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• Online grade system gets an 'A'

Online grade system gets an 'A'

North Lake Tahoe Bonanza - Nov 12,2006

by BONANZA STAFF WRITER

Washoe County’s new online grade-check system is receiving high marks from students, parents and teachers alike. The system is a combination of two programs, a grade book and a program which uploads those grades online, and was first adopted by the Washoe County School District in 2005.

“Last year was strictly a pilot program, but this year we’re strongly encouraging all teachers to use it,“ WCSD administrative coordinator for education technology Joe Elcano said.

With new grade systems, Edline and Easy Grade Pro, once teachers have uploaded grades online, students and parents can log-in to either check on grades and attendance or review homework assignments. The integrated programs cost the district
approximately $50,000 a year.

“I think it’s a fantastic tool,” IRS English teacher Aaron Parsons said. “It opens a whole new conduit of communication between teachers, parents and students. Kids like it because they can check their grades online,” he said. “ Kids also hate it because their parents can check their grades online.”

Parsons usually updates his students’ grades every other day and estimates approximately half of students and parents use the system.

“It helps the students be more accountable for their grades,” he said.

Darin Manning, an IRS mathematics teacher and the administrator of the school’s online system, said Edline and grade book program Easy Grade Pro have changed the way he interacts with parents and spares him having to make dozens of phone calls a month to parents to report that their student has fallen behind.

“I’d say there’s about the same level (of interaction with parents), though it’s different," he said. ”Before, they’d send their kids off to us with progress reports or call to ask for phone or after school conferences. Now, it seems they’re getting their information from Edline and asking more specific questions.”

Manning’s only complaint about the system is that it can provide parents with too much information, and sometimes call to contest their children’s grades without realizing that they only reflect students’ current progress, not their final grades.

IRS parent and attendance and athletics secretary Val Jackson said the new program allows her to keep much closer tabs on her son, Kevin, than she was able to with her daughter, Danielle, who graduated in 2004.

“I get an e-mail every time (Kevin’s) grades have been updated and I automatically know if he’s missing assignments or has started to slack-off,” she said. “For any parent who wants to be involved in their kids’ education ... this is absolutely invaluable.”

While Kevin, 16, also acknowledged the program’s benefits, he was more circumspect about his mother’s ability to review his grades so often.

“It’s good to see what’s missing and what you need to tum in and, with some teachers, you can check your assignments online," Kevin said. "On the downside, my mom’s addicted to it.”

IRS junior Maribel Aguirre, also 16, had no objection to her parents reviewing her grades, and said the ability to review and download homework assignments was very helpful.

“I think it’s really good,” she said. “If you miss school, you can get the assignments online and check on your grades (so you can) raise them ifthey’re low.”