RECORDS AND RECORD KEEPING IN SCHOOL GUIDANCE PROGRAMME

Records and record keeping are considered to be very important in the school guidance programme. Record keeping in school guidance programme is one of the functions of the Counsellor which involves the collection, collation and filling of information about events occurring in the life of an individual. Principally, records help the counsellor to obtain reliable and useful information about students when these are needed to offer him/her any form of assistance in the school. Proper record keeping helps the school authority and in taking vital decision on students. It is also a good ground that helps to justify or validate decisions in the school.

Types of School Records

The cumulative record folder

The cumulative record folder is the most important single record which provides for the recording of important data on the student. It serves as the depository for all other record sheets and record data which are regarded as pertinent to the student’s welfare.

Report Sheets/Card

This record is mainly for recording the student’s scores in the various tests, assignments, projects etc. as well as marks obtained in the end of term examinations. It shows in a summary form, the student’ s academic performance during the term/year.

The Transcript

This is another important record. It contains the overall summary of the student’s performance and behavioural ratings for the entire period of his stay in the school. It is issued at the end of the student’s course or if he/she is transferring to another school. While some universities in Zambia issue transcript to students every session, other universities issue it at the end of the programme and not directly to students. On application by student, such transcript is sent directly to Admission Officers with warning that students should not see it.

Health Record

This record provides information about the student’s health, physical appearance and fitness.

Attendance Record

It is an information record on students’ attendance to class.
It also provides information on punctuality.

Qualities of good Record keeping in school guidance

On a general basis, the following are some of the elements basic to any record devised either for routine class work or for purposes of continuous assessment.

1. A good record must be easy to keep. Recording and maintaining the record should take the barest minimum of a teacher’s time.
   
2. A good record must fulfill a specific task and still be informative years later when it is reconsidered or consulted.
   
3. The record should be based on knowledge and procedures which are common to all teachers or which could be explained to teachers effectively well within a short period. This means that a good record should be simple to understand. No matter how well kept a record is, if it is based on an obscure system or on a secret coding system, it will be of no help when a child transfers from one school to another.
4. A record should be constructive, i.e. it should provide enough detail about a child – his strengths and weaknesses (behaviourally), socially, cognitively etc.) for a balanced judgment to be made by another teacher or user of the recorded information/data.
   
5. A good record, as much as possible, should be versatile i.e. where possible; it should serve more than one purpose. A record which serves two or more functions saves time and sometimes energy.
   
6. Every record kept must have a purpose, thus ensuring that the record performs a specific function in the future.
   
7. A good record should be cross indexed i.e. any overall record should provide some means whereby, quick reference can be made in terms of obtaining more detailed information as to how conclusions were drawn.

Specifically therefore, where there is a general, overall record in a school, individual records should also be available.

Use of Records

1. School records provide reliable information about students as he/she progresses through school.
2. Data from the records can be used by the Counsellor to help students adjust o the situation in the school thereby facilitating learning.
3. Records can be used to assist students to understand themselves, in terms of their physical, intellectual and social development.
4. Teachers, parents and significant others could also understand the student through the information contained in school records like cumulative record.
5. Information in school records can help students to make realistic decisions about their future.
6. School records also provide information about the extent to which the school and its function arises is meeting the needs of the students.
7. It is s a reference point when there is need to make referral about a student who is transferring from one school to another.

Access to Records

Privacy of students’ records should be part of the legislation that schools must abide with. As this privacy is guarded, it is important to know the members of the society that should have access to the records and the information therein. For example, in the United States of America, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 give parents the right to review the official cumulative folder of the child.

Parents or legal guardians are also given the right to inquire about and even challenge any information in the child’s folder. They could also question the information if they think it is inaccurate, misleading or even inappropriate. According to Onna (1979), outside the parents and professional school personnel, permanent records are not open to others except by the order of the Court.