Two days ago, Dean Shareski sent a tweet out about a now-closed GOOD Magazine contest inviting people to redesign the report card (I personally thought the submissions were pretty awful, except for the last one).

But what really struck me was his wondering how students would redesign them…

So, after talking to some teachers at my school, I gave this assignment to my IB Theory of Knowledge students:

Imagine that you have never seen or heard of a report card.

Think about what kind of progress report would offer you the kind of information that would be helpful to your learning. What would it include?

Here are a few examples of what other people have created.

Draw it, and then provide the reasons behind your design. Justify it through the Ways of Knowing: Perception, Reason, Language and Emotion.

This is due on December 2nd.

After they submit them, I’ll scan them and create a slideshow that I’ll post. Other teachers at my school will then show them as models to their students and design their own similar assignments for “redesigning their report card.”

I thought I’d invite readers to consider doing the same with their students. If you do so over the next few months, I’d be happy to post links to their creations or embed slideshows into a “The Best…” list.

Also, coincidentally, a couple of hours after I posted the assignment, I saw this column at CNN by Sam Chaltain, Is it time to redesign the report card?