Elementary parents and students will see a new report card when the first round of grades come out in November 2026.
Categories on the report cards were revamped to better align with the core learning that the district wants students to be successful on each year. Your child is also learning other skills, but the “Essential Standards” on the report card are the ones that set your child up for success in the future.
The report card still has a one to four scale grading scale, but the numbers have been flipped to align to how most 4-point grading scales are used. Four is now the highest mark possible, instead of the lowest.
Scoring a 1 means a student needs support, 2 is progressing, 3 is meeting grade level expectations, and 4 is exemplary.
The new report cards were three years in the making, including two years of pilots with select teachers. More than 80 percent of district parents said they preferred the new report cards over the cards the district has been using for 13 years.
Dearborn Schools hopes the report cards will help parents be more involved in their child’s education by better understanding their student’s specific strengths and weaknesses.
The new report cards still provide detailed information in each subject area, but they offer clearer explanations.
Using third grade English language arts as an example, the old report card had categories such as “language”, “reading: foundational skills”, “reading: informational text”, and “reading: literature”. The new report card provides categories such as “reads accurately and smoothly”, “finds answers right in the text”, and “identifies the central topic and supporting facts”.
The first marking period for this school year ends on Oct. 30. Parents can expect to see the new report cards when they attend elementary parent-teacher conferences on Nov. 10 or 12.