Lehighton Area School District is planning an elementary report card update in what administration described Monday as an effort to provide a more comprehensive understanding of student progress.

The new format will not only feature traditional numerical grades, but also include detailed standards-based assessments.

“The elementary teachers approached me and asked if we could take a look at the report cards,” Mary Figura, assistant to the superintendent, said. “Right now, our standards-based report cards are used in kindergarten, but for grades one through five, we only give a numerical grade. This often leaves parents wondering what those numbers really mean in terms of their child’s progress.”

To address the issue, a committee developed a transitional report card that will incorporate both numerical grades and standards-based indicators.

The proposed changes include a rubric where a four indicates a student exceeds the grade-level standard independently, three means the student consistently meets grade-level standards without teacher support, two denotes steady progress toward meeting grade-level standards, and one shows limited progress with teacher support.

“We’re looking at expanding our report cards to not just grades, but also to include standards and check off certain areas if it’s a 4, 3, 2, or 1,” Figura said.

Figura said the committee’s efforts are backed by a new district reading series that assesses students using rubrics rather than basic skills tests.

“We’re developing standards and using this kind of grading process, especially for reading, to help us see if a student is meeting, exceeding, or progressing toward grade-level standards,” she said. “We’re still going to be giving grades for phonics, math, science, and social studies, along with a percentage score until we have our common assessments in place. For reading and grammar, we’ll use this rubric to determine where students stand.”

Board President Jeremy Glaush said he supported the new report cards that aim to provide more detailed feedback on student performance.

“It seems as though this basically replaces the comments that teachers used to write,” Glaush said. “When we were kids, teachers were pretty honest about student assessments. That doesn’t always fly these days, so we’re using the 4, 3, 2, 1 rubric.”

The committee is finalizing the new report cards and will present them to the school board for approval.

“The committee just finished meeting again (Monday), so they’re going to have everything ready for the board to review next week,” Figura said.