© 2026 Western New York Public Broadcasting Association

140 Lower Terrace St.
Buffalo, NY 14202

Toronto Address:
130 Queens Quay E.
Suite 903
Toronto, ON M5A 0P6


Mailing Address:
Horizons Plaza P.O. Box 1263
Buffalo, NY 14240-1263

Buffalo Toronto Public Media | Phone 716-845-7000
BTPM NPR Newsroom | Phone: 716-845-7040
Differing shades of blue wavering throughout the image
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Boston Kindergarten Report Cards Stir Storm

A colorful 'math center' in a Boston kindergarten classroom.
Anne Hawke, NPR
A colorful 'math center' in a Boston kindergarten classroom.
Pat Kelleher is a kindergarten teacher at Boston's Jackson-Manning Elementary School. She says she hopes the new report card policy will help parents and teachers pinpoint students' weaknesses early enough in their education to address them properly.
Anne Hawke, NPR /
Pat Kelleher is a kindergarten teacher at Boston's Jackson-Manning Elementary School. She says she hopes the new report card policy will help parents and teachers pinpoint students' weaknesses early enough in their education to address them properly.

This week, Boston public schools issued report cards to kindergarteners. For the first time, five year olds are being evaluated based on literacy, math and various academic skills -- a new policy that was debated for years. As NPR's Claudio Sanchez reports, some teachers and parents give the report cards very poor marks.

Opponents of the new policy argue that young children are being evaluated too narrowly. They also worry that the detailed report cards will overwhelm parents. But the policy's supporters say the report cards -- which assess kindergarteners' performance in 36 different categories -- will help parents and teachers identify areas where improvement is needed before it's too late.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Claudio Sanchez
[Copyright 2024 NPR]