Why do Intermediate teachers have to crunch numbers to calculate marks AND write anecdotal comments?
They don’t. Intermediate teachers must report student progress in two ways—with letter grades and with written reporting comments that include what the student is able to do, the areas in which the student requires further attention or development, and ways of supporting her or his learning. But teachers do not need to use numeric marks, or calculate percentages in order to arrive at letter grades. Letter grades are not defined in terms of percentages; until Grade 10 there are not even percentages associated with letter grades. The definition of letter grades in ministry policy (Ministerial Order 192/94 Provincial Letter Grades Order, http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/legislation/schoollaw/e.htm) is in words: A The student demonstrates excellent or outstanding performance in relation to the learning outcomes for the course or subject and grade. B The student demonstrates very good performance… C+ The student demonstrates good performance… C The student demonstrates satisfactory performance… C-
Why do Intermediate teachers have to crunch numbers to calculate marks AND write anecdotal comments?