers. However, they aren’t as important as I had originally thought and there are MANNNNY more skills (e.g., teamwork; emotional regulation) that aren’t reflected in academic grades but that are super important to succeeding in the workforce or in life generally for that matter.

As our child has started to struggle a bit with writing and has the propensity to compare himself to others, my partner and I appreciate that the report card doesn't add additional judgements/points of comparison to others. We’ve noticed that our child is more likely to focus on what he has learned, what he is interested in learning, what he finds challenging, and what he might want to learn next.  It’s about the process and the learning - not about the grade as the reward.  

Ken Hoffman (former Churchill parent)

From my perspective as a parent, I appreciated that ungraded report cards were one part of a broader approach to evaluation that was based not just on “marks”, but trying to get a more authentic assessment of how a student was doing, and where they needed help. In our anecdotal reports, the teachers were able to comment clearly on areas where my kids were doing well, and where they needed more help. This was much more useful than a teacher saying “meets expectations” or “does not meet expectations.”

These report cards didn’t stand alone. They were supplemented by student-parent-teacher interviews and portfolio reviews, where students took us through examples of the kinds of work they were producing, and we were able to discuss this together with the teacher. Seeing these samples of work was far more informative than seeing a mark or a letter on a report.

I think my kids felt good about this whole approach of presenting what they were capable of, and they were part of the conversation with the teacher and parent; this didn’t happen behind their backs. I think that helps them to know that we are all trying to work together.

Laura Farina (former Churchill student)

I received ungraded report cards for all of the five years that I was a student at Churchill Alternative School. As an award-winning poet, I can trace a direct line between the value that my early education placed on hearing and applying anecdotal feedback and my ability later in life to receive editorial comments, without defensiveness, and use them to improve my writing. I'm grateful that I was given the opportunity to see assessment as the beginning of a conversation between me, my parents, and my teachers. It has encouraged me to view education, not as something that ends with an A or a B, but as an ongoing process. These days, I work as Coordinator of the Writers’ Studio in the Continuing Studies department at Simon Fraser University, where I get to witness the transformative power that lifelong learning has on individuals and communities. This year, the Community-Engaged Education committee that I sit on has started an initiative where we encourage instructors and staff to use storytelling as an evaluation tool.  It feels like a full-circle moment to me. 

Heather Crysdale (former Churchill parent and teacher)

Wearing my parent hat…

As a Churchill parent, I quickly realized how beneficial an anecdotal, mark-free report card was for my boys. I had two boys, born in November and December respectively. Both were among the youngest students in their classes. In Grade One, for example, they learned to read a few months later than their peers. However, their learning trajectory was age-appropriate. If they had received marks of C or D in Reading on their grade one report cards, I would not have wanted to share the report with them. It might have been discouraging for my husband and me to see these marks in their early years, and coloured our view of their academic possibilities. Instead, we benefited from the great tips and advice in the anecdotal report card to develop their early reading skills.

Of course, this was supplemented by student-led conferences where my boys had the opportunity to proudly share what they knew, and could feel positive about their learning experiences.

The benefits of the ungraded report cards extended well past grade one! They continued to learn, and to receive positive feedback and constructive criticism, in their report cards, in student-parent-teacher meetings and with their fellow students.

Wearing my other hat, as a Churchill teacher...

It was an education for me, when I first arrived at Churchill, to learn about anecdotal report cards and to implement them in my classroom. My eldest son started at Churchill, at the same time as I began teaching at Churchill, so it was a learning process for my whole family. I was able to share my experiences as a parent with parents of students in my classrooms.

Our grade-less report cards benefitted students at a variety of stages of learning. I recall one student I had who had been identified as gifted in a regular classroom in another school. He had been struggling with receiving grades on assignments and report cards, and was anxious when he didn't get A's or perform better, comparatively, than his peers. When he arrived at Churchill, his anxiety levels dropped considerably, because his sense of self was no longer negatively based on marks and comparisons with others. This was a big relief for the student and for his family. He could now focus on his learning.

There were so many options other than marks for teachers to share success stories and needed next steps with students and parents -  in person, in notes, by email or by phone. As a teacher, I never felt that I wasn't able to adequately communicate a student's progress with parents, despite not putting marks on student report cards!

Published: 2024