Student Report Cards
Assessment
In Case You Missed It: How Schools Are Measuring Student Success
Explore stories about grading practices, what truly reflects student achievement, and more.
Assessment
What Should Teachers Do When Students—or Parents—Ask for a Better Grade?
Plenty of students, and even parents, ask teachers to change their grades. Here's how teachers react.
Assessment
Grading for Equity: Inside One District’s Big Policy Shift
Districts have been shifting grading to strictly assess student learning without add-ons such as extra credit.
Assessment
What Are Grades Really For? What Research Says About 4 Common Answers
Differing opinions about the purpose of grades are at the heart of the grading debate.
Families & the Community
Parents Think Their Kids Are Learning a Lot at School. What Do Students Say?
The perception gap between parents and their kids widens as students get older. Does it matter?
Student Achievement
From Our Research Center
Who's the Real Audience for A-F and Numeric Grades? Hint: It's Not the Students
Traditional grading systems help parents—as well as colleges and universities—get a sense of how students are doing, educators say.
Families & the Community
Parents Don’t Know When Their Kids Have Fallen Behind. Report Cards Could Be the Problem
Parents rely on report cards to gauge whether their kids are on track academically. But they might be misleading, a survey shows.
Assessment
Opinion
Grading Has Always Been an Imperfect Exercise. COVID-19 Made It Worse
It’s hard reducing the complexity of each student’s social, emotional, and academic learning to a letter grade. Maybe we’re doing it wrong.
Assessment
Opinion
What Traditional Classroom Grading Gets Wrong
It's time to make grades bias-resistant and fairer, writes Joe Feldman. Four key aspects of equitable grading can help.
Student Well-Being
Is Your Child Showing Grit? School Report Cards Rate Students' Soft Skills
As more schools size up students on nonacademic skills such as grit and responsible decisionmaking, it's a challenge to make the feedback useful—and understandable—for parents.
Assessment
Opinion
Grading Standards Can Elevate Teaching
An accurate and fair grading system empowers teachers and students while also building trust, writes Joe Feldman.
Student Well-Being
New Character Report Cards Rate Students on 'Grit'
The KIPP charter school network and other schools are testing student report cards designed to measure key character traits.
Assessment
Opinion
Why Grades Should Reflect Mastery, Not Speed
Schools need to change their grading to truly reflect students' comprehension of subjects, Ryan McLane writes.
School Climate & Safety
States Use School Score Cards to Target Climate Problems
Under a federal grant program, 11 states are using student surveys and select data to monitor and address issues around safety, discipline, and engagement.