The Board of Education plans to place the new standards-based report cards on the agenda of its next meeting after the Hawai'i State Teachers Association raised many questions about its design and clarity, as well as the length of time it takes teachers to complete.

At its Thursday night meeting on Moloka'i the board heard two hours of testimony, much of it from union teachers in opposition to the new cards.

In complaining that the new cards are cumbersome and unclear, HSTA representatives said they've had complaints from as many as 500 teachers. They also said the department ignored recommendations from teachers about ways to improve the cards.

The 10 schools that piloted the cards over the past two years have "tweaked" the cards repeatedly to make them fit their own individual school needs, according to HSTA president Roger Takabayashi. Rather than having each school adapt the cards, he would like to see the cards refined by the department, with input from teachers as to their concerns. Further training is also needed, teachers say.

Schools superintendent Pat Hamamoto has said the department will work with the union to hear all the problems and fix those that are solvable. After that she will look at how the department intends to continue implementation.

The department has been working for five years on the cards that have been redesigned to align with standards-based teaching. They've used focus groups and received input from parents, teachers and administrators, department officials say. But Hamamoto noted that it isn't until something goes into widespread implementation that additional issues may be uncovered.

The teachers opposing use of the cards as is say they are not opposed to standards-based education or evaluations. They just want the current card improved, including the use of better definitions for the letter grades. But others, including some parents, raised the issue of how these grades will translate when students leave Hawai'i or move into another school system, and also how colleges will interpret them for admission.

This is the first year the new card has been used in all 166 elementary schools, with teachers at 40 completing it electronically. The remainder are using lengthy five-copy forms. Use in the secondary schools is already being pushed back to at least 2008.

Reach Beverly Creamer at bcreamer@honoluluadvertiser.com.