Record keeping at the school

bcp · Mar 8, 2011

Daughters school sucks for this.
We have Parent Connect in AA county, parents can go on line and see how the child is doing on a daily basis,, or thats how it should work.
Few weeks ago we go on, she has "E"s in a couple courses, naturally this causes a "discussion" about the house. She claims its wrong. So we Email the teachers in question to verify this.
Shortly after, the grades pop up as an A and a B. Seems she was right, the teachers were not upgrading the Parent connect so it was showing as if no work was done. Thus the false E.

Last night we get the robo call letting us know that the youngun was not in her first period class and that we needed to send a note to the school with the reason.
Another discussion. She claims she was there, but I have this phone call and an email saying otherwise. Another set of emails to the teacher and a note asking for verification.
Emails come in this morning from the teacher. They made an error, hope to have it corrected in the records by tomorrow.....

Do these friggin idiots have any idea how much stress it puts on a kid that is standing there in front of parents that want to know why the kid was not in a specific class?

From now on, what the child says is the truth until such a time that the school can provide proof to prove otherwise.

On one had I feel the need to call and make a formal complaint, yet on the other hand I don't want them to retaliate against my daughter because she has parents that complain about their inability to do their jobs.

Cowgirl · Mar 8, 2011

Seems like you have a very responsible daughter and you've said before she gets good grades. I'd believe the daughter, whom you trust and know is a good kid, instead of the website. Updating the website sounds like a TON of work for teachers to do for every student every day. :ohwell:

huntr1 · Mar 8, 2011

Cowgirl said:
Seems like you have a very responsible daughter and you've said before she gets good grades. I'd believe the daughter, whom you trust and know is a good kid, instead of the website. Updating the website sounds like a TON of work for teachers to do for every student every day.

Updating the website is no worse than updating the old paper gradebook. No excuse for it not to be updated.

bcp · Mar 8, 2011

Cowgirl said:
Seems like you have a very responsible daughter and you've said before she gets good grades. I'd believe the daughter, whom you trust and know is a good kid, instead of the website. Updating the website sounds like a TON of work for teachers to do for every student every day.

I agree with you.
the problem is that I keep thinking back to my high school days and what I was doing.
I have to learn that she is not me.
Now the fun part.
I get to try and smooth this over with her understandably pissed off self tonight.

LusbyMom · Mar 8, 2011

huntr1 said:
Updating the website is no worse than updating the old paper gradebook. No excuse for it not to be updated.

The point of the online grades was so the parents could keep up with how the kids are doing. What good is it if the grades are wrong or they are not being updated? just a big waste of money.

My kids get updated a day or so before interims come out and a day or so before report cards. They serves no purpose at all. I will say my oldest is in Middle School and they DO keep up with it pretty well. If those 7 teachers can update for all of the students they have.. then why can't an elementary teacher update the ONE class they have?

retiredweaxman · Mar 8, 2011

I don't have a "dog in this fight" as I don't have school aged kids. However, I feel I have to ask a basic question.

Why should the teachers be burdened with posting a child's grades (homework, test, etc) on a web site? Why can't the kids bring home their work and have an open discussion with mom and dad? This way, communication is improved, it demonstrates that the parents actually care as they are seeking out the child's work and not just the end result listed on a web site, gets the parents involved in determining if there is a potential problem and allows the parents to hold an open dialog with the school/counselors if there is a problem.

Instead of just seeing the end result on a web page, isn't it better for the parents to see the whole process? Why is the child doing poorly? Could it be too much work, subject matter above the child's skill level, etc? Seeing the results on a web page will not answer those questions - only monitoring the process through active parenting will.

edit: I believe a successful education starts at home and the burden lies with the parents and not the teachers.

LusbyMom · Mar 8, 2011

retiredweaxman said:
I don't have a "dog in this fight" as I don't have school aged kids. However, I feel I have to ask a basic question.

Why should the teachers be burdened with posting a child's grades (homework, test, etc) on a web site? Why can't the kids bring home their work and have an open discussion with mom and dad? This way, communication is improved, it demonstrates that the parents actually care as they are seeking out the child's work and not just the end result listed on a web site, gets the parents involved in determining if there is a potential problem and allows the parents to hold an open dialog with the school/counselors if there is a problem.

Instead of just seeing the end result on a web page, isn't it better for the parents to see the whole process? Why is the child doing poorly? Could it be too much work, subject matter above the child's skill level, etc? Seeing the results on a web page will not answer those questions - only monitoring the process through active parenting will.

edit: I believe a successful education starts at home and the burden lies with the parents and not the teachers.

That would be great IF the papers were sent home. Many of the test are kept on file. Work comes home in a big packet maybe every few weeks.

bcp · Mar 8, 2011

retiredweaxman said:
I don't have a "dog in this fight" as I don't have school aged kids. However, I feel I have to ask a basic question.

Why should the teachers be burdened with posting a child's grades (homework, test, etc) on a web site? Why can't the kids bring home their work and have an open discussion with mom and dad? This way, communication is improved, it demonstrates that the parents actually care as they are seeking out the child's work and not just the end result listed on a web site, gets the parents involved in determining if there is a potential problem and allows the parents to hold an open dialog with the school/counselors if there is a problem.

Instead of just seeing the end result on a web page, isn't it better for the parents to see the whole process? Why is the child doing poorly? Could it be too much work, subject matter above the child's skill level, etc? Seeing the results on a web page will not answer those questions - only monitoring the process through active parenting will.

edit: I believe a successful education starts at home and the burden lies with the parents and not the teachers.

This is all close to being true.
However let me point out one little flaw in your theory.
The school had a big meeting with the parents at the end of last year as this process was going on line.
We heard how it was going to SAVE THE TEACHERS TIME because it only had to be done in the one spot and all records would be updated from it.
we heard how it was going to be UPDATED DAILY and would be a constant to the moment reflection.
it keeps track of classwork, homework, test scores and attendance.

The simple truth is that the teachers are not using it as planned, so why use it at all.
and why should they be burdened? I dont know, why should I be burdened at work to make sure the servers are backing up properly and on time? BECAUSE ITS MY DAMN JOB.

Let a student forget to bring his/her homework in one day, even if they really did it and just left it on their desk at home, teachers give no slack, that student either gets no credit for the work, or a reduced grade.

Dont tell me that you are going to do something then not do it.

retiredweaxman · Mar 8, 2011

bcp said:
This is all close to being true.
However let me point out one little flaw in your theory.
The school had a big meeting with the parents at the end of last year as this process was going on line.
We heard how it was going to SAVE THE TEACHERS TIME because it only had to be done in the one spot and all records would be updated from it.
we heard how it was going to be UPDATED DAILY and would be a constant to the moment reflection.
it keeps track of classwork, homework, test scores and attendance.

The simple truth is that the teachers are not using it as planned, so why use it at all.
and why should they be burdened? I dont know, why should I be burdened at work to make sure the servers are backing up properly and on time? BECAUSE ITS MY DAMN JOB.

Let a student forget to bring his/her homework in one day, even if they really did it and just left it on their desk at home, teachers give no slack, that student either gets no credit for the work, or a reduced grade.

Dont tell me that you are going to do something then not do it.

BCP - all very valid points...If the school did say they were going to do something, then they should do it "all the way" and not "half butted" (to paraphrase).

I guess I just think it odd the school feels they have to do something like this instead of leaving it up to the parents to do the legwork.

LUSBYMOM - sorry, I did not know they sent the packets home every 5 weeks. Maybe they should go back to the old days and the old ways - the 1st 10 minutes of each class was devoted to passing out the previous day's corrected work and going over it with the entire class. That would reinforce the previous day's lesson and allow the student's instant access to their work to make corrections (for study purposes) and bring the graded work home for the parents to look over.

LusbyMom · Mar 8, 2011

retiredweaxman said:
BCP - all very valid points...If the school did say they were going to do something, then they should do it "all the way" and not "half butted" (to paraphrase).

I guess I just think it odd the school feels they have to do something like this instead of leaving it up to the parents to do the legwork.

LUSBYMOM - sorry, I did not know they sent the packets home every 5 weeks. Maybe they should go back to the old days and the old ways - the 1st 10 minutes of each class was devoted to passing out the previous day's corrected work and going over it with the entire class. That would reinforce the previous day's lesson and allow the student's instant access to their work to make corrections (for study purposes) and bring the graded work home for the parents to look over.

I would love the old way! Not to long ago my son brought home 5 worksheets on the same subject and got a zero on all of them. The teacher wrote on each one "need to follow directions". Well after 5 worksheets didn't she realize it wasn't that he didn't follow directions but it was that he didn't understand the work. By the time these papers came home to me and I saw them they had moved on to other things and were way past this particular lesson. If they were sent home daily or the website was updated I could have caught this long before they had moved on.

bcp · Mar 8, 2011

LusbyMom said:
I would love the old way! Not to long ago my son brought home 5 worksheets on the same subject and got a zero on all of them. The teacher wrote on each one "need to follow directions". Well after 5 worksheets didn't she realize it wasn't that he didn't follow directions but it was that he didn't understand the work. By the time these papers came home to me and I saw them they had moved on to other things and were way past this particular lesson. If they were sent home daily or the website was updated I could have caught this long before they had moved on.

Daughter is stuck in the STEM program at school. They dont have time to spend the first 10 minutes of the day rehashing what the learned the day before.
Her typical night of homework starts at around 3:30pm and ends somewhere around 8 or 9pm.
I would have run away from home if I had been stuck in something like that.

bcp · Mar 8, 2011

On the bright side of the STEM
I finally get to explain to someone how Cadmium or Boron are used to control the fission in a nuclear reaction.

Thought I would never use that again.

RareBreed · Mar 9, 2011

I will normally check my kid's grades on-line a few times a week. My 4th grader's teacher seems to be staying on top of keeping it up to date but I noticed in a couple of subjects, she has marked a grade for things done on March 25th. I will assume it's a typo and it's suppose to be March 5th. My 1st grader's teacher wil have some subjects up to date and others haven't been up-dated since early February. It seems to be hit or miss with the on-line stuff.

glhs837 · Mar 9, 2011

bcp said:
Daughter is stuck in the STEM program at school. They dont have time to spend the first 10 minutes of the day rehashing what the learned the day before.
Her typical night of homework starts at around 3:30pm and ends somewhere around 8 or 9pm.
I would have run away from home if I had been stuck in something like that.

You can drop STEM, of course. I think its voluntary. Heck, I know so. Daughter took 9th grade STEM, then dropped because the 10th grade schedule restricted her to only one elective. Meaning she couldn't take French and Spanish and photography.

Son did a late entry into 8th grade STEM, but might not take it next year.

But I do agree, it lends itself to great dinner conversations.

bcp · Mar 9, 2011

glhs837 said:
You can drop STEM, of course. I think its voluntary. Heck, I know so. Daughter took 9th grade STEM, then dropped because the 10th grade schedule restricted her to only one elective. Meaning she couldn't take French and Spanish and photography.

Son did a late entry into 8th grade STEM, but might not take it next year.

But I do agree, it lends itself to great dinner conversations.

She is doing very well in STEM, and it is almost a guarantee that she gets into Maryland for the first 4 years, and that will get her in state rates at VA Tech for the next 4. Not sure where she will be going to finish up after that for the final 4.
She does however have two electives this year in the 10th grade.

glhs837 · Mar 9, 2011

I didnt mean to imply she wasn't doing well, sorry if it came across that way. :buddies:

royhobie · Mar 9, 2011

bcp said:
Daughters school sucks for this.
We have Parent Connect in AA county, parents can go on line and see how the child is doing on a daily basis,, or thats how it should work.
Few weeks ago we go on, she has "E"s in a couple courses, naturally this causes a "discussion" about the house. She claims its wrong. So we Email the teachers in question to verify this.
Shortly after, the grades pop up as an A and a B. Seems she was right, the teachers were not upgrading the Parent connect so it was showing as if no work was done. Thus the false E.

Last night we get the robo call letting us know that the youngun was not in her first period class and that we needed to send a note to the school with the reason.
Another discussion. She claims she was there, but I have this phone call and an email saying otherwise. Another set of emails to the teacher and a note asking for verification.
Emails come in this morning from the teacher. They made an error, hope to have it corrected in the records by tomorrow.....

Do these friggin idiots have any idea how much stress it puts on a kid that is standing there in front of parents that want to know why the kid was not in a specific class?

From now on, what the child says is the truth until such a time that the school can provide proof to prove otherwise.

On one had I feel the need to call and make a formal complaint, yet on the other hand I don't want them to retaliate against my daughter because she has parents that complain about their inability to do their jobs.

For future inquiries about your child, In order to save money since they are cutting back on teachers and their salaries, the school student information has been outsourced to a Indian Customer Service rep who would simply read from a computer, which would probably still be the wrong information. But, it saves a dollar here in America. Since we are now over a trillion in debt, and States and Counties are looking for a way to save, don't be surprised that the Robo call would come from India.

daylily · Mar 9, 2011

bcp said:
I agree with you.
the problem is that I keep thinking back to my high school days and what I was doing.
I have to learn that she is not me.
Now the fun part.
I get to try and smooth this over with her understandably pissed off self tonight.

Poor girl. At least she knows that you believe her now and that you're aggitated about the lack of accurate tracking at the school. I can only imagine how many kids have been yelled at, grounded, etc over this.

LusbyMom said:
I would love the old way! Not to long ago my son brought home 5 worksheets on the same subject and got a zero on all of them. The teacher wrote on each one "need to follow directions". Well after 5 worksheets didn't she realize it wasn't that he didn't follow directions but it was that he didn't understand the work. By the time these papers came home to me and I saw them they had moved on to other things and were way past this particular lesson. If they were sent home daily or the website was updated I could have caught this long before they had moved on.

Talk about useless. I used to work with kids who's parents didn't give a crap what they were/weren't doing in school. It's a shame when parents who do care and want to help their kids succeed in school don't get the info they need to do their part. Parents and teachers need to be on the same page. Hope it's gotten better since then.

twinoaks207 · Mar 9, 2011

Where to start, where to start...

Not familiar with this in AACPS but most counties are now doing "electronic grading" with a Parent viewing option -- different counties use different programs but all basically do the same thing.

I can sit here in my living room and tell you that it no doubt was a school administrator who told you that grades would be entered daily. I'd bet money that it wasn't a teacher, or even anyone who's been anywhere NEAR a classroom for the last 5-10 years. Yes, this is the ideal and what we would all strive for. Realistically, it won't happen, especially at the High school level where the teachers are seeing anywhere from 100 - 200 students daily depending upon scheduling. Sure it would be great if the teachers had time to grade the work and then go into a computer program and do data entry for 200 students every day. How long do you think that would take? Most systems look at it a bit more realistically and set a thresh-hold, like two grades per week per subject or somewhere in there. And, God forbid the server goes down (happens frequently). Somehow or other those IT folks didn't really gauge exactly what would be needed when a few thousand people log on at the same time & try to input data.

You've got a great kid -- keep taking her word for it about the grades. While technology is cool, it doesn't always work the way it is supposed to when human beings are involved in the process.

glhs837 · Mar 9, 2011

The issue comes when the work is entered with a due date, but the accompanying grade isnt entered. System automatically lowers the students score. Maybe they need to account for lag time before the system calculates the grade.

Record keeping at the school

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