In Andrew Clements' The Report Card, Stephen Curtis is the best fried of Nora, the protagonist of the story. A protagonist is the main character of the story who grows and changes as a result of what happens in the story. Stephen is the type of student who has average learning abilities but works very hard, unlike Nora, who is a secret genius and doesn't have to work at all to be at the same level as everyone else. Nora admires Stephen because he is such a hard worker while also being a very patient and kind person. It's because she admires him that she devises her plan to earn poor grades in order to show those around her that school grades are not a true reflection of how smart or dumb a student is.
In fourth grade, Nora began noticing that Stephen, as well as all the other kids, started behaving differently in school. This is because they were expected to complete the Connecticut Mastery Testing (CMT), tests that determined placement in middle school. Nora explains that Stephen felt so pressured to do well, pressured by himself and his parents, that he did poorly on the tests. Because his scores on the tests were so low, he began seeing himself as "one of the dumb kids," which Nora knew was absolutely untrue (p. 24). Therefore, in fifth grade, Nora devised her plan to earn barely passing grades, grades that were much higher than his own, in order to show that grades really mean nothing at all, as she we see her inform Stephen in the following:
Bad test grades do not mean you are dumb, and I am not in trouble. (p. 49)
Stephen is also a very understanding person. Once he learns how smart Nora truly is and understands what plan she was trying to accomplish by earning bad grades intentionally, he is very quick to think of a joint plan together to undermine the school's competitive nature by spreading the word Nora is a genius while Nora at the same time continues acting like a regular kid.
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