How to Read a Report Card: It’s Measure of Performance, Not Character

Parents are pretty predictable about report cards. They tend to give money or other rewards for good grades and take away privileges or possessions for bad ones.

Now that report cards have arrived for most students in Los Angeles Unified schools and are just around the corner for others, let me recommend some more constructive responses.

First, bear in mind something that is trite but true: Grades measure a child’s performance in a subject; they do not measure the child. An F in science does not make your child an F person. It does mean that he or she needs some help.

Children’s self-esteem is deeply affected by their grades, whether or not they admit it. They need to hear that grades do not determine how lovable they are.

Look over the report card with your child and discuss each grade separately.

If it is a good grade, encourage your child to discuss what he or she did to earn it. Try to analyze the success. Perhaps there were study habits or techniques that could be applied elsewhere.

Rewarding good grades is helpful, but don’t overdo it. Let the pleasure of learning and a sense of achievement be the largest part of the reward.

I think it is best not to give money for good grades. It tends to reduce learning to a dash for cash. Your child will deal with that more than enough in later life.

Instead, reward the child with an additional, more novel learning opportunity--a visit to the La Brea Tar Pits, for example, or a crafts workshop at Westside Arts Center or a bookstore gift certificate.

Disappointing grades are more difficult to deal with, but not impossible.

Scolding and punishment do not accomplish much. Adding to the student’s shame will probably just make him or her even more resistant to the troublesome subject.

Ask the student what he or she thinks the problem may be, then call the teacher for an additional diagnosis.

Once you figure out the problem, don’t just say, “You can do better.” You’ve got to show your son or daughter how to do better.

Ask the teacher for specific suggestions and also let the student offer some.

Often the remedy is as simple as reorganizing a study schedule or checking that the homework gets done every night.

Tutoring also is helpful in some cases. See if the teacher is available. At some high schools, members of the honor society offer free help.

Older tutors can be found through the employment offices of nearby colleges and universities, but they generally cost $10 to $25 an hour.

As your child works to improve, it is a good idea to keep close tabs on his or her progress by receiving daily or weekly reports from the teacher. Available through the counseling office, these reports let you know which assignments are due when, and they can often help you catch grades before they fall.

Finally, if all other possible remedies fail, you may have to accept that perhaps your son or daughter can’t do much better in a particular subject. To offset that, help him or her to discover and polish a subject or talent that comes more easily.

For example, my parents spent a small fortune on chemistry tutors, but it was still the one subject I just never quite “got.” They saw my fondness for reading and writing, though, and encouraged me to make something out of it.

Few children can do well in every subject, but by analyzing the report card wisely, you can help your child make his or her best effort. And over time, you can also help your children develop interests that play to their strengths, perhaps leading them toward intellectual rewards that last a lifetime.