School report - nashinsho

Japanese: 内申書 - ないしんしょ

When applying for admission to a higher level school, the principal of the lower level school submits a document that describes the student's academic performance, personality, behavior, attendance, etc. based on the school record, and this document is usually called a school report. In legal terms, the name is used as a report.

Public high schools usually consider both the results of the scholastic aptitude test and the academic records recorded in the school report when selecting students for admission, but there are cases where only one of these, or neither, is used. There are also cases where the results of an interview are used as well. University admissions also use the school report submitted by the high school as a basis for deciding whether or not a student is admitted, but it is generally not given as much weight as it is for high schools.

Regarding the school report used in the selection of students for admission to high schools, Article 78 of the Enforcement Regulations of the School Education Law stipulates that "in the case of a student who intends to proceed to a high school, a technical college, or other school after graduating from a junior high school, the principal must send the school report and other necessary documents to the principal of the school to which the student is to proceed," and that the preparation and sending of the school report is the responsibility of the principal. Article 90 of the same law stipulates that the aforementioned "school report and other necessary documents" and the results of academic achievement tests for selection are used as materials for the selection of students for admission to high schools, but in reality there are many exceptions to this as high school entrance examinations become more diverse.

[Uruta Keiichi and Shimomura Tetsuo]

Current situation and issues

According to a notice issued by the Director-General of the Elementary and Secondary Education Bureau of the Ministry of Education (now the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) in 1966, high school admissions have advised and advised that school report letters should be respected (emphasized) and that their reliability and objectivity should be improved.

Reasons cited for placing such emphasis on school reports include: (1) it is irrational to determine pass/fail based on a single academic ability test, and the long-term academic performance in junior high school should be the basis for the assessment, and (2) there are concerns that excessive competition in entrance exams will result if only academic ability tests are used. However, because the academic performance in the school report is assessed by each school, there are disparities between schools, and there are problems with the reliability and objectivity of the assessment, and further consideration is needed on this issue.

[Uruta Keiichi and Shimomura Tetsuo]

Disclosure of school report

Meanwhile, the 1999 Central Council for Education's report on "Improving the connection between primary and secondary education and higher education" positioned high school education reform as part of the reform policy of the Provisional Council for Education, proposing improvements to high school entrance exams, such as diversifying selection methods to make use of the characteristics of each school, and these are steadily progressing. In addition, the non-disclosure of school report documents, which has long been pointed out as a problem, has led to an increase in cases where students and their parents request disclosure of school report documents, and since the 1990s, with the progress of information disclosure, there have been cases where partial or full disclosure has been approved. In February 1993, a lawsuit requesting disclosure of school report documents was filed in Takatsuki City, Osaka Prefecture, during which the Osaka Prefecture government allowed full disclosure of school report documents at high schools, and the Takatsuki City school report disclosure lawsuit was also concluded in 1996 with partial disclosure approved by the Osaka High Court. After that, in November 1999, the Osaka High Court handed down the first ruling at the high court level to allow full disclosure of school report documents.

[Uruta Keiichi and Shimomura Tetsuo]

"Reportage: School Reports -- Invisible Chains," by Sato Akira (1985, Miraisha)" ▽ "Considering School Reports," edited by Imabashi Morikatsu et al. (1990, Nippon Hyoronsha)" ▽ "Records of the Takatsuki City School Report Disclosure Request Case," edited and published by the Educational Information Disclosure Lawyers Group (1991)" ▽ "Disclosure of School Reports and Changes to High School Entrance Exams," by Imabashi Morikatsu (1993, Meiji Tosho Publishing)" ▽ "Research on Educational Information Disclosure," by Sakamoto Hideo (1997, Gakuyo Shobo)" ▽ "Trends in Entrance Exam Reform for the 21st Century," edited by Yoshida Tatsuo (1998, Bunka Shobo Hakubunsha)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

上級学校への入学出願に際して、下級学校の校長は出願する生徒の学業成績、性格・行動、出欠状況などを、指導要録に基づいて記載した書類を提出するが、この書類を通常、内申書とよんでいる。法律用語としては調査書という名称が用いられている。

　公立の高等学校では入学者選抜における合否判定を、通常、学力検査の成績と内申書に記載された学業成績などの両方を勘案して行っているが、その片方のみ、あるいはその両者をまったく使用しない場合もある。そのほかに面接の結果を加えている場合もみられる。大学の入学者選抜においても、高等学校より提出された内申書を合否判定の資料としているが、高等学校の場合ほど一般的には重視されていない。

　高等学校の入学者選抜に用いられる内申書に関しては、学校教育法施行規則第78条において、「校長は中学校卒業後、高等学校、高等専門学校その他の学校に進学しようとする生徒のある場合には、調査書その他必要な書類をその生徒の進学しようとする学校の校長あて送付しなければならない」と定め、内申書の作成・送付を校長の責任において行うものとしている。また同90条では、高等学校の入学者選抜において、前記の「調査書その他必要書類」と選抜のための学力検査の成績等を資料とすることを定めているが、実際には高校入試の多様化の進展に伴いその例外も多い。

［宇留田敬一・下村哲夫］

現状と問題点

1966年（昭和41）の文部省（現文部科学省）初等中等教育局長通達によって、これまで高等学校の入学者選抜においては、内申書の尊重（重視）と、その信頼性、客観性の向上が指導助言されてきた。

　このような内申書重視の理由としては、(1)1回の学力検査で合否判定を行うことは非合理であり、中学校における長期の学業成績こそ判定資料とすべきこと、(2)学力検査だけの場合には、過度の受験競争が心配されること、などが指摘されている。しかし、内申書の学業成績はそれぞれの学校ごとに行われているため、学校間に格差があること、評定の信頼性や客観性に問題があることなど、今後の検討が必要とされている。

［宇留田敬一・下村哲夫］

内申書の開示

一方、1999年（平成11）の中央教育審議会「初等中等教育と高等教育との接続の改善について」の答申は、臨時教育審議会の改革路線の一環として高校教育改革を位置づけ、各学校の特色を生かした選抜方法の多様化などの高校入試改善が提案され、着実に進行している。また、かねてから内申書がもつ問題点として指摘されてきたその非公開性は、生徒本人や保護者から内申書の開示を求めるケースが増え、1990年代以降は情報公開の進行に伴い、一部開示、あるいは全面開示を認める例が出ている。1993年2月に大阪府高槻(たかつき)市で内申書開示請求訴訟が起き、その間、大阪府は内申書の高等学校における全面開示を認め、高槻市内申書開示請求訴訟も1996年に大阪高裁に部分開示が認められ終結した。その後、1999年11月に大阪高裁が高裁レベル初の内申書全面開示を認める判決を下している。

［宇留田敬一・下村哲夫］

『佐藤章著『ルポ＝内申書――見えない鎖』（1985・未来社）』▽『今橋盛勝他編『内申書を考える』（1990・日本評論社）』▽『教育情報開示弁護団編・刊『高槻市内申書開示請求事件の記録』（1991）』▽『今橋盛勝著『内申書の開示と高校入試の改変』（1993・明治図書出版）』▽『坂本秀夫著『教育情報公開の研究』（1997・学陽書房）』▽『吉田辰雄編著『21世紀に向けた入試改革の動向』（1998・文化書房博文社）』