But the new system would allow the grades to be recorded on school computers at each grading period, instead of just at the end of the year. That's important because it would give principals and district officials access to a child's grades with the touch of a few keystrokes. More important, it would make grade analyses much easier and faster. Instead of sorting through 800 paper report cards, a principal could do a relatively simple analysis of the electronic grades and determine whether some teachers are giving out A's more frequently than their peers. Or whether some teachers are handing out more F's, for that matter.
Decisions are more driven by data than they've ever been.
Middle and high schools already use such report cards. In the early 1990s, elementary schools used an electronically printed card. But it was discontinued. Wooten was unsure why. Some board members have objected to promoting students who have failing grades.