Kids and Grades

[Chocolate Cake]

Your daughter is a Junior in High School. She should be the one contacting the teacher about why the grade is what it is. Not the parent.

Meh. Some kids are troubled. Some kids don't care. Some kids would be fine just flunking out of school. Some kids at this age are vulnerable to bad decisions that could ruin their lives.

This is where the adults come in to play. Sometimes parents have to get involved in their teen's life.

 

[mom2rtk]

Kids are all different. Some kids would be better at stepping in to fix the situation than others. Sure, it's high school, but it's not college yet. A safety net would be nice.

I would like to think that if nobody has stepped in at some point, the teacher would send an email to the parent letting them know. I'd like to think they don't have so many failing students that such a thing would be too onerous.

I don't have a login to our Power School system. I only look at the system with my student beside me so they can explain all the missing pieces. What's on there is hardly ever up to date and completely accurate.

My kids know (and knew) full well though that not only would I get my own login, but I would get far more involved in their grade business if the grades really slipped.

 

[Chocolate Cake]

People think teachers should be notifying parents because kids are failing? Sorry, no.

Sure they should. I have many friends that are amazing teachers. When a student is failing, they reach out to the parents to see what is going on at home or in in the life of the teen. Sometimes they have helped a child get on the right track just by reaching out to a parent.

I was very lucky to have ambitious teenagers that were obsessed about their scholastic record. Not all teenagers feel this way. I think a teacher should reach out and help a child succeed in any way possible.

 

[Wishing on a star]

Wow, a teacher should have no responsibility (expectation) to maintain communication and to address students who might be struggling, or failing.
Really?

I believe that the high school here sends out three (quarterly) grade reports.
The thing is, they are not always good at keeping this info updated.
The students are supposed to have the opportunity to correct work, when needed.
But, the thing is, if after, for example, two weeks, their work has not been returned to them with the grades.

OP, I would def. look into those two grades, and any other missing (zero) grades, or occasional low grades.
You might be surprized how dramatically a ZERO on a heavily weighted assignment/test can affect the final grade!

 

[sam_gordon]

Sure they should. I have many friends that are amazing teachers. When a student is failing, they reach out to the parents to see what is going on at home or in in the life of the teen. Sometimes they have helped a child get on the right track just by reaching out to a parent.

I was very lucky to have ambitious teenagers that were obsessed about their scholastic record. Not all teenagers feel this way. I think a teacher should reach out and help a child succeed in any way possible.

Is it good that teachers do that? Sure. I don't think they should be expected to.

 

[mom2rtk]

Is it good that teachers do that? Sure. I don't think they should be expected to.

I think if they have so many students failing that it would become a burdensome task, then they need to reconsider how they are teaching.

 

[Poohlove]

I think if they have so many students failing that it would become a burdensome task, then they need to reconsider how they are teaching.

My thoughts exactly.

 

[mnrose]

My husband and I have a minor disagreement about this. I rarely even look at my kids grades in Schoology. Why? They are juniors in high school! In a little more than 18 months time, they will be in college where I will have no legal right to access anything. Time for them to grow up. Figure it out. Do it on their own.

If your DD isn't bothered by her grade enough to do something about it, you can't do it for her.

(BTW, my husband thinks he should 'prod' them to get their work done...he looks and will make comments like "I see you have a missing assignment in Language Arts....what gives."). He NEVER comments on the grade per se, but rather the missing assignments. I won't even do that.

ETA: We do NOT get notices from teachers about problems...at least I've never seen one. In the course of their high school careers, I've gotten a single email, and that was about a behavioral issue, not a grade issue. Teachers are seriously overworked...in a high school setting they have 5 classes with 35-40 kids per class....150-200 kids per trimester. Sending out individual notices on top of teaching and grading is overwhelming. The electronic system IS the system for parental notification...anything else is superfluous in my opinion. If high school isn't the time for kids to learn to be responsible for their own stuff, when is? Especially by the time they are juniors and seniors. My kids do all their own advocacy now, as they should.

 

[sam_gordon]

Wow, a teacher should have no responsibility to maintain communication and to address students who might be struggling, or failing.
Really?

I believe that the high school here sends out three (quarterly) grade reports.
The thing is, they are not always good at keeping this info updated.
The students are supposed to have the opportunity to correct work, when needed.
But, the thing is, if after, for example, two weeks, their work has not been returned to them with the grades.

OP, I would def. look into those two grades, and any other missing (zero) grades, or occasional low grades.
You might be surprized how dramatically a ZERO on a heavily weighted assignment/test can affect the final grade!

Why should the weight/responsibility be put on the teacher? The STUDENT should be able to say "hey, I need help". And where do you draw the line on when a teacher "should" communicate with the parent? Jimmy forgets to turn in homework on Friday? What if Suzy got a 40 on a test?

Should teachers let the students know their scores on tests/projects/semester in a timely basis? Absolutely.

 

[sam_gordon]

My husband and I have a minor disagreement about this. I rarely even look at my kids grades in Schoology. Why? They are juniors in high school! In a little more than 18 months time, they will be in college where I will have no legal right to access anything. Time for them to grow up. Figure it out. Do it on their own.

If your DD isn't bothered by her grade enough to do something about it, you can't do it for her.

(BTW, my husband thinks he should 'prod' them to get their work done...he looks and will make comments like "I see you have a missing assignment in Language Arts....what gives."). He NEVER comments on the grade per se, but rather the missing assignments. I won't even do that.

I will occasionally prod my kids (like your DH does). But it's the student's responsibility (IMO) to talk to the teacher about missing grades.

 

[brockash]

DD16 is a junior in high school, our school does have a website which you can log onto and check your child's grades. Some teachers are great about entering grades, others not so much. The school sees this as a replacement for direct communication with home and most teachers will not reach out to parents, I have been told by more than one of them that they feel it is the parent's responsibility to follow along online and reach out to the teacher if they are concerned. The teachers are "too busy" and have "too many" students to do it themselves. (I have 2 family members who are teachers in our district as well as several friends, it was through casual conversations that this came up) Mind you we are a two square mile town with about 450 kids in the high school. My daughters graduating class hovers around 110.

Last marking period I checked in on DDs grades weekly and they were all good, she checks them almost daily as well. Aside from 1 zero and a 68 (70 is passing) on 2 assignments for her history class her remaining 15 grades for that class were all 80 and above. While I was perturbed that she had a zero and a 68 I wasn't concerned for her overall grade. Imagine our surprise when her report card arrived and she failed history with a 68. Mathematically I just don't see how it is possible. I have a call in to her history teacher and her guidance counselor for clarification.

Has anyone had similar experiences?

Have you looked online since? I know at my kids school, the closer to when grades are do the more grades get put in. I'd just see if the grade matches what's online and if it still doesn't seem right, do the math yourself (you should be able to see how much each assignment was worth etc. and the weight of the grade). I'd still def. recommend reaching out to the teacher though to see what you all can do to help your student. Honestly, I think a lot of times teachers don't reach out much, because they never know what they're going to get. They get a lot of parents who just don't want to hear anything negative about their student, don't care about the grades, or who have different standards, so I think once they know you care and expect more out of your student, they'll probably be very receptive.

ETA: Honestly, at 16, I'd REALLY push for you dd to communicate as much as possible (preferably through email, so you can see it if there are issues) with her teachers, as learning how to advocate and communicate for yourself is important and hard sometimes. I wouldn't hesitate to step in though if you weren't getting clear answers.

 

[mnrose]

One other thing....our grading system shows us the running course grade for each class, along with the assignments that were graded that week. For example, it might show a 96% for the overall grade, plus 14/15 for a quiz and 10/10 for a homework assignment. The most I've ever been 'surprised' by a final grade is switching from a B+ to a B or an A- based on final test scores. Passing to flunking? Nope. Never had that one.

 

[Poohforyou]

Meh. Some kids are troubled. Some kids don't care. Some kids would be fine just flunking out of school. Some kids at this age are vulnerable to bad decisions that could ruin their lives.

This is where the adults come in to play. Sometimes parents have to get involved in their teen's life.

When my daughter started middle school we instituted a policy that we'd do what we could to advocate for her but only after she advocated for herself without success. It wasn't an overnight success but as a high school senior I have confidence in her being able to navigate college. I'm concerned for some kids ability to do that.

I would imagine in many cases the kids you're describing have absentee parents so it's a mute point.

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

Our school weights certain grades so heavily, that there are times when only one grade really makes a difference. Or DD will have a 90 average, make a 98 on a quiz, and it drops the overall average to 89 because of the weights.

I think I would help DD draft an email to the teacher asking for help deciphering how the grades were calculated. This allows her to do the work, and you to be able to see the answer when it comes in.

DD's school has multiple systems I have to check if I want to stay on top of things - which I do. DD is younger, but she takes a little pushing sometimes. I have a parent login to the grading system, and an observer login to the system they use to submit assignments, communicate with teachers, and where grades are often posted before they go to the official system. It drives me nuts when teachers wait until the last minute to put in any grades (we are past midterm, and there is still a class with no grades entered at all).

 

[mom2rtk]

Our school weights certain grades so heavily, that there are times when only one grade really makes a difference. Or DD will have a 90 average, make a 98 on a quiz, and it drops the overall average to 89 because of the weights.

Huh? A 98 on a quiz can drop her overall class grade from 90 to 89?

That must be that "new math" I've heard so much about.

 

[Magpie]

Meh. Some kids are troubled. Some kids don't care. Some kids would be fine just flunking out of school. Some kids at this age are vulnerable to bad decisions that could ruin their lives.

This is where the adults come in to play. Sometimes parents have to get involved in their teen's life.

See, my feeling on this is that it's often best to get your big mistakes out of the way when you're young. Versus having a parent chide and chivvy you along until you're at the point where your mistakes really can have life-altering consequences, and then leaving you to deal with them yourself.

If my kid was "fine just flunking out of school", then I'd think it would be best to either help them find an alternative learning environment or deal with whatever the issue is that's causing them to want to drop out. My son's best friend never actually finished high school. He's now a "senior video editor" with a nice fat portfolio and a really nice paycheck.

I know other kids who've taken five or six years to finish high school. Who've gone to adult high school. Or who skipped high school entirely, and went to university or college as "mature students". None of their lives were ruined by bad decisions they made in high school.

I also know kids (myself included) who drop out of university because the only reason they went in the first place was because it was expected.

I think schools, as a whole, would be vastly improved if the kids who attended them actually wanted to be there.

(ETA: For the record, I'm not in any way criticizing anyone who keeps tabs on their high school student's grades. Different kid, different family, there's always more than one way to get things done. I absolutely agree that sometimes parents have to get involved. I just object to the whole "your life will be ruined if you don't finish high school" thing.)

 

[nkereina]

Sorry if this has been mentioned, but does the teacher allot a grade for participation or anything that's not reviewable in the online system? It's not uncommon for some kids to get zero participation points, which would drive down their overall average. But without knowing the rest of the grades in the class and the weight of it, isn't it possible her overall grade could have averaged out to a 68? If she has two grades in the 80s, a 68, and a zero (for example), that zero would really drag down the overall average. She'd probably need to do well on higher weighted assignments/tests - like 90s - to help offset that.

 

[mnrose]

Wow, a teacher should have no responsibility (expectation) to maintain communication and to address students who might be struggling, or failing.
Really?

I believe that the high school here sends out three (quarterly) grade reports.
The thing is, they are not always good at keeping this info updated.
The students are supposed to have the opportunity to correct work, when needed.
But, the thing is, if after, for example, two weeks, their work has not been returned to them with the grades.

OP, I would def. look into those two grades, and any other missing (zero) grades, or occasional low grades.
You might be surprized how dramatically a ZERO on a heavily weighted assignment/test can affect the final grade!

Doesn't even have to be that heavily weighted for a zero to have a dramatic impact. Lets say that there were a total of 400 points per grading period. A zero on a 50 point project has already dropped your grade to a B+, and that's assuming that you got 100% on everything else. If you got 80% on everything else you are barely passing the class because of single missed assignment. Drop below 80% occasionally, and you are done. However, turning in crap work on that 50 point item, and getting even 1/2 the points (failing that assignment), and you'd still pass the class. Missing assignments are deadly as far as grades go.

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

Huh? A 98 on a quiz can drop her overall class grade from 90 to 89?

That must be that "new math" I've heard so much about.

They have separate buckets for different types of assignments. "Formatives" are averaged together, "Summatives" are averaged together, and then a weighted calculation is done to compute the result. DD tends to do well on Formatives - she often has a 100 average. So, a 98 can drop the Formative average by a point, which is then fed into the overall calculation. It took me forever to figure this out, for the record, and I'm pretty good with math. This actually happened in math last year - she was heading for straight A's for the year until the very last math quiz when she made a 98, and her overall math grade dropped from 90 to 89.

 

[gemini2727]

They have separate buckets for different types of assignments. "Formatives" are averaged together, "Summatives" are averaged together, and then a weighted calculation is done to compute the result. DD tends to do well on Formatives - she often has a 100 average. So, a 98 can drop the Formative average by a point, which is then fed into the overall calculation. It took me forever to figure this out, for the record, and I'm pretty good with math. This actually happened in math last year - she was heading for straight A's for the year until the very last math quiz when she made a 98, and her overall math grade dropped from 90 to 89.

Good thing she didn't get 100% on the quiz, she might have failed the class, lol!
That's really confusing