Report Cards

Report cards are an official means of reporting student progress. Most people believe report cards have advantages and disadvantages. With me regarding letter grades and report cards, I really don't like that method. Say if a student gets a "C" the parents are asking them why they got that grade, it doesn't explain the reason behind the grade. I understand parent teacher conferences go over all that information, but I am pretty sure some parents want more reasoning behind letter grades on report cards. Parent teacher conferences themselves are time consuming for the teacher, both in preparation time and actual contact time. Attendance is a drawback also because most parents do not show up. The advantage of letter grades are they are administratively easy to use, but the disadvantage is that they do not describe the students strengths and weaknesses.
I am a fan of Narrative Reports. I never had them in school, but I feel they would be much more efficient than letter grades. Narrative reports are detailed, written accounts of what each student has learned in relation to the school's curriculum framework and the student's effort in class. Narrative reports show to have many advantages such as allowing teachers to include unique information about a student's learning. I know they are time consuming, but they seem to work better with parents,teachers, and students.