The title of this article may have made a lot of you wonder why we are asking such an obvious question. Report cards are after all sacred and irreplaceable, the essential milestones that justify our various academic pursuits. To even consider replacing report cards seems like a preposterous idea. And in a way it is. Report cards, as they stand, are absolutely essential for students, parents, and teachers to keep a track of a student’s learning journey. We are not proposing that we replace the report cards with something else. We are suggesting that may be calling it a ‘report card’ is an idea that needs reconsideration. Maybe we need to think about referring to the report card with a name that is less like a verdict and more like an inspiration? A name that will make kids look forward to their assessment instead of dreading it?
Also Read: 3 Essential Elements of a Great Result Generation Platform for Your School
What’s in the Name?
Sometimes, everything. At Schoolpad, in the past few years, we have interacted with thousands of stakeholders at every level including the students, the parents, and the management. There is a definite recognition of the fact that we need to look at a more positive terminology when it comes to evaluation systems. But there is also inertia, a kind of resistance to changing a nomenclature that is ingrained in our education systems from the very beginning. There is a comfort in familiarity which is hard to let go of. But in our humble opinion, it is a change long due. As we evolve into an education system that is becoming more aware of the psychological and mental health aspects of a child’s learning journey, it is imperative that we revisit how we define our ‘report cards’. Our evaluation system has definitely been on a learning curve of its own and is slowly moving towards an approach that is holistic and is willing to complement marks with criteria that are more subjective and nuanced. But as we learn and grow, we need to pay attention to the essential first step in this journey—the naming of the report card.
When we think of a report card, what comes to our mind is a piece of paper and a bunch of numbers that rate and define the child as good or bad in various academic areas. An entire year’s worth of learning journey is reduced into a handful of figures that leave very little room for nuance or discussion. There is a certainty that a report card embodies, a verdict that we all accept and judge the child on. Calling it a report card is a refusal to recognize a student’s year-long journey filled with its own ups and downs, learning and unlearning, success and failures. In our humble opinion, as we move into an era where a more wholesome evaluation is increasingly encouraged, we must consider renaming the report cards.
The Way Ahead
Children start with nothing and grow their skills and knowledge as they traverse this path of learning with their teachers and schoolmates. The experience and exposure they acquire during this journey contribute to their growth and development. Benchmarking this organic progression on a number scale called report card turns it into a standardized routine and sucks the joy out of the process.
What we need to name it is not a report card but a Certificate of Learning, or a Certificate of Grade Completion, a well-rounded evaluation report that alongside the marks, also records and recognizes the learning experiences the students went through during their year-long learning, gives feedback about the progress and supplies practical takeaways to help them improve as they graduate to the next level of their journey. What we need is a new name that indicates our willingness as educators and systems to embrace a new attitude and a new encouraging approach towards evaluation and assessment.
Marks are important, and so are report cards. But nomenclature can sometimes make a world of difference in how our students perceive and process their annual results. Changing how we refer to our annual results may not be a revolution, but it may as well start one. If nothing else, it will inspire, encourage and motivate our students, steering them away from fear, toward a path of exciting improvements. And that alone is worth bringing about this change!
Watch This: 3 Key Steps to Manage Your School’s Report Cards More Accurately, Efficiently and Transparently
As educators, management and parents, we’d love to hear your thoughts on this idea. Do you think our report cards need a new name? If yes, what are your ideas and suggestions?
Please share your opinion with us, and help us carry this discussion forward with an academic spirit, open mind, and positive approach. And if you want to know more about what we do at Schoolpad and how we can help your school, please feel free to get in touch with us at connect@schoolpad.in . You can also click on the request a demo link and one of our coaches will get in touch with you.
