Student’s Cumulative File Offers Insights for Parents

Parents often complain about being out of touch with their children’s academic lives, particularly as their children enter high school. Children may not want to discuss their grades and parents often suspect they are not getting the whole story.

A good way to check your child’s grades and behavior in school is to visit the campus for a look at his or her cumulative file. State law requires a cumulative file be kept for every public school student. These records generally begin in first grade and are transferred from a child’s former school to each new one, right up to high school graduation.

Viewing the cumulative file will provide an up-to-date picture of your child’s performance. It may also help you discover problems that may never become crises if you address them now.

The file contains a variety of information. Some required items are residence and family information, immunization and health data, all courses taken and accompanying grades and some standardized test scores.

If your child is in a special education program, then an individual education plan must also appear.

You will see other things that must be included, if applicable, such as suspension records, court orders prohibiting an abusive parent from visiting the child, and parents’ instructions that the child not be allowed to take part in such programs as sex education or study of the theory of evolution.

File items that are permitted but not required include referrals to counselors, psychologists’ reports, commendations and attendance records.

The standardized test scores often found in cumulative files are also good indicators of your child’s basic skills in various subjects. The scores can give you a better understanding of what your child does well and what he or she needs to practice.

The California Test of Basic Skills, for example, is taken by children in elementary or middle school and measures skills in vocabulary, reading, writing, math and social studies. (The Iowa Test of Basic Skills is sometimes substituted for the California test; its conclusions are comparable.)

Scores earned on the voluntary Scholastic Aptitude Test, used by many colleges to help determine admission, are also usually found in cumulative files.

To protect students’ privacy, access to cumulative files is guarded carefully by the school district. These records may be viewed by the student and by custodial parents or legal guardian.

Teachers and select school and district officials may also examine the file. Colleges and potential employers cannot ask a school to send a cumulative file, although colleges may inquire about specific contents with a student’s permission.

To examine your child’s records, visit the school’s counseling or registrar’s office and ask to see the file. Be sure to bring photo identification to prove you are the parent or guardian listed in the child’s file.

Bear in mind that under state law, the school has five days to fulfill your request. Don’t be surprised or insulted if you are asked to schedule an appointment for another day.

Before you are given the file, you will probably have to sign for it, because a record is kept of all viewing requests. And although you may study the file as thoroughly as you like, you cannot take it with you or remove any records from it.