The results of extreme time demands and the consequent stress results in negative professional and personal effects. Such effects included an awareness of teacher absenteeism from school at report time, the canceling of extra-curricular activities, and a sense of reduced teaching effectiveness. There also appeared to be a significant personal cost, with a considerable amount of time at evenings and weekends being devoted to report writing. While participants were not interested in a norm-referenced class ranking, they believed that a better picture could be created in terms of student progress, in particular where the student needed to improve. Current letter grades required by the Ministry were not uniformly accepted.
Current formats skew the importance of some subjects.
Participants were concerned at the limited space for L anguage Arts, and the lack of breakdown between reading, writing, and oral communication, which failed to allow for a clear explanation of differences in levels reached. Because of its equal spacing with other subjects such as PE, its significance appeared diminished. Kindergarten and Grade 4 reporting appear problematic. For one Kindergarten teacher, writing 40 anecdotal reports represented a huge workload. Others reported that for Grade 4 students, the shift from anecdotal reports to letter grades had been traumatic.