TORONTO – August 16, 2006

The Society for Quality Education is concerned that a proposal to reduce the number of report cards going home to parents would result in poorer communication about their children’s progress and a lack of accountability by the schools.

The research is crystal clear, and no one - educator or parent - disputes the finding that the more parents are involved in their children's education, the better the students do. We often hear educators deploring parents' lack of involvement and even offering it as an excuse for students' poor academic achievement.

Despite this, now educators want to provide parents with one less report card a year - and the first report card of the year at that! This will have the effect of pushing parents further away, and sending the message that parents should just trust their children's teachers - no real need to pay attention to what is going on at school.

”If educators were really interested in working closely with parents, they would be issuing report cards every month, as some independent schools do,” said SQE President Malkin Dare.

“It is vital that assessments are communicated as soon as possible so that parents can take action to get proper intervention for their children,” added the Society’s Executive Director Doretta Wilson.

The Society for Quality Education is a charitable, non-profit organization dedicated to providing facts about quality education. The Society works to advance public and private education in Canada by disseminating authoritative information on educational governance and methodology. The Society is funded entirely by private donations. More information can be found at www.societyforqualityeducation.org.