Report cards are traditionally known as the final word on a student’s performance. For many, the final grade printed on the report card represents the totality of the student’s success or lack thereof. However, the report card doesn’t always tell the full story of a student’s progress. It’s crucial for parents and students to communicate with teachers, while students learn to be accountable for their own efforts.
Report cards aren’t a great indicator of daily class work. Every day, teachers and students are working and reflecting on intangible items, like participation, attitude, work ethic and more. The teacher and students understand how students’ understanding of concepts change with each lesson, practice session, and benchmark assessment. Whether the final grade is an A or a C, the journey to the grade was built in these smaller steps.
Open lines of communication between student and teacher, teacher and parent, and student and parent is crucial. When students reflect on lessons and identify with the help of their teachers how they are progressing, they have more to share with their parents. This allows for everyone invested in the student’s educational progress to be there to support them, and not just wait for final results to react.
The grade on the report card is only one piece of the student’s educational story. When we treat it as one part of the overall progress, it feels less like a final word on the student and more like valuable information.