Guidelines for Writing Final Reports April 2025

The following points may be of assistance to faculty and school advisors.

1. The final report should summarize the school/faculty advisor’s overall experience with the teacher candidate, document the growth of the teacher and focus on the ‘full-load’ portion. Teacher candidates are required to meet expectations for the items on this checklist at the level of a beginning teacher.

2. There should be no surprises in the report. All conclusions drawn should have been discussed during the practicum and/or documented in the formal written weekly observations.  Moreover, the teacher candidate should have heard about and discussed their strengths and weaknesses long before the final report.

3. A triad conference which includes the teacher candidate and their advisors are scheduled to discuss the contents of the final report. Often a meeting is also held just prior to the writing of the final evaluation reports.

4. Advisors are strongly advised to express their comments thoughtfully to make it as clear as possible the degree of success in each of the essential elements involved in the assessment. While teacher candidates may have demonstrated sufficient expertise to be graded P, it is not unexpected that teacher candidates differ in their level of mastery of various elements and superior achievement can be acknowledged. We encourage advisors to write reports with a professional sense of fairness and evenness, especially when commenting on the perceived weaknesses of teacher candidates.

5. In the event of serious disagreement between advisors about the teacher candidate’s teaching performance, each is advised to write a separate written report and complete separate evaluation checklists. Cases where there is disagreement will be adjudicated by the Teacher Education Office after all reports have been received.

6. The final report is not a letter of reference, however, it is usually requested when teacher candidates apply for employment. That said, the primary function of the final evaluation report is to summarize the ten-week experience, NOT to serve as a substitute for a reference letter. What teacher candidates do with their reports is not of primary concern to UBC. Teacher candidates may approach advisors for a letter of reference, in addition to the summative evaluation reports they receive. Whether or not advisors agree to write reference letters is up to those individuals.  UBC does not become involved in writing any letters of reference for teacher candidates. UBC advisors do not provide references prior to the completion of the certification practicum.

7. All formative reports written about a teacher candidate during all practicum experiences are confidential and part of the cumulative record for determining final standing on the certifying practicum. This confidential information is collected in a portfolio maintained by the faculty advisor and is not for distribution by schools, school advisors, faculty advisors, or the Teacher Education Office. Only teacher candidates may share their final report. The Practicum Manager in the TEO relays the teacher candidates’ final assigned standings to the Registrar’s Office at UBC.