Report Card Writing

The new report card format may be a challenging document to navigate for a newcomer parent whose level of English proficiency is low.



To respond to this, the Manitoba Department of Education has released information packages explaining the new report card in a multitude of languages other than English. This resource has been translated into:

Amharic (the official language of Ethiopia), Arabic, Chinese, Cree, German, Korean, Ojibway, Punjabi, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog, Tigrinya (another Ethiopian language) and Vietnamese.


There are many students at GCC whose parents speak one of the above languages.

These resource packages can be found at:

http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/assess/report_cards/resources.html



If you have a student in your advocacy class or in a class that you teach whose parents do not read English well, but who speak one of the languages listed above, it may be helpful to print a copy of the Gr 9-12 resource package and include it with the report card this term. OR if you have email contact with the parent, you could certainly forward the link. If you aren't sure, feel free to ask your students if their parents are comfortable reading in English.  We actually have print copies in several languages now. Please check with us if you would like a copy for your student(s).



On another note, as you begin to think of comments to write on the next set of report cards, please keep in mind that both EAL students and their parents will appreciate and benefit more from comments that are worded in simple terms.

• Keep sentences short (one main idea)

• Avoid the passive voice (is shown, has been demonstrated etc. )

• Choose simple describing words

For example, instead of writing:

Johnny has demonstrated a thorough knowledge of the essential vocabulary pertaining to this course and a consistent effort is shown in his daily assignments.



You could write something like:

Johnny knows the key words for this course. He always does his work in class each day.


Placing one's child in a foreign school system can be a very daunting thing for the parents of EAL students. Some parents express that they feel quite intimidated by the fact that they cannot communicate effectively their concerns about their child's learning with the school staff. Any added efforts to improve communication are certainly appreciated.