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ARTICLE

Report Cards: Can Teachers Be Trusted to Do the Right Thing? (From the General Secretary)

Gene Lewis

In  the  last  round of collective bargaining ETFO  negotiated  a  professional  activity  day that  teachers  would  use  to  complete  report cards. How teachers use  that  day has become an issue that exemplifies yet again  that  some boards do not respect the professionalism of elementary teachers.

The  completion  of  report  cards  requires access to  computers  and  to  the  report  card software. Teachers have for some years suffered the frustrations of trying to fill out  electronic report  cards using  inadequate  computer  systems.  In some boards computer systems are incapable of  handling the load: if all teachers were to attempt to access the reporting system at the same time, the system would  crash. In other  boards  there  are  not  enough  computers  in schools for all teachers to have access to them at the  same time. Some boards have solved these system issues by allowing teachers to complete their report cards on their  home computers thus relieving the stress on the system, relieving teacher frustration, and improving their effectiveness. This seems like intelligent problem solving behaviour on the part of some administrators.

How then to explain the decision of some boards to force teachers to come into the school to  complete  report  cards on  their  reporting and assessment PA day? Previously teachers in some boards across the province had provisions in their collective agreements for reporting  days. On those days classrooms  were  staffed  by  OTs  and  teachers worked at home to complete report cards. Those same boards are now requiring teachers to come into school  to do this work. The reasons vary. One director has indicated that the public does not like to see empty parking lots at schools. Another has decided that teachers filling out  report cards need to be supervised by principals. However,  other boards, among them  the  largest  boards  in  the  province, believe teachers don’t need someone looking over their shoulder and can be trusted to fulfill their  responsibilities even when they are not physically at school.

ETFO has worked hard to emphasize that elementary schools are professional worksites. Teachers need to  be treated as professionals. This reporting situation  is  symptomatic of the need for change in the mindsets of some administrators in the elementary system. At ETFO we  know  that  teachers accept responsibility for their students in the broadest  sense.  They   accept  the  responsibilities that  come  with  their  professional  obligations. Treating teachers with the respect they deserve can only serve to enhance the whole school climate.

By now you will have completed your first report card. You will have a sense of how seriously your board took its obligation to have the hardware and software in place to support your work on report cards. You will also have a measure of the degree to which your board recognizes the professionalism of elementary teachers.