The Report Card

The objective of Nora’s plan is to demonstrate how an emphasis on grades and test scores is unhelpful—even hurtful—to students’ development and relationship with learning. Students learn from a young age that grades and test scores are important, and as they grow older, these numbers become more central to the educational opportunities that students receive. In kindergarten, Stephen demonstrates a genuine love of learning, as he’s determined to perfect his letters and really study his surroundings. However, learning becomes less enjoyable when he feels pressured to meet a particular standard. After fourth-grade testing, Nora recalls, “Stephen didn’t get good scores. And I knew why. I had watched him making faces and chewing his pencil and looking up at the clock every other minute during the tests. It was the pressure that got to him” (24). Stephen panics under the intense expectations because the test results not only affect his future, but also his present sense of self-worth.

Grades also create social divisions among classmates in the novel. Teachers categorize students by their grades, sending the highest-scoring kids to special classes and awarding them honors. While good grades make many of these students arrogant, lower grades give other students a false sense of incompetence.