Dartmouth Public Schools

A report card serves as a communication tool between teachers and parents.  A Standards-Based Report Card provides clear, detailed feedback regarding your child’s progress toward Massachusetts State Standards.  A Standards-Based Report Card evaluates all students on the same grade-appropriate skills and enables you to see exactly which concepts and skills have been learned.  Also, these documents describe what students should know and be able to do at the end of each grade level. 

Standards-Based Report Cards focus on end-of-the-year goals and track your child’s progress toward those goals. Each trimester report card will reflect the progress your child has made to that point, leading toward mastery as the year progresses, NOT against an End of Year benchmark, but progress to date.  This allows parents and students to have a clear understanding of where the student is currently performing.

In addition to tracking your child’s progress toward this mastery, your child’s degree of effort and attendance record will be indicated on each trimester report card.

Each year, a committee of teachers reviews and refines our Standards-Based Report Card.

Commonly Asked Questions:

• How frequently will report cards be distributed?

The report card will be distributed three times a year, usually end of November, mid-March and the last day of school.  There will be one parent conferences on the scheduled Early Release Dismissal days in October and November.  

• What is the difference between a 3 and 4?

A "4" shows in-depth understanding and advanced applications of grade level standards; students at this level are stretching themselves above grade level expectations A “4” indicates that the student’s progress exceeds standards because s/he has demonstrated mastery in terms of knowledge, and s/he applies that knowledge in ways that go beyond expectations.  Typically, very few students would be at this level of performance. In terms of behavior, students receiving a “4” demonstrate academic and social maturity beyond their years and those of their age/grade appropriate peers .

A "3" is considered good, solid grade level performance, with the student right on track in meeting grade level standards.

Interested in more information regarding grade level standards?

Family Guides to the Standards are designed to facilitate content-rich communication and collaboration between schools and students' families. Available in English, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, and Chinese (simplified characters), the guides articulate grade-level expectations for ELA/literacy, math, and STE (HSS coming in 2019) in accessible, jargon-free terms. They also include conversation starters for home and school. Attached here for your use are some simple messages and images promoting the tools in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.  

We sincerely hope that this information will assist you in understanding your child’s progress toward mastery of the grade-level skills that have been established. If you have any further questions, do not hesitate your child's teacher.

Grades K-5 Standard Based Report Card Explanation of Terminology

Grades K-5 Standard Based Report Card Glossary of Terms