Highlands Report Cards

“Well, I would say definitely going digital was a major change because it used to be handwritten, but now it is typed digitally,” Schnitzler said.​

Additionally, the grading system changed drastically since the 1920’s, since students were heavily evaluated based on their behavior.  Many students would receive a weighted grade for their behavior and participation in school since schools would prioritize keeping students acting respectful and responsible.

​“You had to have at least a 95% in order to get an A in a class, and now you can have a 90% and still get an A. It used to be that if you had less than a 70% you were failing, so a 69% would have been an F. Now it's a whole ten points less,” Schnitzler said.​

While behavior was a very important part of grading, parents continue to communicate their expectations based on the regulations in the school. Teachers and parents make sure that the students are performing to their best when it comes to school.

“Okay, well, I think there is definitely a portion of parents that leave it up to their kids to kind of focus on their grades and kind of be their best, and if the parents know that the kids are generally doing well in school, they might not always be checking,” Schnitzler said.

In modern day schools, students are evaluated mainly on academics, which is why this is on report cards to show the growth within a quarter of the year. Back in the 1920’s, schools considered behavior to be an important part of the everyday assessment of students.

​“Well, I think there is the idea of being able to do school, but doing school doesn’t necessarily mean you’re learning. Right, doing school means that you are at school, you are present, you are listening, respectful, and you are doing your work,” Schnitzler said. This indicates that students can be present at school without really paying attention and earning good grades by producing excellent work.

Schnitzler also mentioned that report cards began to improve. Creating multiple copies allows for an easier way for students to keep track of their information and being able to notify their parents about the results.

Report cards impact families worldwide in different ways, whether positively or negatively. Many parents or teachers rely on these cards to support information about how the student is performing academically and behaviorally.

“I mean, they are expecting that the students are doing what they are supposed to be doing behaviorally, and that, in turn, is going to do well academically. So I think they kind of go together,” Schnitzler said.