Online Grade Books Create Stress

Online grade books are meant to provide convenient, real-time access to grades for both parents and students, but as we have written about in this blog before, features such as e-mail alerts when grades drop below a certain level can lead to parental hovering and student anxiety. Parents and students also worry when grades aren’t posted as quickly as they think they should be. Some administrators also worry that all parents may not have the technology or know-how to participate, with one reading teacher in Florida reporting that fewer than 35% of her students' parents have logged into her online grade book. Does your school have an online grade book system? How often do you use it? Do you find it relieves or adds stress at home with your children?