Are Report Cards Making the Grade?

This week I visited my grandchildren in Massachusetts.  My kindergarten granddaughter proudly showed me her wiggly tooth and then asked if I wanted to see her report card.  I wondered what this could say.
It was a simple report card that showed how she was faring in reading and number concepts.  There were a few areas that indicated if she was doing well or needed support and then there was a beautiful narrative that really told me what I wanted to know.
The summary was addressed to her, and although, this was logical, so few report cards are addressed to their students.   From reading the comments, I knew her teacher truly knew her.  She spoke about her artwork and how it calmed her and allowed her to relax.  She described her social skills and love of stories.
I thought of the elementary report cards that I worked on with some dedicated teachers.  I am not sure they achieved what we set out to do: tell our students and their parents  how they were doing in school in clear and simple language. Thomas Jefferson wrote that "there is nothing more unequal than the equal treatment of unequal people."  Every student in our classrooms succeeds or fails for a multitude of reasons.  Sometimes, students aren't interested in the topic , sometimes they have a broad background in the topic, sometimes they haven't had breakfast or lunch or dinner the night before. But however they are doing, we as educators need to help them understand their progress with accuracy and gentleness.  Our students are as resilient as young twigs and as fragile as glass.  They remind me of eggs.  An egg  in its shell can withstand tremendous pressure, but if you don't hold it just right it will shatter into a yolky mess.
Our report cards are an academic reckoning.  We must remember they hold us accountable just as much as our students.  We must deliver them with honesty, not jargon, with much attention to the affective side of the child.  Although many teachers hate the arduous task of the narrative, I think it is the best way to deliver a message.

One of my favorite authors is Patricia Polacco.  In one of her books a grandfather gives his granddaughter a book and pours a bit of honey on it.  The honey is to remind her of the sweetness of learning.  Perhaps if we can wrap our words with a bit of honey, our messages will be heard more clearly.  I am so glad my granddaughter's teacher took the time to write so lovingly of her progress.  I will treasure that report card.