Mistakes in the Grade Book?

[Katy Belle]

Our school has on on-line Grade Book and gives parents the codes to check their kids' grades. DS15 has ADD and struggled at the beginning of the year to get his act together. So, he and I monitored the grade book practically every day to make sure he was turning in what he needed to be.

In the first 5 weeks of school he got a zero on a vocabulary assignment in English and a 50% on a performance at an away Football Game for marching Band. He spoke to the teachers, knowing he had done what he needed to do and even had the vocabulary assignment in his folder with a big 100% on top! She said she either gave him the grade of another kid with the same name, or just made a mistake and didn't enter it. Band Director looked and realized she'd given 100/200 points to EVERY student, accidently, for the performance.

I used to teach and I know mistakes happen...but it really surprised me to see 2 big ones so early! I certainly will watch the Grade Book closely!

What have you found? Any mistakes?

 

[mickeyboat]

Our school has on on-line Grade Book and gives parents the codes to check their kids' grades. DS15 has ADD and struggled at the beginning of the year to get his act together. So, he and I monitored the grade book practically every day to make sure he was turning in what he needed to be.

In the first 5 weeks of school he got a zero on a vocabulary assignment in English and a 50% on a performance at an away Football Game for marching Band. He spoke to the teachers, knowing he had done what he needed to do and even had the vocabulary assignment in his folder with a big 100% on top! She said she either gave him the grade of another kid with the same name, or just made a mistake and didn't enter it. Band Director looked and realized she'd given 100/200 points to EVERY student, accidently, for the performance.

I used to teach and I know mistakes happen...but it really surprised me to see 2 big ones so early! I certainly will watch the Grade Book closely!

What have you found? Any mistakes?

Yes, I have found mistakes. At first I would email and ask the teacher about it (beginning of 6th grade). Then I started having the kids to do it themselves. It doesn't happen very often, though.

Makes you wonder how many mistakes went into the old, secret grade books when we were in school.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Our school has on on-line Grade Book and gives parents the codes to check their kids' grades. DS15 has ADD and struggled at the beginning of the year to get his act together. So, he and I monitored the grade book practically every day to make sure he was turning in what he needed to be.

In the first 5 weeks of school he got a zero on a vocabulary assignment in English and a 50% on a performance at an away Football Game for marching Band. He spoke to the teachers, knowing he had done what he needed to do and even had the vocabulary assignment in his folder with a big 100% on top! She said she either gave him the grade of another kid with the same name, or just made a mistake and didn't enter it. Band Director looked and realized she'd given 100/200 points to EVERY student, accidently, for the performance.

I used to teach and I know mistakes happen...but it really surprised me to see 2 big ones so early! I certainly will watch the Grade Book closely!

What have you found? Any mistakes?

Since the 90's, before online and after.

Rule of thumb...DO NOT throw out any work until the quarter grades are in.

And secondly if you know you have "that teacher" sometimes you have to actually PHOTOCOPY homework BEFORE turning it in and I am not joking.

All in all, most teachers are great with grades however there is ALWAYS an issue with grades in some form or another.

The kicker here is that now you can SEE the mistakes online.

If you never went in to review homework when it was in the old gradebook, guess what, more mistakes were made, you just did not know it if you were not keeping track.

 

[wdwmom0f3]

We keep a close eye on the grades online too because of this very reason. We have found many mistakes over the last few years where teachers have posted the wrong grade, even given a zero for something that was graded and returned to my child. We have never had any problems getting the mistake corrected but finding mistakes aggravates me. It also makes you wonder about other children who's parents dont check their grades online.

 

[Katy Belle]

We keep a close eye on the grades online too because of this very reason. We have found many mistakes over the last few years where teachers have posted the wrong grade, even given a zero for something that was graded and returned to my child. We have never had any problems getting the mistake corrected but finding mistakes aggravates me. It also makes you wonder about other children who's parents dont check their grades online.

OP here. I was thinking the same thing, about the other kids. The Band Director gave a 50% to about 80 kids. I noticed because it dropped my kid from an A to a B. He talked to her 24 hours after I noticed and we were the first to mention it. I wonder how many would have never noticed?

I don't watch so closely with my other kids, but perhaps I need to!

 

[sparklynails23]

My son had a 48 on the beginning of the year Math evaluation that is used to gauge improvement throughout the year and used to evaluate teacher performance. I was skeptical as his gifted testing had him at about a 98, so the teacher offered to show it to me at the next giep meeting. At the meeting I reminded her, and she said she had thrown them out. She could have just made a mistake, but I think she fudged the 48, so she could show a big improvement in her class. At the time the test was given, the teacher did not know I was having him evaluated. This teacher was new and a really, really bad teacher.

 

[Pooh Crew]

I've found some over the years. I always keep their papers as proof, but honestly, unless their grade drops below an A, I'm not going to double check. I wonder how many times a higher grade is entered by mistake and is never caught (or reported to the teacher)!

 

[Katy Belle]

my son had a 48 on the beginning of the year math evaluation that is used to gauge improvement throughout the year and used to evaluate teacher performance. I was skeptical as his gifted testing had him at about a 98, so the teacher offered to show it to me at the next giep meeting. At the meeting i reminded her, and she said she had thrown them out. She could have just made a mistake, but i think she fudged the 48, so she could show a big improvement in her class. At the time the test was given, the teacher did not know i was having him evaluated. This teacher was new and a really, really bad teacher.

scary!

 

[kt_mom]

DD is having a rought start this year. She's generally a straight A student and scores high in science and math. The teacher gave a science test at the beginning of the year. 7 questions and DD missed 3 so she has started out the year in science with a F. I talked to the teacher about it and she said that all the kids did poorly on the test. But that DD had 6 more weeks to bring the grade up.

Well fast forward to this past Monday morning. I check my email and the teacher had emailed the parents the night before at 11:30 PM to let us know that the kids had taken two tests on friday. One in science and one in math but that many kids had run out of time on BOTH tests and she was going to let them finish on Monday. That was the first we had heard of the science test. So I emailed my friend who's son is in the same class and she said she hadn't known anything about the science test either. I checked with two other parents and neither of them knew either. So DH emailed the teacher about the no notice of the test and also scheduling two tests in one day and not having time to complete either and carrying them over a weekend.

It turns out DD got 100 on the science test and an 89 on the math test. She would have had a 90 on the math test but the teacher ended up dropping a few questions because so many kids missed them. Unfortunately for DD they were ones that she got right and the two she missed were counted so it brought her grade down a point. Which shouldn't be that big of a deal, but at the end of the quarter with how highly they weight the tests at her school it could easily be the difference between an A and a B or even a B and a C. It could definitely cost her her place in the enrighment program which would devastate her. DH and my mom both say I need to talk to the teacher but I'm so frustrated at this point I don't know what to do. But I know that I will have to spend this year watching and checking every single grade on every single assignment and asking lots of questions.

 

[Sadie22]

Hmn, a lot of kids missed the answers to a test question so the one (or few) that got it right don't get any credit and that affects the grade on the test? I would be politely asking the teacher to reconsider that decision.

 

[kt_mom]

Hmn, a lot of kids missed the answers to a test question so the one (or few) that got it right don't get any credit and that affects the grade on the test? I would be politely asking the teacher to reconsider that decision.

I think the teacher should give them some kind of credit if they got it right. Make them extra credit or something. But you can't just cancel out questions because a large amount of students got it wrong and in the process penalize the ones that got it right, especially if that choice negatively affects their grade. So instead of 84/93 DD got a 72/81. In the end its only one percentage point but it just doesn't seem fair to the kids that did get those quesitons right. And their tests are weighted at like 70% of their grade I think.

 

[cabanafrau]

Both of my kids have had quite a few instances of trouble with this over the past few years, particularly oldest DD. Our experience is it's all on the student to prove what is in dispute -- even w/ excellent teachers & strangely enough even with a placement/test out exam result where the counselor knew DD had taken & passed it and said so, yet the school had lost the results, didn't enter them in the computer & was trying to shift responsibility back onto DD. That was not a fun time as she was trying to wrap up her junior year, had all of her scheduling in place for senior year & if the school didn't get it's act together properly a student with a 4.0-plus GPA might wind up unable to graduate.

She also experienced a seriously sickening feeling in one day at her morning high school when she received exams back in two classes, both with teachers incorrectly marking & tallying her scores, resulting in C & D marks. Both from incredible teachers who immediately corrected their errors and apologized but yet had no idea how they could have messed up so badly. She wondered about the same thing happening when she received her end of year marks for exams that she wasn't able to have returned because school was out & by the time reports were received teachers were out for the summer. Luckily it didn't impact her final class grade, but it always bothered her because she was only uncertain of one answer on the whole test.

She has had a policy for years not to throw away any of her homework, class notes, quizzes or tests that get returned to them until the grades are "in permanent ink." Her younger sister has faced fewer difficulties so far but isn't as careful about maintaining her own proof as her sister has warned her. Hopefully it won't bite her in the butt.

 

[ColoradoMom!!]

I had a 8th grade history teacher who got the final grade wrong where it averages the first quarter and second quarter for the final semester grade. I knew what DS had to get on the last test to make it to an A. He had like an 88% for the first quarter and managed a 92.5% on the second quarter. So, I checked his semester final and it read - - -first quarter 88% B . . . second quarter 92.5% A . . . . .final semester 88% B !!! Ummmmmm?????

So I e-mailed him after Christmas and he apologized and realized he forgot "to hit the last button to average". But here's the strange thing - out of around 150 students, I was the only parent to bring it to his attention. I can't imagine all 149 had a better first quarter grade and were happy!

 

[ilovefh]

I've made mistakes like this before. For me it's usually the result of correcting assignments while trying to keep an eye on my 1 year old. I get distracted and sometimes make a mistake. While life would be better if I could do all my grading at school where it's peaceful and quiet, my 50 minute planking period filled with phone calls, meetings and professional development just does not allow for that.

I did have 1 instance where instead of entering 100 for a completion grade I was typing too fast and missed a zero. This was for the whole class. (We have a setting that puts the same grade in for everyone) I was surprised that only 1 student asked about it.

 

[rgf207]

I've made mistakes like this before. For me it's usually the result of correcting assignments while trying to keep an eye on my 1 year old. I get distracted and sometimes make a mistake. While life would be better if I could do all my grading at school where it's peaceful and quiet, my 50 minute planking period filled with phone calls, meetings and professional development just does not allow for that.

I did have 1 instance where instead of entering 100 for a completion grade I was typing too fast and missed a zero. This was for the whole class. (We have a setting that puts the same grade in for everyone) I was surprised that only 1 student asked about it.

Yep. The bottom line is that teachers are human too and they will make mistakes. As a student and/or parent it's best to also keep records so if this does happen, there is proof. Without proof it's harder to correct.

The same goes for banking, credit cards, receipts etc. The burden of proof resides on you (student, parent, consumer) in instances like this.

 

[scrapquitler]

I've found a few mistakes. Just this morning, I see a pre-calc test with a 0/100 grade for my daughter. I asked her about it, and she showed me the test, it was a 91. So she'll talk to him about it today. The times we've had mistakes, they were corrected without any problem right away. If my DD talking to the teacher didn't fix it, I would email. One suggestion that others have made is to keep the papers. I can't stress how important that is, because it's the only way you can prove a mistake.

Last night at open house the English teacher talked about the problem of errors in the online gradebook. She told us that with 125 students and the amount of projects/tests/quizzes/papers/homework she assigns, she enters over 10,000 grades in the computer and YES mistakes WILL happen. She says she tries hard not to make any, but something always gets by. She says the biggest mistake is numbers being transposed...that 84 becomes a 48, and you should keep your papers so that if it does happen, there won't be any doubts.

 

[shortbun]

I watch the grades almost as closely as I watch my checking account on line.
What's JUST as irritating is teachers who never quite manage to use these tools...the grades just don't make it into the gradebook. I don't mind them being a week or so late because I know how many students and grades teachers have to process. I'm actually double checking my husband's gradebook after he enters everything so there are no errors. Teachers are planning, teaching, grading and now they have this internet thing to deal with. DH's school uses a program that will actually calculate grades and move them to the central source that prints the whole gradebook, so it's pretty cool. Backing an error out though is best done right away.

 

[TB'sWidow]

I found not only mistakes in grades but on attendance the teacher marked my dd absent when she was actually in the class it has since been corrected. Mary

 

[jcc0621]

I've made mistakes like this before. For me it's usually the result of correcting assignments while trying to keep an eye on my 1 year old. I get distracted and sometimes make a mistake. While life would be better if I could do all my grading at school where it's peaceful and quiet, my 50 minute planking period filled with phone calls, meetings and professional development just does not allow for that.

I did have 1 instance where instead of entering 100 for a completion grade I was typing too fast and missed a zero. This was for the whole class. (We have a setting that puts the same grade in for everyone) I was surprised that only 1 student asked about it.

But wait, you ONLY work 6 hours a day and have 3 months off every summer, you aren't allowed to make mistakes

I say the above in jest, because DH is a teacher and many times is doing grading and lessons plans at night after our DS is in bed and settled for the night. But I can't tell you how many people tell him how "easy" he has it

 

[ilovefh]

But wait, you ONLY work 6 hours a day and have 3 months off every summer, you aren't allowed to make mistakes

I say the above in jest, because DH is a teacher and many times is doing grading and lessons plans at night after our DS is in bed and settled for the night. But I can't tell you how many people tell him how "easy" he has it

Actually, I'm one of those hard working teachers. I work 7.5 hours per day. Well, only 7.5 if you don't count the hour I am there before school, my time after school and my hours at home. ( this is meant in jest also, but I'm on my phone right now so I can't access smileys to show I'm joking)

And did you see.... I get a 50 minute " planking" period. My core muscles are in crazy good shape!