It Takes More than a Report Card to Set your Child up for Summer Success

Yes, year-end report cards can help parents benchmark a child’s progress. They can also help make decisions about what type of academic support a child may need during summer. However, these pieces of paper don’t tell the whole story. We’ve outlined other factors to help make informed summertime choices for kids. We encourage parents to look beyond this tool (the report card) to get a more rounded view of their child’s progress. This can help parents learn where they may need to take action to encourage a child who is doing well or to support a child who is struggling.

A parent’s guide to year-end report cards… but they don’t tell the whole story

Studies show that parents may put too much weight on the year-end report card to track how their child is doing in math and reading. Yes, children need unstructured play time and social time during the summer months. But we all know about what’s called the summer slide. The knowledge a couple can gather toward the end of the school year can help their child by identifying both wins and needs.

What can we learn from report cards and why the longer view might be a better approach?

• Report cards are a great way to track a child’s progress over time.
• They provide a snapshot of a student’s academic progress.
• They show grades in specific subjects.
• They often also include softer measures like behavior, effort shown, and attendance.

And while one report card communicates how well a child is meeting grade-level expectations, this is only a static snapshot. A better way to track a child’s progress is to look over time. By comparing report cards from the beginning of school, with reviewing mid-year documents, and examining the final report card of the year, parents can truly see broader trends, both up and down. This process can also highlight inconsistencies, it might show that while a student is doing well in math in general, that they might be struggling with a specific aspect of it. Or they might be doing fine in math, and struggling with some aspect of reading and writing. These nuances might get missed in a year-end report card. We encourage parents to communicate with teachers BEFORE school is out.

What can we learn from a Gallup poll and study on year-end report cards?

A Gallup poll shows that 64% of parent use the report card as the main way to know how their child is doing. “The study finds that about nine in 10 parents of K-12 students believe their child is at or above grade level in reading (88%) and math (89%).”* However, the study also showed that when mid-year and end-of-year achievement tests, and other factors, were also taken into consideration, students were not doing as well in math and reading as parents thought. In fact, year-end-achievement tests often report a lower number of students as proficient than their report cards might show.

While report cards show a more rounded view of a student’s progress, achievement tests often can highlight areas in need of improvement. Too late for this year, but next year, we urge parents to check the mid-year benchmark tests as well as the year end tests. Only 20% of parents cite tests like the mClass, DIBELS, or iReady as important in tracking the progress of their children’s academic progress in reading and math. When in reality, they are quite good at doing just that. Your schools’ online portal, or a message to the child’s teacher can get you access to this information.

After school or summer enrichment programs can help your child succeed

Weather your child is ahead of the class in math or reading and writing, but not being challenged, or is struggling, try an after-school program like what ALOHA offers for kids age 3-12. Find a learning center near you. Our teachers adapt to the high achiever, as well as to the student who needs help.

What other factors do parents miss when they focus mainly on the report cards

Be sure to take into account that each school district handles report cards, teacher communication, test scores, and portal access differently. And that each grade level and child are different. Apply what might work best for your situation. To get a more accurate picture of how a student is actually doing here are some other factors to look at:

Written feedback from the teacher – the poll showed that only 49% of parents take this into account. Parents seem to put much more weight on the grade. But written feedback from teachers often highlights both strengths and deficits in a student’s progress. You can look even look for what soft skills a child might need help with. If the teacher mentions a lack of classroom participation either overall or in one specific subject – this can be a way to open a line of inquiry into what is going on. Is the child shy, or are they struggling with a specific subject, or just one aspect of it? When planning for summer academic camps, this feedback can be one place to look for clues for how to best support your child. It can help identify what type of summer programming, like ALOHA offers, might benefit your child.

Trust your own observations and look for patterns in such things as homework assignments, tests or stress – Some report cards mention homework, some don’t. But as you look back over the semester, was there a subject that a student had great classroom participation, but struggled with homework. Was there a specific subject that was always a struggle to get them to tackle. If you suspect a trend, you can communicate with the teachers, or follow our next suggestion. And if homework time was a constant struggle, you might look into if a learning deficit like dyslexia or others are present. We have another blog post on identifying and overcoming math anxiety;  check it out.

Ask your child – While this type of conversation may need a delicate approach, asking open ended, non-judgmental questions of your child’s school experience can be a goldmine. Asking how your child feels about their academic success or weaknesses in certain subjects is a great way to start. You can even begin the conversation before the report card comes out. Asking how they feel about each subject, identifying things they like best and things they find more difficult. Then when the report does arrive, you can review it with them. They may be pleasantly surprised that they did better in some subjects than others. And where there are issues, by talking in advance, you might have more buy-in or interest from your student about finding summer activities to encourage an academic interest where they excel. And it might soften the blow of needing to seek tutoring or an academic summer camp in subjects where they need support.

A key take-away on year-end report cards and the other factors we mentioned:

The study also showed that when parents were made aware of issues, they overwhelmingly took action to help their child. Looking beyond the report card might unlock powerful benefits for a student’s success in the future. As the end o the school year approaches, we encourage you to give it a try.

References used in the is blog:

*Should Parents Ask More Questions When Child Receives B’s? An article from the Gallup polling organization: https://news.gallup.com/opinion/gallup/513947/parents-ask-questions-child-receives.aspx

Written by Cathy Larkin, a freelance writer and social media coordinator, who has been a part of the ALOHA Mind Math team for several years.