TIPS FOR COMMUNICATING REPORT CARD RESULTS
Just the Facts
• School Report Cards will be available for external data preview by coordinators, superintendents and
local principals between November 1-10. Questions and corrections must be submitted to the NC
Department of Public Instruction by 5 p.m. on November 10. It is important to note that only schools
open during the 2016-17 school year have Report Cards.
• Report cards are available for charter and alternative schools operating during the 2016-17 school
year. Federal schools, state-operated schools, and other special schools do not receive Report
Cards due to differences in the way data are reported for these schools.
• Report Card Snapshots will be available for printing and distributing to parents on October 18,
the public release date of the School Report Cards. Administrators may want to use this
opportunity to involve local businesses in their schools by soliciting help from a business
partner in printing the Report Card.
• In most instances, Report Card data are reported at the school, district, and state level. School
data are based on information from all grades within the school. The district and state comparisons
for each school include totals or averages from schools with the same grade spans. Please note
that there are a few schools with uncommon grade spans – such as K-9, K-12 and 6-11. In some
instances there is only one such school in a district and one or very few in the state. Comparing
district and state data to schools with uncommon grade spans should only be done with caution.
• The School Report Card website allows viewers to compare schools with each other, but because
schools can be structured differently from one another – in their sizes, available grades and the
programs they offer – Report Cards are not a useful tool for ranking schools. It would be incorrect to
determine that one school is better than another based only on slight differences between data points.
Determine your Key Messages
• Study your school’s Report Card to determine its strengths and weaknesses. From this, develop some
key messages around what you want people to remember about your school and its data. Make sure
these messages are clear and concise and that they are repeated on any materials you produce
for the public. Avoid using educational jargon or unclear words that may confuse people. Ask a noneducator
to listen and respond to your messages before you provide them to the general public.
• Revise the sample letter for parents (included in this packet) to include your key messages. Copy it
with your school’s Report Card Snapshot and distribute both to parents.
• Add a link to the North Carolina School Report Card website, from
your school’s website.
Provide a Complete Picture
• Student performance reported for the 2016-17 year is based on more rigorous standards
implemented for the first time in the 2012-13 school year. As expected when states increase learning
standards, North Carolina’s student performance decreased in the first year or two after the new
standards were put in place. That’s why it is not helpful to compare the current performance to data
prior to 2012.
• This is the fourth year that A-F performance grades will be provided for each school. The letter
grades provide an additional measure of school performance. For 2016-17, the letter grades are
calculated on the following scale: 85-100 = A, 70-84 = B, 55-69 = C, 40-54 = D, and less than 40 = F.
• No school is performing so well that there is no room for improvement. If you only tell the pictureperfect
stories, your message will lose it credibility.
• Those who readily admit their weaknesses and communicate a plan for improvement create a better
understanding among their audience.
• Share ways your community members can get involved so that increased student achievement will
be reported on next year’s Report Card. Make school improvement everyone’s business.
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Communication Resources
Inform Faculty First
• Teachers and other staff members are often a parent’s first contact in your school. Schedule a
meeting devoted to the school Report Card for your staff, or discuss the Report Card at your next
faculty meeting. Provide teachers with a copy of your School Report Card Snapshot. Tell faculty that
school, district and state Report Cards also are available online at
• Clarify the difference between the School Report Card Snapshot and your school’s online Report
Card. The online Report Card contains additional data and information about indicators that were
difficult to capture in a printed document.
Keep Parents and Businesses Informed
• Include a copy of your school’s Report Card in welcome materials for students and parents who
are new to the school. Ask teachers to include the Report Card Snapshot in any weekly folders or
material that they send home to families.
• Help parents who may not be fluent in English understand the school Report Card. Spanish
language versions of the School Report Card Snapshots can be printed from the NC School
Report Card website
• Place copies of your school’s Report Card Snapshot in community venues, possibly by attaching
it to a brochure or other publication that describes your school and invite parents and community
members to come visit or attend an event at your school. Encourage businesses that employ
parents of students in your school to link their website or intranet to the NC School Report Cards
website. Send copies of the Report Card Snapshot to local faith-based organizations and ask
them to include them in their next mailing or with their bulletin/newsletter.
• Send out information about the school Report Card to your School Improvement Team members,
PTA/PTO/PTSO leaders, key communicators, booster club members, business partners, and
other constituents.
• Use in-house television stations to talk about the release of the Report Cards and about how your
school plans to distribute them to parents. Highlight particular strengths and needs of your school.
• Use this time to generate interest from students.
• Used the enclosed newsletter articles to alert teachers, students, parents, and community
members to the Report Card.