The Grade Book: Moving Beyond Pen & Paper

For the grading software assignment, I used Engrade.com. I thought the software was extremely easy to use. The features which I liked were:

• Assignment averages
• Citizenship section
• Ability to manually assign grades
• Different grading options
• Easily import to Excel

I thought the software is somewhat limiting in terms of being able to elaborate on each particular grade and why the student received the grade. I would like to be able to create a hyperlink attachment to each number grade which would allow access to an evaluation report or rubric which explains the grade or analyzes the grade.

I think this software would be very helpful for classroom teachers in that it is efficient and clearly organized. It certainly simplifies the process of grading when compared to paper and pen methods. I like that it creates class averages for assignment grades. I suspect this type of software is in its infancy. I would like to see options to create graphs of class and student achievement in order to provide the teacher with a snapshot of student and class progress.

The option to allow student and parent access to their grades is very concerning to me. Assessment and evaluation is a complicated process and can be confusing for a non-professional to understand. The thought of having a parent track their student's daily grades is, quite honestly, frightening to me. I compare it to a patient having access to their laboratory results. The patient has no training in interpreting such results, which is why patients must receive the results from their doctors who can explain those results to them. I feel the same measures are necessary for parents and students. I would prefer to speak with the parent if they want to know how their student is doing so that I may explain my concerns and explain the grades, rather than having them jump to conclusions and have unnecessary concerns or unreasonable optimism.