- New survey shows Canadian parents with kids in K-12 schools, and parents in British Columbia, find letter grades on report cards significantly clearer and easier to understand than the BC governmentâs new descriptive grading terms.
- In 2023, the BC government switched report cards in Kindergarten to Grade 9 from letter gradesâsuch as A, B, C, and Dâto the descriptive terms âemerging,â âdeveloping,â âproficient,â and âextending.â
- 98% of Canadian parents say regular, clear assessment of student performance is important to them.
- When asked if switching from letter grades or percentage grades to descriptive grading would make their childâs academic progress clearer and easier to understand, Canadian parents are divided almost evenly. Yet in practice, Canadian parents find letter grades easier to understand.
- 93% of Canadian parents say the letter grade âAâ is clear and easy to understand and 68% could correctly identify what âAâ means.
- 83% of Canadian parents say the letter grade âCâ is clear and easy to understand, and 75% could correctly identify what âCâ means.
- 58% of Canadian parents found the descriptive grade âExtendingâ unclear and difficult to understand, and only 26% could correctly identify what âExtendingâ means. When asked to identify which description matches the term âExtending,â the largest share of parents (40%) responded âdonât know/unsure.â
- 57% of Canadian parents found the descriptive grade âEmergingâ unclear and difficult to understand, and only 28% could correctly identify what âEmergingâ means. When asked to identify which description matches the term âEmerging,â the largest share of parents (31%) responded âdonât know/unsure.â
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- In September 2023 the B.C. government replaced letter gradessuch as A B C D etc.on K-9 report cards with a proficiency scale which includes the descriptive terms emerging and extending. 1
- This should serve as a warning to any province or school board thinking about adopting this type of convoluted descriptive grading Zwaagstra said. 1
