Kindergarten Grade Level Expectations

Archdiocesan Standards-Based Report Card (SBRC)

Learner Expectations

(Version 2.02)

Kindergarten

Date

Name of School

Address

School’s Mission and Philosophy Statements

Name of School

Address

Grade Level Expectations

Overview

The Archdiocesan Standards-Based Report Card (SBRC) is a record of what a student knows, is able to do, and needs to achieve. The SBRC is aligned with the Archdiocesan elementary school curricula which reflect state, national, and international learning standards.The SBRC is one source of important information. Instead of providing one overall letter grade for each academic area (e.g., reading, math, science), the SBRC reports on student achievement on particular grade-level learning standards. This document has been developed to help parents better understand their child’s report card and grade-level learning standards.Parents will have a good idea of the learning being assessed in each portion of the report card when reviewed along with instructional materials sent home. Every child is an individual who grows and develops at his/her own rate. Students in the same grade level may differ widely from others in the class. The learning expectations identified here apply to all students by the end of the year.

You are encouraged to review your child’s report card along with other performance information, which may include: progress reports, standardized test results, quizzes/tests, projects, daily work, teacher notes, etc.

Performance level marks communicate a student’s achievement on a particular learning standard. Special performance criteria are used to evaluate student achievement on a variety of measures (e.g., observation, checklists, student work, projects, performance, etc.). Such criteria may be communicated via a “rubric” for different measures. Every learning standard indicator may not be assessed or evaluated for every report card period. In such cases, teachers may assign “>” to indicate that the learning expectation was not a focus of classroom instruction during a report card period.

There is an SBRC for each grade level. At first glance, it may appear that learning standards are the same for different grade levels in a particular report card form. The rigor and the evidence needed to meet learner expectations increase as students progress from grade to grade. This document has been developed for each grade level to further describe what students are expected to know, understand, and are able to do.

Learner expectations appearing in this document are by no means an exhaustive or exclusive listing. Teachers often supplement these topics with other activities throughout the year. The “pacing” of the class throughout these topics is also flexible. As teachers assess student performance on a given topic, they may find it necessary to spend more time to ensure solid understandings.

The SBRC and this Grade Level Learner Expectations document provide students and parents with feedback about what students are expected to know, understand, and are able to do. This feedback is important in establishing next steps and immediate learning goals. You are encouraged to speak with your child’s teacher if you have any questions about any code appearing on the report card.

General descriptions of the levels of achievement are provided below to help you better understand how your child is performing on specific standards.

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Archdiocese of ChicagoGrade K Learner Expectations (v 2.02)

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Archdiocese of ChicagoGrade K Learner Expectations (v 2.02)

Successful Learner Traits

Many attitudes and behaviors mark the progress of successful learners. Successful Learner Traits are based on the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) social-emotional standards.

Grading

The 2012-2013 Archdiocesan Standards-Based Report Card (SBRC) provides a summative evaluation on important learning standards rather than just an overall letter grade for each content area. Feedback on specific learning standards provides you and your child with much richer information about his/her specific strengths and areas for growth. Focusing and reporting on specific learning standards makes it clearer to everyone involved what a student knows and is able to do. That focus and research-based grading practices not only improves grading consistency but more importantly supports student learning and achievement.

Learning standards are evaluated in terms of what a student should know or be able to do by the end of the school year. Many learning standards may require the entire year before a student reaches a proficient or advance performance level. Learning standards that are more limited in scope, but nonetheless are important educational markers for all students may require less time for students to reach proficiency.

The SBRC uses different scales to communicate student performance. Below is a brief description of each scale and student performance level on the SBRC learning standards is determined.

Standards-Based Scale

The SBRC Standards-Based Scale is designed to communicate student achievement on learning standards into four qualitatively different performance levels: 1) Beginning, 2) Progressing, 3) Proficient, and 4) Advanced. An additional level “>” is used when a learning goal was not an instructional focus and not measured during a trimester. Further details about the standards-based scale can be found on the front cover of any report card or in any of the Grade Level Learner Expectations documents.

Performance Levels Communicate Better Than Percent Correct. Conventional report cards generally use a single letter grade and are calculated from the percent correct of various student performance measures. A single letter grade for an entire content area (e.g., math) lacks the detail needed to more fully understand student achievement. Individual learning standards communicate more information about what a student knows or his/her academic skills than a single letter grade. Moreover, the qualitative distinctions among the four performance levels in the SBRC also can communicate a student’s depth of learning in ways that are simply not possible using a percent correct or single letter-grade approach.

Performance Levels Will Be Used to Evaluate Student Learning. You and your child will receive regular feedback on schoolwork/performance (e.g., tests, quizzes, projects, or other evidence of learning). Completed work is evaluated on specific learning standards and is reported based on the SBRC performance levels. When applicable, rubrics used to evaluate work, are shared with you and your child. Written feedback or teacher comments also may be provided to acknowledge achievement as well as to offer guidance on how to improve learning and student growth. Performance levels on the SBRC standards, whether on daily schoolwork or in the SBRC report card, will provide a more complete picture of student achievement.

Connecting Daily Schoolwork with the SBRC Report Card. Regular and clear feedback on schoolwork from your child’s teachers will help prevent any surprises on his/her report card.

Feedback on student work will include a performance level (i.e., Advanced to Beginning) on each of the learning standards for that work assignment but also may include other feedback such as written comments. Reviewing feedback is a great opportunity for your child to become more self-reflective about his/her learning and to benefit from your guided support. Seeking clarification concerning any feedback on work assignments (e.g., quizzes, tests, homework, etc.) is also an opportunity for further student learning. Providing feedback in this manner will help you and your child connect the summative assessment feedback on daily schoolwork on the SBRC.

The SBRC provides a summative evaluation of a student’s performance on specific learning standards by the end of the school year. Keeping learning standards focused on what is expected of students at the end of the school year sets universal criteria to evaluate academic performance, resulting in greater consistency in grading among teachers.

Successful Learner Traits (SLT) Scale

The Successful Learner Traits Scale shares the same performance levels used to evaluate student performance on learning standards (i.e., Beginning, Progressing, Proficient, Advanced). However, the sentence descriptions of the performance levels of the Successful Learner Traits (SLT) slightly differ due to their focus on student behavior. You and your child will receive periodic feedback on the SLT standards through teacher comments or student classroom performance (based on behavioral measures or observational records).

Catholic Faith

The entries below reflect the progression of the student’s understanding of the Catholic Faith as developed in the Religion Curriculum of the Archdiocese of Chicago. In the curriculum there are ten catechetical goals that create the framework for the curriculum. This reporting system distills the goals into five categories with basic descriptors for each category. Your child’s teacher assesses the progress he/she makes based on assessment indicators designed by the teacher and shared with students and parents.

The indicators are listed below to assist you in understanding what your child is learning about the Catholic Faith and how your child practices faith. As you read the indicators and talk to your child about his/her faith development you have ways of supporting your child’s understanding of his/her life in God. You are the first one to help your child to appreciate his/her growth in faith through your example, conversations about God, family celebration and prayer, and participation in the life of the parish and Church. The teacher is providing evidence of your child’s progress in these areas through engaging in the learning outcomes provided in the Religion Curriculum.

Archdiocese of Chicago, Office of Catholic Schools

Creed

Demonstrates knowledge of God as loving Creator

• Identifying God as Creator of heaven and earth
• Naming God as Spirit living in me and in all of creation
• Naming God as Father
• Stating that everything belongs to God
• Describing faith as believing even though we cannot see God
• Identifying how creation is good and needs our care
• Identifying the universe as all of God’s creation
• Stating that I am created to know, love and serve God

Identifies Jesus as God’s Son

• Naming Jesus as Son of God and son of Mary
• Identifying Jesus as a special sign of God’s love

Sacred Scripture

Identifies the Bible as a book that tells us about God

• Describing the Bible telling stories about God and people who followed God’s ways
• Identifying the Bible as telling us about the life and ministry of Jesus
• Stating that the Bible has many books

Recounts the events and characters of the Old Testament

• Recounting stories about people in the Old Testament
• Identifying Abraham and Sarah as the first to believe in one God
• Recounting story of Joseph one of the twelve sons of Jacob
• Recounting the story of Moses was a great leader of God’s chosen people
• Recounting the story of David a great king of Israel
• Recognizing through the stories of the Old Testament that God is loving and faithful

Describes stories of Jesus from the New Testament

• Recognizing the story of Jesus’ birth, life, death and rising as coming from the New Testament
• Identifying Joseph, Mary, John and Baptist, Peter as family and friends of Jesus
• Recognizing Jesus as the Good Shepherd
• Recognizing the importance of Jesus’ death and rising

Prayer/Sacraments/Liturgy

Describes prayer as talking and listening to God

• Identifying many ways that we pray
• Showing awareness that I can tell God my thoughts and feelings anytime
• Describing prayer as important
• Stating that Jesus prayed to God his Father
• Stating that Jesus taught his friends how to pray

Describes God’s presence within and around us

• Showing awareness that God is with us all the time
• Identifying prayer as a way we show God our love
• Expressing gratitude for life

Engages in prayers of thanks, praise, asking, and sorrow

• Identifying how we use prayers of thanks, praise, asking, and sorrow everyday
• Naming prayers of thanks, praise, asking, and sorrow
• Identifying worship as a form of prayer

Recites prayers and participates in rituals

• Participating in rituals using different forms of prayer and actions
• Identifying and using religious objects as leading to prayer
• Identifying the Mass as a special prayer of the people
• Participating in the seasons of the Church Year as celebrations of the life of Jesus
• Identifying signs and symbols of the liturgical seasons
• Identifying Sunday as a special day of worship
• Using the Sign of the Cross as a form of prayer
• Reciting prayers of the Catholic Church: Our Father; Hail Mary; Doxology
• Recognizing and participating in the sign of peace at Mass and other prayer rituals
• Identifying objects in church that are used at Mass: altar, bread, wine, candles, ambo, tabernacle
• Understanding that we celebrate the lives of the saints

Catholic Church/Parish Life

Identifies the church as a special place of prayer

• Showing awareness that we can go to church to be with God
• Showing capacity to participate and respond prayerfully at Mass
• Naming the Church as a community of people who worship God and serve others
• Identifying the parish as my home in the Church
• Identifying the role of the pastor in the life of the parish
• Stating the name of the church to which my family belongs

States that we belong to the Church through Baptism

• Identifying the Sacrament of Baptism as the sign of belonging to God and the Church
• Identifying the use of water in baptizing people
• Identifying people in the Church who help us to learn about God

Christian Living/Mission/Dialogue

Expresses how we are loved by God and others

• Recognizing God’s love for the world and everyone in it
• Identifying the Church as a sign of God’s love for all people

Demonstrates respect for others

• Giving examples of how we show respect for others
• Exhibiting awareness that we respect those different from us

Expresses the importance of participating in mission activities

• Showing awareness of the community outside of family and school
• Respecting how people love and serve God in different ways
• Showing awareness that loving God means loving and being kind
• Participating in service activities to help others in the community or in the world

English Language Arts

English language arts include reading, writing, speaking, listening and the study of literature. In addition, students must be able to study, retain and use information from many sources. Through the study of the English language arts, students should be able to read fluently, understanding a broad range of written materials. They must be able to communicate well and listen carefully and effectively. They should develop a command of the language and demonstrate their knowledge through speaking and writing for a variety of audiences and purposes. As students progress, a structured study of literature will allow them to recognize universal themes and to compare styles and ideas across authors and eras.