A Parent Guide to 

State and Local 

Report Cards
Message from 

the Secretary

Dear Parent, 

The hope and promise of the Every 

Student Succeeds Act is to bring 

transparency to parents. You deserve 

to know what is happening in the 

school your child attends. We created 

this presentation to provide you with 

information about State and district 

report cards. States and districts are 

required to publish report cards that 

show how the State, district, and 

schools are doing with regard to student 

achievement and success. 

This document empowers you with 

information that will help you understand 

and advocate for the best education for 

your child and help you make the best 

choices for your family. 

Betsy DeVos

Secretary of Education
Contents

Introduction. 

Education Spending.

Parent Engagement.

Accessibility.

Readily Available.

Student Achievement.

Graduation Rates.

Accountability.

School Environment.

Teacher Qualifications. .

Report Card Examples. .

Virginia. .

Ohio. .

Glossary. .

Next Steps. .

iii
Introduction

The Elementary and Secondary Education 

Act of 1965, as amended by the Every 

Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), requires every 

State and district to publish a report card.

The report cards provide parents and the 

public with important information on State, 

district, and school performance and progress. 

The information in this presentation provides 

an overview of the types of information 

included on report cards. States and districts 

can also add information they believe is 

useful and helpful to parents and others in 

evaluating schools’ progress.

1
Education Spending

For the first time ever, ESSA requires 

that State and district report cards have 

information on how much is spent per

student for every school.

This information must show how much 

money comes from federal sources and 

how much money comes from State and 

local sources.

2

Some parents find it helpful to compare 

student spending in order to make the best 

decision for their child.
Parent Engagement

ESSA requires States to consult with 

parents as States develop their report 

cards. States may do this in a variety 

of ways, including the following: 

• Holding meetings with parents

• Creating a report card committee 

that includes parents 

• Publishing drafts for feedback 

Through this consultation, parents are 

able to advise States on the best way 

to display the required information. 

Parents can also explain what 

information parents need in order to 

understand how schools are doing.

3

If you want to get involved in your State’s 

report card feedback process, contact your 

State ESSA coordinator. 
Accessibility

ESSA requires that report cards be: 

• Concise and understandable 

• Accessible to the public, including 

people with disabilities 

• Written in plain language that 

parents can understand

• Available in the languages spoken 

by large populations of non-English 

speakers that the State or district 

serves and have a process to support 

all non-English speaking parents

4

To request an accessibility accommodation,

reach out to your State ESSA coordinator.
Readily Available

States and districts must make report 

cards available on their websites. Districts 

without websites may make report cards 

available in another format.

States and districts also may share report 

cards in a variety of other ways, such as: 

• Printing and providing them in school 

and district offices, libraries, and 

community and childcare centers 

• Emailing or texting the website link 

directly to parents 

• Providing them at parent advisory 

group meetings 

• Developing smartphone applications 

that allow parents to access them

5

If you are having trouble finding your 

State or district report card, ask your child’s 

school principal or district representative. 
Student Achievement

ESSA requires that State and district report cards 

include:

• The results of the annual statewide tests in 

reading/language arts, math, and science 

• The percentage of all students and each 

subgroup of students who participate in the 

State’s math, reading/language arts, and 

science tests 

• The number and percentage of students with 

significant cognitive disabilities who take an 

alternate test

• Information about how the district’s test results 

compare with the State as a whole and how 

each school’s test results compares with the 

district average and the statewide average

• State results on the National Assessment of 

Educational Progress (NAEP) reading and math 

assessments in grades four and eight

6 Some parents find student achievement information

is helpful in making the best decision for their student. 
Graduation Rates

ESSA requires that State and district 

report cards include:

• The graduation rates of all students 

and of each subgroup of students 

who receive a regular diploma or 

higher credential within four years 

• States may publish the graduation 

rates for students who receive a 

diploma after more than four years

• Rates of postsecondary enrollment 

for every high school in the State, if 

they are available

7

Graduation rate and post-secondary 

enrollment data is important to many 

parents, especially information about what 

graduates do after high school.
Accountability

ESSA requires that State and district report cards 

include:

• A clear and brief description of the State

accountability system, which helps parents 

and others understand how the State 

evaluates school performance 

• Results of the State accountability system— 

for example, how the school is performing 

on the indicators in the State’s system and 

what schools are identified for improvement 

and support—which helps parents determine 

how well a school is performing

• Under ESSA, States choose additional 

accountability indicators, such as educator 

engagements or chronic absenteeism

Find your state’s ESSA plan. 8
School Environment

ESSA requires that State and district 

report cards include the most recent 

information about the following:

• In-school suspensions

• Out-of-school suspensions

• Expulsions

• School-related arrests

• Referrals to law enforcement

• Chronic absenteeism

• Incidents of violence (including 

bullying and harassment)

9

School environment data helps 

parents understand information 

about the school’s culture and climate. 
Teacher Qualifications

ESSA requires that State and district report 

cards include the number and percentage of 

the following:

• Inexperienced teachers, principals and 

other school leaders

• Teachers teaching with emergency or 

provisional credentials

• Teachers who are not teaching in the 

subject or field for which the teacher is 

licensed 

The above data must show a comparison 

between high-poverty and low-poverty 

schools. It might look something like this:

10

Parents deserve to know the qualifications of the teachers 

who spend critical amounts of time with their students.

% in high-poverty schools % in low-poverty schools

inexperienced teachers 20% 18%

emergency credentials 21% 17%
Report Card

Examples 

Note: The following data is not 

from the most current school year.
Spotlight: Virginia

Virginia provides visuals that are easy to interpret and have clear headings.

12
Spotlight: Ohio

Ohio provides stakeholders with a guide to help them interpret data 

and highlight important questions to ask.

13

Achievement

The achievement component 

represents the number of 

students who passed the state 

tests and how well they performed on the 

term. Two new indicators are included in the 

2018 measures — the Chronic Absenteeism 

Improvement Indicator and the End-ofCourse Improvement Indicator.

1. Indicators Met – How did students 

perform on state tests?

2. Performance Index – How well did 

students perform on tests overall?

• It shows if students are meeting gradelevel expectations.

• It shows how far above or below gradelevel expectations students performed.

• Your school or district must exceed state 

standards.

• The grade will improve as students score 

higher on tests.

• Which students are performing well and 

which are not?

• In which subjects and grades are students 

doing well? Why?

• In which students and grades are students 

not going well? Why?

• Which districts, similar to ours, are doing 

better than we are? What are they doing?

• Does my school have a high percentage of 

students who miss a lot of school? Why?

What is being graded?

Why is this important?

What is an A?

Questions to ask
Glossary

Sub-group: A group of students identified by a particular characteristic, such as 

race, ethnicity, English proficiency, disability status, or income. Using specific data 

about individual student groups helps to identify and overcome obstacles. 

Accountability Plan: The goals States use to determine how well all students are 

performing academically and where state resources need to be used to ensure 

schools and districts are being supported. 

Annual Tests: Comprehensive tests at the end of the school year that show whether 

students mastered the State’s standards. 

Alternate Assessment: The annual test that some students with the most significant 

cognitive disabilities may take in place of the general annual test. The alternate 

assessment is still based on grade level academic standards. 

Per-Student Spending: The average amount of money the state, a district, or a 

school spends for each student. 

State Accountability System: A set of policies and practices that a State uses to 

measure schools’ and districts’ progress and to which they are expected to adhere. 

14
To learn more about your State and district:

Contact your State:

https://www2.ed.gov/about/contacts/state/index.html 

Read your State’s ESSA Plan:

https://www2.ed.gov/admins/lead/account/ stateplan17/statesubmission.html 

Contact your local school district. 

Attend your local school board meeting.
This document presents a summary of the Every Student Succeeds Act, which amended the 

Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. This document does not create any new rights or 

responsibilities. For the full text of the statute, please go to the following link: https://www2.ed.gov/

policy/elsec/leg/essa/index.html.

U.S. Department of Education

Betsy DeVos 

Secretary 

Office of Elementary and Secondary Education

Frank Brogan

Assistant Secretary 

November 2018

This report is in the public domain. Authorization to reproduce it in whole or in part is granted. 

While permission to reprint this publication is not necessary, the citation should be U.S. Department 

of Education, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, A Parents’ Guide to Report Cards, 

Washington, D.C., 2018. 

This report is available on the Department’s website at

https://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/essa/index.html.

Availability of Alternate Formats

On Request, this publication is available in alternate formats, such as Braille, large print, or computer 

diskette. For more information, please contact the Department’s Alternate Format Center at 202-

260-0852 or by contacting the 504 coordinator via e-mail at om_eeos@ed.gov.

Notice to Limited English Proficient Persons

If you have difficulty understanding English, you may request language assistance services for 

Department information that is available to the public. These language assistance services are 

available free of charge. If you need more information about interpretation or translation services, 

please call 1-800-USA-LEARN (1-800-872-5327) (TTY: 1-800-877-8339), email us at Ed.Language.

Assistance@ed.gov, or write to U.S. Department of Education, Information Resource Center, 400 

Maryland Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20202.