A report card can be a tool to your child's success? Definitely. The report card is a way for schools and teachers to report on accomplishments thus far. It can be seen as a nerve-racking time-or it can be seen as the beginning of a great communication between parent, student, and teacher.

For the teacher and the school, the report card is a 'chapter summary' in the student's educational story from a state standards point of view.  The rest of the story will be formed in how the parent and the student use these chapter summaries to develop a framework that supports lifelong learning.

For the parent and the student, a report card is the perfect opportunity to learn how to set goals. Whether your child is doing well in school, or could use improvement in certain subject areas, goal setting is a very important life skill that all students need to learn and use on a daily basis. The report card can be a helpful resource for parents to help their students formulate an Individual Learning Plan (ILP). The ILP is an ongoing process, and the report card is a snapshot of how well all the systems are communicating, supporting and facilitating the end goal: developing a successful lifelong learner who is synthesizing this years' state standards and goals.

When report cards are released, make time to sit down with your student to talk about their grades and how they relate to their ILP.  Use the ILP to help outline big goals like what to do after high school graduation (and no, it is never too early to talk about this topic). By doing this, you will connect report card time to a long-term goal.

Next, break down larger goals into small steps. For example, place a chart on the wall or fridge to track the goal of 100 new words each grading quarter of the school year charts. By doing so you'll have a tangible reminder of your daily commitment. Praise your child, reminding him or her that these words will help when he/she graduates high school and begins looking for a job.

Tracking and anticipating success are two very positive ways to celebrate and account for self-confidence in a lifelong learner but neither of these categories show up on their report card-rather they are the outcome of the tool.  Try using this report card time to create an ILP around how the next report card time will be. Talk to your student's teacher to get ideas and support. Talk with your student and make a chart - use this time-tested tool to your advantage in nurturing the love of learning in your student.

Forum link: How do you handle report card time at you house?
Resource link: State standards-what is your child being graded on?
Resource link: Age appropriate strategies for talking about career goals.

Listen to a conversation with John Bendt, author and businessman of The Roadmap to Career Success

Link: blogtalkradio
Topic: A report card form Career counselors on how students are doing in developing initiative and motivation


It's paradoxical that college-bound students and their parents put so much energy into selecting and gaining admission to a good college, yet give only minimal thought to such tasks as selecting a future occupation and learning the workplace skills required to compete in a global job market. Many students thus enter college with little direction and are naive about how the real world functions.

Many parents and teachers unfortunately do their students a huge disservice by emphasizing college as the "be all, end all." In reality, schools should be preparing students with the working world in mind. Wouldn't it be nice to know if our youth are meeting the needs of their employers?

In a movement to identify how well public schools are preparing students for future jobs, Innovative Education Management (IEM) initiated a survey sent to CEO's, HR professionals, hiring managers, and others involved in recruiting and hiring recent high school and college graduates.

The survey questions included: When graduates come seeking a job, how employable are they? What are the skill gaps that exist? What kind of "soft skills" do they have? And, what are the most important skills you're looking for in the new talent knocking on your door?

IEM will use the information provided to communicate the needs of business to the education community, and seek initiatives to meet these needs. We are finalizing our report. Click here if you would like to receive the report card when it is released.

To take the survey, please click here.

Check out these links:
Blog:  Reflections on conversations with SME (John Bendt)
Forum: Visit our forum
Business Forum: Report cards for employers who support life long learning
Teacher Forum: Back to school night
Parent Forum: Planning for end of the quarter success