We all know progress reports, printed reports of grades sent between quarters of the semesters, but how necessary are they, really? Their goal is to show parents how a student is doing currently and if they need to improve. While this is good in theory, it can provide unnecessary stress for students. 

The weeks and days before progress reports go out, many students rush to fix their grades, which can lead them to slack off afterward from working so hard. However, some students or parents simply do not care about grades and this period does not help them improve. Meanwhile, for students with parents who care more about their grades, this point in time can cause increased anxiety and nervousness.  Furthermore, progress reports do not count as the official grade. Besides, there is already a “progress report” before the final semester grade, which is quarter grades. These grades serve a similar purpose to the progress reports, so why give students extra stress? 

Students who receive bad grades on their progress reports are already discouraged, this could lead to a cycle where they do poorly on assignments or tests because of this negativity weighing them down. Parents who care about their student’s grades often do not encourage students who recieve bad progress reports, which often does not help the student improve. On the flip side, students who have bad grades, but do not care, are not being benefitted by progress reports either. Also, students can check their grades and see which subjects they need help on at any time because of StudentVUE, so why send a paper home? 

Quarter grades also have a purpose, such as the ability to participate in prom or other school activities, unlike progress reports. The point is unless progress reports serve an actual, positive purpose, there really is no point to them. Progress reports should be eliminated entirely.