Report Cards: A Cultural History

Report cards have a long history in American education, reflecting broader trends in the US such as republican zealotry, postwar Reconstruction, changing gender roles, and the Progressive child-saving movement. They have become a tool of control and a microcosm for shifting power dynamics among teachers, parents, school administrators, and students.

Format: Unspecified
Length: 240 pages
Publication date: 21 November 2023
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press

Report cards hold a significant place in the realm of education, extending beyond mere reflections of academic achievement and attendance. They serve as a powerful tool of control, encapsulating the evolving power dynamics among teachers, parents, school administrators, and students. In his comprehensive work, Report Cards: A Cultural History, Wade H. Morris delves into the rich tapestry of American education by exploring the historical evolution of these distinctive student documents.

Over the course of nearly two hundred years, the report card has undergone a remarkable transformation, mirroring broader societal shifts in the United States. From the fervent republicanism and religious passion of the antebellum era to the disillusionment of postwar Reconstruction for the formerly enslaved, from the evolving gender roles in rapidly urbanizing cities to the overzealous reach of the Progressive child-saving movement in the early twentieth century, and finally to the growing belief in an academic meritocracy by the 1930s, the report card has been an integral part of the educational landscape.

As school bureaucracies expanded, the use of report cards also expanded, becoming a valuable tool for administrators to monitor both student activity and teacher performance. By the late twentieth century, even the most ardent critics of numerical reporting of children had to concede that report cards had become an indispensable part of the educational system.

Morris meticulously traces the historical responses of teachers, students, parents, and administrators to report cards. From the experiences of a western New York classroom teacher in the 1830s and a Georgia student born enslaved in the 1870s, to the challenges faced by a Colorado student incarcerated in the early 1900s and the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants applying to college in the 1930s, Report Cards offers a poignant and revealing account of how generations of individuals have navigated the complexities of a system that often reduces children to mere numbers on slips of paper.

Through his meticulous research and engaging storytelling, Morris sheds light on the struggles and triumphs of those who have been impacted by report cards. He highlights the ways in which individuals have sought to maintain their dignity and worth within a system that sometimes dehumanizes them. Report Cards serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of education, the power of social structures, and the enduring human desire for meaningful connections and recognition.

Weight: 470g
Dimension: 235 x 161 x 23 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781421447162