Parents Want The Old Letter-Grade Report Cards; New System Tells Them Nothing About Their Children’s School Performance?

The nation wants to ditch the letter grades and fully transition to a standard-based reporting system. Many schools across the country have started to do away with the A to F grading, but while some experience a success, parents of children in other schools are pushing back the traditional report card.

Too Long And Confusing

The new reporting system where the performance of a student is reported based on progress guides is deemed by many parents as confusing, lame and too long. "This tells me nothing," Kylie Spahn, a mother of a seventh-grader Jessica in Downers Grove, told the Chicago Tribune as she reviews several pages of her daughter's report card. It contains progress guides on each subject and details which standards Jessica has already achieved or is still working on.

Clearly, there are parents who are having a hard time comprehending the detailed report card and some don't bother to read them anymore because they are "information overload." Kids themselves agree with their parents. Sam, 8, of Central Bucks told Philly.com, "They're too vague."

Why Ditch A to F Grades

Academic experts say that A to F grades tend to be problematic because they are a mix of several factors and not just on student achievements. In addition to student's learnings on subject areas, factors such as their study habits and attitude, like whether they submit their work on time, are also given points and calculated into the final grade, per the Chicago Tribune. Meanwhile, in the standards-based grading, these habits and attitude are taken separately. How they are progressing based on specific standards are described by simple phrases such as "exceeding standards" or "progressing toward standards."

Parents don't seem ready yet to get into this culture shift and that means a lot more work for the academe. The backlash from parents is still strong at this point that some schools decided to revert to the old-school report cards. "We decided we would keep the letter grades for now. We don't believe in that, but we work for the parents, and we respect their input," said Jeff Zoul, assistant superintendent for teaching and learning at Lake County's Deerfield Public School District 109.