The Other Side of the Report Card

This book brilliantly illuminates the key role played by social-emotional learning in each student’s development and it challenges the tradition of relegating the SEL/EQ observations to the back of the report card. If we want to develop better communities, this book shows the way. -- Dr. Neil MacNeill PhD, EdD - Head Master
The ultimate goal of misbehavior is attention. When children don’t get the attention they need through the proper behavior, they will get it any way they can. Children want to be loved and cared about. When teachers incorporate SEL and character development it helps students learn the proper ways to get attention. It will also help teachers better understand the misbehaviors and redirect students toward positive behavior. -- Pamela L. Opel - Teacher, Intervention Specialist
"The Other Side of the Report Card is a complete implementation guide to help school districts develop or improve how they convey to families the social, emotional, and character strengths and needs of their children in a culturally appropriate way. With the use of takeaway points, examples, checklists, research, and resources, district teams have the "soup to nuts" process to document that other side of the report card and share information needed to support the success of every student." -- Susan Gorin, CAE

"The Other Side of the Report Card by Maurice Elias, Joseph Ferrito, and Dominic Moceri is a rich resource for educators who want to figure out how best to report on students’ social, emotional, and character development. Most teachers are used to simply selecting from a menu of comments to?? describe a student’s behavior on a report card. Dr. Elias et al suggest that it should be much more than that. Rather than simply accepting the premise that "what gets measured is what’s important," Dr. Elias argues that if it is important, it should be measured. The book is full of examples, research, case studies, and, what I really liked, a nice framework for faculty discussion. Each chapter begins with key takeaways and reflection points that will help focus a faculty committee determined to improve its evaluation system. Chapter 7 is particularly useful as it gives a checklist of important considerations. The authors focus on both SEL and character, acknowledge their differences, but show that each could be part of a school’s evaluation system. As we all strive to educate future citizens and recognize that focusing on academic achievement is not enough, The Other Side of the Report Card looks to be just what educators need to focus and assess on those elements needed for success in school and in life."

-- Becky Sipos, President & CEO