JOHN ZURN, Educational Author
Over the past few weeks, I’ve argued that schools need a second report card—one that measures character with the same seriousness we measure academics. We already devote enormous amounts of time deciding whether a student has mastered fractions, Shakespeare, or the periodic table. Surely we can also decide whether that same student demonstrates responsibility, perseverance, generosity, courage, and respect. Grades drive attention. If something appears on the report card, students work on it, parents ask about it, and teachers intentionally teach it. If it doesn’t, everyone quietly assumes someone else is taking care of it. History suggests that “someone else” is usually nobody.
Creating a character report card isn’t about giving teachers another opportunity to criticize students or play the role of the neighborhood grump. Quite the opposite. Great teachers have always held high expectations because they genuinely care about their students’ futures. Every coach knows that athletes improve when the scoreboard keeps score. Character deserves the same treatment. By clearly communicating expectations, celebrating growth, and providing honest feedback when students fall short, teachers gain the authority to develop qualities that employers, spouses, neighbors, and friends value long after anyone has forgotten a geometry test. High expectations are one of the purest forms of optimism because they communicate, “I know you can become better.”
The stories of Mark and Eric remind us why this matters. Mark struggled academically because of undiagnosed dyslexia, yet he possessed extraordinary responsibility, perseverance, kindness, and resilience. Unfortunately, the traditional report card mostly documented what he couldn’t do instead of celebrating the remarkable strengths that would eventually make him successful. Eric’s experience was almost the mirror image. His report card overflowed with A’s, but it couldn’t capture his lack of empathy, teamwork, and humility. His teachers recognized the problem, but without character grades they had little leverage to convince parents—or Eric—that these weaknesses deserved the same attention as algebra.
Schools shouldn’t have to choose between academic excellence and character excellence any more than parents choose between teaching children to read and teaching them to say “thank you.” Our goal should be to recognize every form of excellence we can find. Some students will need extra help mastering academics. Others will need extra help becoming dependable teammates, thoughtful leaders, or compassionate friends. The best schools will refuse to settle for producing graduates who are merely intelligent or merely kind. They will strive to develop young people who are both. That seems like a pretty good bargain for a report card with one extra page.
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From our first posting:
“As parents and teachers, we need to reclaim our traditional role as influencers of our children – not by shouting louder than the influencers our children discover online, but by stressing ideas that are more important than fancy shoes and snappy TikTok tunes. We need to emphasize traits that everyone agrees children will honor. We need to convince our children that the people who are most important to them have a better understanding of what it takes to be successful in life.”
#charactereducation #successtraits #parentingtips #homeschooling #teachertips