" .. has opted out of traditional report cards. Instead, students build portfolios of their work throughout the year, .."

Ah - now learning the traditional 3 Rs becomes a "portfolio of work" ..... And such programs are "ahead" of everybody elses ....

Rather than cry at such pretentious blather I have to laugh. Never mind the self serving conflict of interest asssociated with "being ahead" as judged by the very self same perpetrators.

Perhaps if they fired the originators of such surplus vaporings everybody could get back to learning the basics - you know: reading, writing, arithmetic ( not "Math" ) ....