School reports twice a year no longer relevant in the modern world

When many preschools use technology to give parents real-time reporting of their child’s activities - why are so many schools still churning out written reports?

Many preschools are already using technology to report chidlren’s activities in real time.

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For many parents and carers, the only time they ever find out how their child is progressing at school is when they receive the twice-a-year school report.

We are currently at that point in the school year when half-yearly reports are being prepared and sent home. These are often used as the basis for interviews when parents and teachers discuss what might be done to improve learning.

School reports have traditionally been the primary communication between school and home about a child’s academic progress.

A teacher prepares reports for school.

The introduction of the A-E system across NSW was aimed at ensuring clarity and consistency in reporting student achievement. Research tells us that regular and constructive feedback from teachers has a big impact­ on student achievement.

So this begs the question: are school reports in their current form really valuable either to parents/carers or the student? Is two a year enough?

I know some parents feel that if reports were issued say at the end of each term, that would allow enough time to work with teachers to respond to any problems.

At the same time, I know first-hand that teachers invest an incredible amount of time and energy writing reports­. Maybe we need to think differently about this.

Twice yearly written reports may be outdated..

Some schools are using technology to connect parents into learning spaces. Many preschools and daycare centres are at the forefront of ‘‘real-time reporting” by sending parents/carers regular updates over the course of the day or week. Other schools have ‘flipped’ the reporting process by having students contribute to the monitoring of their own progress. In this way, students learn to take more responsibility for their learning.

It seems almost unthinkable that in a world where you can now monitor your heart rate via a mobile phone app that parents/carers have to wait twice a year to find out how their child is progressing at school.

I think we can do this better. It is time to move school reports into the 21st century!