Making the grade: School report cards more parent-friendly

Kimberley McGee

Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2001 | 8:27 a.m.

Another school year began last week for many Clark County students.

New teachers, crisp new folders and fresh notebooks greeted students as they settled into their desks at area elementary schools and cracked their schoolbooks for the first time.

But just around the corner lurks what some dread each year the report card.

The school document that monitors each child's progress in reading, writing and arithmetic has been a cross to bear for some students.

And their parents.

But the report card, area teachers and principals say, has become less a marker of the child's education and more a detailed description of the student's strengths and weaknesses.

While students in grades 7-12 still receive a letter grade for their curriculum courses, elementary school report cards shy away from what many see as narrow-minded grading systems.

Elementary report cards have grown in scope over the years to include details about a child's performance in multiple areas, so that he or she won't be stigmatized by a letter grade.

The traditional A-through-F grade system is dated, said Francine Summers, a principal at Edith Garehime Elementary School in Las Vegas.

"When (students) are little, especially, they are just emerging as a learner and you will see a lot of changes within a short time," Summers said. "Why burden them with a bad (letter) grade at a young age when it doesn't really mean anything?"

No longer can parents simply tell their child to raise a mediocre C grade to an outstanding A. The report card lists in detail where the child exceeds and where the child needs more work, possibly at home with the parents' help.

For instance, if a child receives a B in arithmetic, it is further broken down into sub-categories -- reads and writes numbers correctly, knows number facts and understands mathematical processes -- to show parents exactly where the child is weak so that he or she can raise the B to an A.

This also makes it much more difficult for a crafty student to alter a grade with a pen or pencil, because the sub-categories would read differently than the letter grades. If it doesn't add up, observant parents can easily catch the discrepancy.

Learn and grow

Changes in report cards are often driven by parents, said Mike Robison, assistant regent of superintendents for the Clark County School District.

"Kids already know where they stand in comparison with their peers through their (in-class) work," Robison said. "But parents can see how (their children) are doing and where they need to work in certain subjects and help the child."

The overall point of the report card, he said, is to inform parents.

"The more the parents are involved, the more a child will succeed," Robison said. "Therefore if we want children to succeed, we need, want and should have the parents involved."

That doesn't seem to be a problem locally.

Parents caused a ruckus when the school district opted to change the grading system in 1995 from the traditional A through F to a number system one through three, with three being the highest grade.

They met with the school district and reached an agreement that a few schools would test the pilot program, but A-through-F grades would be given for the overall subject.

Garehime Elementary has used the one through three-grading system for the past few years.

The number system doesn't carry the stigma of a bad letter grade, Summers said.

"It lets the parents know how their child can improve," Summers said. "We want the child to feel they can improve, not be stuck with a bad grade."

Since teachers have spent much more time sending monthly progress reports home and filling out comments on quarterly report cards, Summers said, parents have responded.

In the past parents coached their children to improve bad grades or commended them for top grades, but didn't truly know how the child succeeded or failed.

With the more elaborate report cards, Summers said, parents know what educational path their children are on and what obstacles may hinder their progress to an A grade.

"Now they know what to do with their child, how to encourage them, where they need help. It's a teacher-parent-team effort," Summers said.

Karen Park and her 7-year-old son, Dylan, actually enjoyed their report card experience last year at Walter Long Elementary School in east Las Vegas.

Together they would read Dylan's report card. The good grades were not a surprise to Park because Dylan's teachers sent home flashcards, spelling words and comments throughout the year to ensure her son's academic success.

"The comments were always positive," Park said. "They made him feel good about school."

Mary Smith's 7-year-old son, Brian, attended Shelia Tarr Elementary School in northwest Las Vegas.

Smith grew up in Las Vegas with the traditional A-through-F grading system. Her son's report card had no letter grades and relied on the one-through-three system.

"I don't like it," Smith said. "It doesn't cover his academic achievements. They have three grades for math and eight grades for behavior."

While the comment section is helpful, Smith said she would prefer more space for the teachers to expand on their thoughts.

Writing skills

Teachers are trying, said Diane Reitz, principal of James Gibson Elementary School in Henderson.

The amount of time teachers spend creating report cards has doubled in the past decade or two, she said.

"Teachers spend quite a long time preparing report cards," Reitz said. "Especially the comments, because those are so important."

As a young elementary school teacher 21 years ago, Reitz would bundle her student's records to take home and spend a week grading papers for a typical class of 30 students.

Today teachers pore over projects and homework assignments as they did decades ago, but many also keep journals of the students' progress, demeanor, class participation and social skills.

"They are all unique (children)," Reitz said. "But most of the comments start out with the strengths. It's great to see as a parent what your child excels at, but we also say, 'Keep on practicing those multiplication tables,' to prompt them to work on an area that they are weak in."

Worthwhile endeavor

Report cards may be more elaborate, but technology has made the increase in input easier, as well as opened communications between teachers and parents.

Of the 990 students at C.P. Squires Elementary School in North Las Vegas, 86 percent speak Spanish as their first language. Their Spanish-speaking parents often don't understand the handwritten comments that have filled their child's report card in the past.

Principal Carol Lark, who began her career with the CCSD 14 years ago as an elementary school teacher, realized parents and teachers were frustrated by the language barrier.

That changed with the introduction of the Report Card Maker last year, Lark said, a computer program that offers 200 pre-written comments in English with a Spanish translation.

Since the report cards are electronic, often teachers will e-mail specific comments to an interpreter to further communicate with Spanish-speaking parents.

"We do what we can to reach the parents because they are the key, not the report card (itself)," Lark said. "Grades are not meant to be punishment. They are meant to show the child where they are and where they can go."

Occasionally a student has changed a grade, only to be caught through the many ways that teachers now communicate with parents.

"We've had a couple of cases where a D becomes a B, and children return midterm unsatisfactory notices and you can tell it's not an adult signature," Lark said.

But a phone call to the parent quickly remedies most, if any, confusion. Quarterly teacher-parent conferences also keep parents up to date on their child's progress.

"Parents don't like surprises, and neither do I," Lark said. "We want to catch (problems) before it's too late."

Report cards will continue to evolve with technology, but basically they remain the same -- a measure of a child's progress as well as a reflection of the parent's participation and the education system.

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