K-5 Report Card Family Guide

During the 2022-23 school year, a team of educators from over 20 PPS elementary schools and several central office departments came together to revise our K-5 report cards. Guided by family feedback, this team worked to ensure that our report cards are:

Clear and meaningful for families;
User-friendly for educators;
Aligned with Oregon standards; and,
Differentiated to represent the needs of all of our student populations.

The team felt strongly that the revised report cards should be accompanied by a Family Report Card Guide and Educator Report Card Guides--so that families and educators can be well-supported in their use of these important communication tools. We welcome your feedback and suggestions regarding this resource by emailing K5academics@pps.net.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the purpose of our K-5 report cards?

How do standards-based report cards work?

The academic skills and competencies listed on the report card represent the major learning that students are expected to master in each content area over the course of the year. These come from our Oregon State Standards. Our standards-based report cards are designed to provide specific feedback to families about how their child is currently performing related to each standard at the end of each of our four academic quarters. This feedback comes in the form of proficiency ratings (see scale below) and written comments.

Academic Proficiency Scale

Rating

Description

Exceeding Grade-Level Expectations: Student is demonstrating a more advanced level of understanding than is typically expected; student demonstrates this skill with consistency, accuracy, independence, and quality; student may require additional challenge and complexity in this area.

Meeting Grade-Level Expectations: Student is demonstrating the level of understanding that is typically expected; student is on-track to meet year-end standards in this area with typical instructional supports.

Progressing Toward Grade-Level Expectations: Student is beginning to progress toward this standard and may require support, monitoring, and/or intervention to meet this year-end expectation.

Performing Below Grade-Level Expectations: Student is still acquiring the prerequisite skills needed to fully understand this content and/or independently apply this grade-level skill; student will require support, monitoring, and/or intervention to accelerate learning and progress toward this year-end expectation.

Not taught/assessed: This standard was not taught or assessed during this quarter.

No evidence: Teacher was not able to gather evidence of student’s proficiency level of this standard.

What is the best way to view my child's report card?

How and when should I expect to receive my child's report card?

Report cards are completed by teachers at the end of each academic quarter. You should be able to view your students' report card online using ParentVUE (click here for instructions) by the dates listed below. If you requested a printed report card or your schools’ choice was to print report cards, you should expect to receive them on or shortly after the dates listed below.

1st Quarter - November 7, 2026

2nd Quarter - January 30, 2026

3rd Quarter - April 10, 2026

4th Quarter - June 12, 2026

What other opportunities do I have to talk with my child’s teacher or receive feedback about my child’s progress?

All families are invited to have a fall conference with their child’s teacher during the week of November 20th. Families are also encouraged to call or email their child’s teacher to schedule additional conversations across the year as need arises.

In addition to teacher conferences and standards-based report cards, families should also expect to receive information about how their child is performing on district-wide assessments over the course of the year.

My child is receiving Special Education services. How do report cards work for my family?

Every child is a general education student first. This means that every child receives a grade-level standards-based report card that provides feedback to families about each child’s progress toward grade-level skills and competencies. Students with Individual Education Plans (IEPs) also receive specially designed instruction from licensed Special Education educators in designated areas of need. These educators are responsible for providing families with a Special Education progress report at the end of each academic quarter. This progress report is provided in addition to the grade-level standards-based report card to give feedback on how a child is progressing toward their individualized goals established in their IEP. You should receive your report card and your progress report at the same time. Both are also available on Synergy Parent Vue. Please reach out to your Special Education case manager (i.e. Learning Center, Social Emotional Skills, Intensive Skills, Communication Behavior, Speech Language Pathologist) if you have any questions about your Special Education progress report.

My child is receiving English Language Development (ELD) services. How do report cards work for my family?

Every child is a general education student first. This means that every child receives a grade-level standards-based report card that provides feedback to families about each child’s progress toward grade-level skills and competencies. Students who are learning English also receive ELD services and feedback on how their language skills are developing. If your child is receiving this support, you will find this feedback in an extra section at the end of your report card. This section will be completed by the ELD teacher and will provide feedback on your child’s progress in the areas of listening, speaking, reading, and writing using the proficiency scale pictured below. Please reach out to your ELD teacher if you have any questions about this section of the report card.

ELD Proficiency Scale

Rating	Description
5	Advanced: exhibits exceptional English language skills in this area
4	Early Advanced: demonstrates English language skills required for engagement with grade-level academic content instruction at a level comparable to native English speakers
3	Intermediate: applies some grade-level English language skills in this area
2	Early Intermediate: demonstrates evidence of developing English language skills in this area
1	Beginning: displays few English language skills in this area

My child is in a Dual Language Immersion (DLI) program. How do report cards work for my family?

Every child is a general education student first. This means that every child receives a grade-level standards-based report card that provides feedback to families about each child’s progress toward grade-level skills and competencies. These standards, skills, and competencies are the same in DLI classrooms as they are in English Scholar classrooms. That said, students in DLI classrooms are learning many of these standards, skills, and competencies in two languages while also developing new language skills. For this reason, you will find an additional section at the bottom of your report card that provides additional feedback about how your child’s foundational reading and language arts skills are developing in their partner language (e.g. Spanish, Russian, Japanese, Mandarin, or Vietnamese). In grades K-2 of the 90/10 DLI programs (Spanish and Russian), most of the instruction is conducted in the partner language. As a result, not all English standards may be graded at these levels, but all standards will be assessed across both languages by the end of the school year.

What is the purpose of the Learning Habits & Community Contributions section of the report card? How are the marks in this section determined?

Being a successful student is about much more than academic skills and standards. Families are often seeking feedback not just on their child’s academic progress, but also on their learning habits and social-emotional development. The purpose of the Learning Habits & Community Contributions section of the report card is to provide families with this feedback. We understand that social-emotional development is not linear and may be viewed differently through different cultural, racial, and socio-economic lenses. For these reasons, this section is not graded or rated against concrete standards like the other sections of the report card. Each quarter, classroom educators will use observational data across multiple settings (e.g. structured learning time, unstructured play/exploration time, recess, etc) to indicate how consistently each student is demonstrating each of the identified skills. Educators can also use the comment space to provide families with further feedback about their child’s development.

These are the indicators that you will see in this section of the Report Card:

K-2 Indicators	3-5 Indicators
Classroom Skills: follows classroom agreements, starts and completes school work, stays with challenging tasks	Classroom Skills: follows classroom agreements, manages time and materials, starts and completes school work, stays with challenging tasks
Resourceful: seeks help when they or their classmates need it: uses available tools and resources to solve problems and support learning	Resourceful: advocates for self and others, seeks help when needed; uses available tools and resources to solve problems and support learning
Community: is a positive, contributing member of the classroom community, works well with others, is kind to peers and staff	Community: is a positive, contributing member of the classroom community, works well with others, is kind to peers and staff
Play Habits: initiates play with others, engages in safe play during unstructured times	Social Skills: initiates conversations with peers and adults, engages in safe interactions and choices during unstructured times, establishes and maintains healthy and supportive relationships
Self-Reflection: reflects on mistakes and thinks about how they help us grow	Self-Reflection: sets personal goals and evaluates own progress, reflects on mistakes and thinks about how they help us grow

For each indicator, your child’s teacher will mark whether, during the quarter, your child has demonstrated this indicator “Consistently," "Often," "Sometimes," or "Not Yet.”