Online Grading: Treat--or Trick?

My estimable teacher-blogger colleague, Ms. Bluebird, is sputtering about  the parent-accessible online grading system in her district. She bemoans the fact that parents aren't tracking their children's assignments and grades, even though it's now become totally convenient to (as the kiddies say) creep on their progeny. Evidently, this is an issue of deep concern to lots of teachers, as Ms. B's first 13 commenters enthusiastically jump on the "parents just don't care" bandwagon.

Ms. Bluebird totally rocks--but on this issue, I disagree. When it comes to online gradebooks, I believe what's happening here is a misguided faith in the magic of technology to solve problems (even things we didn't realize were problems beforehand). If parents weren't allowed to peek into teachers' gradebooks twenty years ago, what makes us think they're interested now? And furthermore--is it even a good idea to nurture grade-stalking in parents?

Points to consider:

•  Expecting parents to track their children's grades--and do something about low grades or missing assignments--shifts responsibility for learning and monitoring the grade to parents. And guess what? It's the student's job to do that, not Mommy's.

• When parents are suddenly hawking their gradebooks, teachers feel compelled to put lots of numbers in the book, proving that they're organized and soldiering away, assigning lots of homework and giving lots of grades. My principal sent us a memo suggesting that we add at least one new grade per week, it being worrisome when parents see that several days have gone by with no grading.

• Some of those grades represent formative assessment: constructive feedback to students in the process of learning to master a concept or skill. Formative assessment is supposed to be non-punitive--information that helps a student improve. If curriculum is appropriate--in the sweet spot where it challenges, but builds on prior learning--then formative assessment will show lots of room for growth. Try explaining that to one panicked parent at a time

• Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted. (Einstein said that, not me.) An online gradebook converts all assessment data to numbers. Because it's...digital. Sometimes, kids need coaching or commentary, not a comparative percentage. Sometimes, it's OK to paint a pumpkin, just to see how it turns out. You don't have to grade everything, to make it real or valuable.
  

I find my district's online grading program so inflexible as to be nearly useless. I collected lots of valid assessment data on my students that could not be represented in the gradebook program (the program routinely converted a memorized D-flat major scale into 60%). I never checked on my son's grades, either, although it would have been extremely easy to do so--and, trust me, I am a caring parent, with a deep commitment to his education. I got his report card, and I went to parent-teacher conferences. And that--really--was enough.

Image: Snelly23 @ Flickr Creative Commons

Comments

[Deborah Tonguis]

Nancy, I couldn't agree with you more! I am one of those teachers who at my last estimation is accountable to not only my 4 administrators, but my 150 students and all of their parents who have access to both my Teacher Web- where my mandatory lesson plans and assignment calendar must be updated weekly- but also my online gradebook- where I must post at least one grade per week. Whew! So now, when I open my campus e-mail in the morning, those precious 15-20 minutes befor the door flies open and students, instead of starting my day relaxed and ready to meet the rigors of a teenage world I am inundated with parent e-mails wanting to know everything from why I moved a test to why their child's project grade hasn't been entered yet. In a 3 month period, I have gone from having one other person (my administrator) see my lesson plans and grades to over 450. What an absolute waste of my time this has become. I have a minimum of 8 e-mails each day from parents (not students) about grades and lessons. I teach freshmen who I am trying to wean off of their micromanaging parents and teach them how to interract with me, the adult they see every day in class, and how to advocate for themselves. Instead, mom and dad can do it for them and when I ask the student what the problem is, they usually have NO idea what I am talking about. Am I on glue here, or have we just done something that is NOT in the best interest of our students?

Just because we CAN do something, doesn't mean that we should.

This technological change has not made the parents who don't care about their kids' grades care. It has just given those parents who are good at playing the numbers game ammunition to take aim at teachers. Give me the old days when my students and I had a professional and a personal relationship, one that allowed us to solve problems together. It taught students how to take responsibility for their own learning, an important 21st century skill if I ever saw one!

[Nancy Flanagan]

On glue! (snort) Since I know you're an "Elmer's" kinda gal, Deb, I am seriously resonating with your pain here.

The money quote from your long and passionate comment: Just because we CAN do something, doesn't mean that we should. Or that it will lead to more efficiency, better learning for our students, or a better school. Just more thing to be responsible for, courtesy of our national love affair with technology. Sometime, I'm going to haul out my "taking attendance" blog and re-post it. How to make a simple, two-minute procedure and use technology to take up 20 additional instructional minutes and add a position in the office.

Online grading makes parents equate grades with learning. And they are two entirely separate things.

Brilliant comment! Thanks for posting.

[Claus]

What do you think of online portfolios of student work? Could they prompt more useful interactions with parents?

[Nancy Flanagan]

That's a great question, Claus. If I'm thinking like theorist, online portfolios might be an ideal way to capitalize on substantive parent-teacher interaction around actual student work.

If I'm thinking like a teacher, I would want to stress that secondary teachers with 150 students would be hard-pressed to provide useful feedback and then interact with parents online without extending their workdays into infinity and beyond, as Buzz Lightyear might say.

Online portfolios would probably work best with a block-type schedule, reasonable student loads (Ted Sizer suggested 80), and ample teacher prep time. Another example of how change impacts systems--something that we resist believing in education.

Thanks for your comment.

[Craig]

My wife and I have jumped on the "Online Gradebook" band wagon with our Jr. High son. We have been using it as a gauge on where he stands and deciding on how much freedom he gets each weekend. However, I was a teacher and totally understand the pressure to make sure that your grade book "looks good" for public viewing. I think this mentality may be the cause of problems that we are having. his teachers put lots of assignments in the grade book to "look good". But maybe they are not that important to you so they don't follow up with students to get them completed or turned in. Then I see a bunch of incomplete grades and punish my son for not keeping up. In the end, my son suffers for no reason.

I like your perspective about knowing that some things just can't be quantified in a grade book. But then again, you must be a "rogue teacher" who is attempting to teach the whole child instead of just the state mandated standardized test. The more teachers are forced to quantify and pigeon hole learning, the further we get away from making sure our children are ready for real life.

[Tellio]

Well written. I laughed out loud when you wrote "creep their progeny". Thanks and I hope you don't mind the extensive quote I placed on my blog.

The assessment tail always wags the digital dog. And principals will eventually use every tool at their disposal to get what they want--whatever that is and for whatever reason.

I blogged this post here: http://tex2all.com/archives/1476