BFTP: Are report cards really necessary?
Sunday, November 19, 2017 at 01:39PM We're 5 years down the road after I first posted this. Sigh. Our HS and one of our middle schools no longer print report cards, but the report card is still a basic reporting tool...
After attending a 3-day workshop on standards-based report cards, I have been left with a single over-riding question:
Why do we still have report cards at all?
There are certain kinds of summary documents I have simply stopped looking at. I no longer view my bank statements. I no longer look at my credit card statements. I don't view my investment account statements or retirement fund statements. Why look at summaries when you can track changes in real time online? I don't remember the last time I reconciled a checkbook. (But then again, I only use about 10 checks a year.)
So, as a parent, why do I need an "educational progress" statement when, if so used, I can track my child's progress in real-time using a parent portal to the teacher grade book. If a teacher is tracking not just behavior, assignment completion, and scores on tests but reporting the meeting/mastery of specific standards, I don't need a summary.
Summary documents, both statements and report cards, were created in a time of scarcity. Compiling, printing, and mailing information on a daily basis was cost-prohibitive. Providing digital access is not.
Instead of improving report cards, lets spend the time making our grade books records more meaningful.
Reader Comments (2)
My current school does allow students to see their grades until the report cards are printed. Apparently they are concerned with the helicopter and stealth parents. Never liked this but have to deal with it. It does keep me busy responding to student and parent requests for updates.
Hi Kenn,
I suppose such a policy is common, but I've not worked in a school where this has been the case. I always thought that 11 weeks into the school year was far too late to find out your child might be having problems in a class. And I never considered myself a helicopter parent. Why do we always make rules based on the few who are ill-behaved?
Doug​