Introduction
Parent involvement plays
an important role in children’s academic success. The role of
parent involvement could be either negative or positive. An increase in
the positive kind of parent participation provides for positive
academic gains even for students who are motivated (Faucette, 2000).
Moreover, parent involvement improves with increased home-school
communication (Epstein, 1996) and the type of communication that most
impacts students’ achievement occurs in the form of
discussions with families regarding student learning and goals
(Marzano, 2003). An online grading system that provides grades,
attendance, assignments lists and comments to students and parents by
way of the Internet has potential for providing specific,
individualized communication regarding a student’s progress.
The purpose of this study
is to describe the implementation of an online grading system at a high
school in the southeastern United States and the way parents use the
system. I propose that carefully implementing an online grading system
including training for parents and guidelines for teachers will
increase the amount of positive parent involvement.
Research
Question
Can an online
grading system provide the type of communication needed to encourage
effective parent involvement? The following research
sub-questions will be considered:
- How can an online grading system be
structured so that parents are effectively informed of individualized
student progress and therefore provided with discussion starters?
- How does the use of an online grading system
affect the communication between teachers and parents?
- What guidance can schools provide to parents
when using an online grading system so that parents can follow-through
with effective parent involvement?
Problem
This problem is worthy of
research due to the fact that online grading systems have been in the
media headlines lately (Jesse, 2005; Steele-Carlin, 2000) , yet little
research has occurred regarding their impact on student progress. The
research that has been published on similar systems has occurred in
middle school settings (e.g. Hampton et al., 2002; Zappe et al., 2002),
but very little can be found about online grading systems in high
school settings.
Assumptions
At the outset, I assume
that parents desire to positively impact their child’s
achievement. Additionally, this study accepts that teachers welcome
positive parent involvement. Other assumptions are that communication
is vital to educational efforts, that technology holds potential for
positively impacting communication efforts, and that positive parent
involvement will result in higher academic achievement for the student.
Limitations
and Delimitations
This study does not
attempt to draw a correlation between positive parent involvement and
student achievement. Additionally, it will not evaluate the
effectiveness of parent training by a school. Participants of this
study will be limited to parents and teachers of high school students
enrolled in tenth through twelfth grades from one high school in the
southeastern United States.
Definitions
Parent involvement refers
to active interactions on the part of the parent with the student,
school, and teacher. These interactions can be divided into six
categories: parenting, communication, volunteering, learning at home,
decision making, and collaborating with the community (Epstein, 1996).
The two categories that the study will focus on are communication and
learning at home. An online grading system is defined as a system that
utilizes the Internet for delivering such confidential and
individualized information as grades, assignments, comments, and
attendance by making use of a user login and password. In this
particular study, the online grading system is one component of the
school’s student information system.
Overview of
Methodology
Several pieces of data
were collected for this study. Parents were invited to attend a parent
training session that not only acquainted them with the technology but
also provided guidance in how to use the information to best help their
child. Additionally, teachers were provided with minimum guidelines
from the administration regarding their use of the online grading
system as well as suggestions for optimal use of the system. Once the
orientation was completed, expectations were communicated, and the
system was implemented, parents were surveyed regarding their use of
the online system, their feelings about communication with teachers,
and how they choose to use the information provided by the system. The
survey was followed by interviews of parents that were chosen randomly.
Teachers, too, were interviewed regarding their use of the system as
well as their perceptions of the effect on parent – teacher
communications.
Literature Review
Part
of my duties as Technology Instructional Lead Teacher at a high school
in the southeastern United States, includes helping teachers develop a
vision for how technology can affect their students’
achievement. As part of these duties, we began discussions about the
implementation of an online grading system. Several surrounding school
systems made the decision to use an online grading system that would
give parents and students access to their grades via the Internet. As
discussions of an online grading system continued, the high school
teachers voiced some major concerns about utilizing such a system.
Through discussions with the teachers, one question that kept surfacing
was: What educational reasons indicate that providing an
online grading system is beneficial for high school students?
After the initial concerns were expressed, it became evident that these
teachers deserved a well-researched and thought-out answer. This
literature review is an effort to do just that. More discussions with
teachers revealed that there was a concern that “helicopter
parents” would use this type of system to hover over and then
swoop in to rescue their children. Our school has a lot of parents
whose goal is to get their child into an Ivy League school. These
parents demand a lot, not only exerting their push on the school and
teachers, but also on their children. Teachers see this type of
parental push as being counterproductive to the educational process.
Indeed, a discussion with our high school counselor yielded much the
same concerns. As all of these issues were being contemplated, an
article in Time Magazine came to light. The
article echoed many of the same concerns the teachers at our school
were expressing. “Teachers just shake their heads as they see
parents so obsessed with getting their child into a good college that
they don’t ask whether it’s the right one for the
child’s particular interests and needs.” (Gibbs,
2005, p. 45) As I began thinking about the initial question and
subsequent discussions, several themes emerged: parental
involvement in students’ education, communication
with parents, and the role that
technology can play with parental involvement. Could
an online grading system provide the type of communication needed to
encourage effective parent involvement?
Parent Involvement
Since
the Goals 2000 legislation that addressed school reform, parent
involvement has been a focus of the American Education system (Epstein,
1996; Ramirez, 2001) . Additionally, parent involvement regulations
became part of Title I which included mandates for specific school-home
connections in order for federal funding to be maintained. (Epstein,
1996) Educational reform has also included involving the participation
of parents and the community (Ogawa, 1998) .
Over
the past decade, school organizations have begun to recognize
school-family-community connections as one of the components that
influences student learning and success in school (Epstein, 1996) .
Much discussion has occurred regarding the “model of
overlapping spheres of influence” (Epstein, 1996, p.233) . In
this model, the student is the center and schools, families, and
communities all have influences upon the student. This idea of
“shared responsibility” (Epstein, 1996) no longer
requires parents to be the sole initiator of how to become involved in
their children’s education each year, but requires schools to
provide paths of communication and involvement.
Research indicates that parent involvement is one key to increasing
student achievement. As stated by Lunenburg and Irby (2002),
“research on family and community involvement has proven that
students whose parents are actively involved in their learning are more
likely to be successful in school” (p.26) . Furthermore,
research indicates that the most accurate predictor of school success
for a student is not socio-economic status, but the degree that the
student’s family can nurture their learning in the home
(Faucette, 2000) .
What
specific benefits are possible when parents are involved with their
children’s education? Homework completion is one area that
can improve through the influence of parents. Family involvement in
completion of homework develops a better student overall as indicated
within a study conducted regarding middle school homework (Van Voorhis,
2003) . Another study (Buckley & Wilkinson, 2001) conducted
with high school students to improve motivation with homework indicated
that parents had the most influence on the completion of homework. It
should be noted that in this study parents were encouraged to help
students learn to self-manage homework and were given guidance from
educators on ways to help their children achieve more understanding
from the homework (Buckley & Wilkinson, 2001) . In a study on
homework targeting special needs students, it was determined that the
students whose parents were consistent with the program structure
experienced success in improving homework completion and quality. Also,
the study determined that homework strategies had a positive impact on
the student’s overall academic performance (Callahan
et al., 1998) . Moreover, students whose parents are more
active with their education tend to complete homework more regularly,
score better on tests and demonstrate positive attitudes toward school
in general (Freytag, 2001) . The increase in positive attitudes could
be a result of better positive attitudes among the adults since
students tend to reflect the attitudes of their parents as manifested
through the actions of the parents (Buckley & Wilkinson, 2001)
. Families also exercise a great deal of influence that effects grades
and standardized test scores (Ogawa, 1998) . As well as benefiting the
student, some studies indicate that increased parent involvement can
improve teacher morale and parent perceptions of teachers (Faucette,
2000) . The literature, therefore, suggests that parental involvement
can positively influence students’ success with homework,
grades and standardized test scores.
Even
with the stated benefits of increased parent involvement, there is room
for concern over blindly accepting that all parent involvement is good
(Epstein, 1996) . Families can be a source of doubt and anxiety for
many school organizations. This uncertainty can be introduced
“when parents directly interfere with the professional
discretion of teachers and principals” (Ogawa, 1998, p.2) .
Ogawa (1998) suggests that both “bridges and
buffers” should be created where parents and families are
concerned. There are times when a school should bridge to parents in
that the core purpose of the school, teaching and learning, is
dependent upon that relationship. However, buffers should be
constructed when the relationship would interfere with teaching and
learning. Van Voorhis (2003) states that two-thirds of parents
occasionally provide a form of help that is negative or inappropriate.
Such inappropriate help to their children could be in the form of
helping to finish more quickly, helping even though the work needed to
be completed independently, or helping with the knowledge that it made
the work more difficult for the student. It has been noted that
teachers and administrators feel that parents can be agents of
negativity to the total educational process. Some parents want more for
their own children than others (Ramirez, 2001) . Additionally, high
schools can bear the brunt of this negative energy from parents. They
often find themselves dealing with parents who expect instant responses
to every email and request a change of teacher because of
“poor chemistry”. The negative parent involvement
issue is big enough that it is believed to be affecting the numbers of
teachers who remain in the teaching field after five years. Teachers
indicate that the most demanding part of their job is managing parents
and that this one issue is a bigger struggle than maintaining
discipline in their classrooms (Gibbs, 2005) .
Nevertheless, there is a more compelling body of research that points
to the need for parent involvement. Not all activities of parent
involvement will lead directly to increased student learning; however,
continued influence over time may lead to improved student attitudes,
behavior, or motivation and as a result, student learning (Epstein,
1996) . It is up to the schools and teachers to determine the most
effective means of involving parents and provide guidance to parents
regarding those means. According to the National Education Longitudinal
Study (cited by Gibbs, 2005), home discussion of school-related issues
was the most strongly related area of parent involvement to academic
achievement. Bertrand & Deslandes (2005) also indicate that
parents should be aware of the benefits associated with continued
parent-child communications about schooling, career and work planning
over time. Other studies (e.g. Marzano, 2003) affirm home discussions
of school-related issues as effective parent involvement as well . This
may be particularly true in the case of high school students when
discussions about school, classes, and the future can greatly impact
attitudes, behaviors, and grades (Epstein, 1996) . What can schools put
in place to encourage such discussion at home?
Communication
What
communication is necessary so that families have needed information to
initiate productive discussions with their children regarding school
achievement? Could an online grading system help to provide the type of
effective communication with parents that is needed?
Effective communication with parents begins with a mutual respect and
awareness of the shared, however different, investment each party is
making to the development of the student (Miretzky, 2004) . Parents
have a need for specific types of communication involving
student’s academic progress, behavioral concerns,
social-emotional development, and curricular issues. Ninety percent of
parents involved in a study at a Florida middle school indicated that
their number one need from school-home communication is information
regarding their child’s progress (Freytag, 2001) .
Additionally, there is “growing evidence of the importance of
personalized communication with the families, especially during the
secondary school years” (Eccles & Harold, 1996, p.
28) . The main goal of teacher-parent partnerships should be to improve
communication with parents across the grades in an effort to encourage
students to succeed in school. Unfortunately, research bears out the
fact that communication tends to decline as students move through the
school levels from elementary to high school (Epstein, 1996) . It is up
to the schools to open the paths of communication with parents in an
effort to help secondary students improve achievement (Buckley
& Wilkinson, 2001) . Epstein (1996) suggests that the student
is an important “transmitter” of information back
and forth from school. However, others contend that anything filtered
through someone else is subject to distortion (Miretzky, 2004) . Using
the student as the sole messenger of information is problematic at
best, even if the intention is to foster independence. Other avenues
for parent-school connections are necessary for effective
communication.
Technology’s Role with Parent Involvement
Technology has the potential to encourage effective parent involvement.
It can be used to communicate between families and schools on matters
involving student progress and school activities (Hernandez &
Leung, 2004). Technology can also improve the automation of data
gathering and analysis on student performance making the availability
of individualized information less time-consuming. Using technology as
a tool, teachers can more readily provide parents with tips on how they
can help their children as well as ideas for how to be more involved
(Otterbourg & Conference Board., 1998) .
Over
the past decade there has been an increase in the number of studies
conducted that target technology as a tool for improving parent
involvement. The state of Alaska has a particularly daunting task due
to its geographic and weather issues. Parents simply don’t
have the resources to spend time at the school learning about their
children’s educational needs especially when the school is a
great distance away from many of the parents. Alaska’s public
schools have tried web-based chat groups, web-based bulletin boards,
email discussion lists, and homework email lists in an effort to keep
parents more informed (Weiss & Nieto, 1999) . Voice-based
technologies (Bauch, 1994) and web-based technologies (Beghetto, 2001;
Hampton et al., 2002; Weiss & Nieto, 1999;
Zappe et al., 2002) have both been explored as a
way to connect schools and families. Silva (2003) documented the use of
a web-based system to provide electronic mail as well as discussion
areas.
In
the public media, there has recently been an increase in the amount of
information being published regarding online grading systems (e.g.
Jesse, 2005; Steele-Carlin, 2000) . While this strategy is currently
making headlines, there is little in the way of research studies
regarding the impact that an online grading system has on encouraging
parent involvement and in turn, student academic achievement. The small
amount of research available on this topic has been conducted solely in
middle grades settings (e.g. Hampton et al., 2002; Zappe et al., 2002)
. Zappe (2002) reports on a study conducted in a rural, central
Pennsylvania junior high school. Parents felt that the computerized
grade tracking system increased responsibility among their children and
equipped them with information they could use when talking with their
child about school achievement. Hampton (2002) states that at a middle
school in South Dakota the highest academic gains among students
occurred in correlation with the highest number of parent
“hits” on their online grading system. More
research is needed on the affect of online grading systems and possible
correlations to student achievement especially in the high school
setting.
Summary
The reason
for this study is to provide answers to teachers regarding the benefits
of an online grading system. Research suggests that an increase in the
right kind of parent involvement provides for positive academic gains
even for students who are motivated (Faucette, 2000) . We also know
that parent involvement improves with increased home-school
communication (Epstein, 1996) . The type of communication that most
impacts students’ achievement occurs in the form of
discussions with families regarding student learning and goals
(Freytag, 2001) . Technology can help to bridge distances when
communicating with parents regarding student progress.
Methods
The purpose of this study
is to determine the effects of an online grading system on parental
involvement. Can an online grading system provide the type
of communication needed to encourage effective parent involvement?The
following research sub-questions will be considered:
- How can an online grading system be
structured so that parents are effectively informed of individualized
student progress and therefore provided with discussion starters?
- How does the use of an online grading system
affect the communication between teachers and parents?
- What guidance can schools provide to parents
when using an online grading system so that parents can follow-through
with effective parent involvement?
I propose that carefully
implementing an online grading system including training for parents
and guidelines for teachers will increase the amount of positive parent
involvement. The online grading system being used is connected to the
overall student information system. Within the student information
system, the teachers use an online grade book component that allows for
input of grades, comments, descriptions and codes. Likewise, the
teachers take attendance through the online grade book component. ( see
Figure 1)
Figure 1.
Grade book screen for teachers’ online grade book.
The grade book portion of
the student information system also feeds information that is available
to students and parents through the online grading system. The online
grade component of the student information system allows for students
and parents to view attendance, grades (individual and averages),
comments, descriptions and codes that teachers enter into their online
grade book. (see Figure 2) Parents and students access the online
grading system by using an assigned user name and password.
Figure 2. This is the main screen for the online grade
system accessed by students and parents.
Design
This study made use of
survey research design. Leedy and Ormrod (2005) define survey research
as acquiring information about groups of people that might include
characteristics, opinions, attitudes, and perceptions by asking them
questions and tabulating their responses. Survey research data can
include surveys, questionnaires, interviews and focus groups. Survey
research is most applicable when researchers are confronted with an
information need and existing data are insufficient. The flexibility of
this approach is its main advantage. A disadvantage to using a survey
research design is the lack of reliability due to relying upon
self-report data. Survey research applies well to this study due to
needing to find out perceptions of parents and teachers as well as how
parents use the information provided with the online grading system.
Instruments
Questionnaires and
interviews were both used to acquire data with this study. A
questionnaire (see, Appendix A) was used to gather information from
parents after using the online grading system for the first nine weeks
of the fall semester. Both open-ended and closed-ended questions were
included on the survey. In addition, in-depth interviews were conducted
with a representative sampling of parents. Interview questions varied
between open-ended and closed-ended questions (see, Appendix B).
Closed-ended questions allowed for the participants responses to be
compared more easily while open-ended questions provided opportunities
for more explanation and perhaps a better understanding of
parents’ perceptions. Lastly, thorough interviews were
conducted with a representative sampling of teachers. Both closed-ended
and open-ended questions were employed for the teacher interviews as
well (see, Appendix C). All interview questions and responses were
typed and given to the participants for their review and clarification
before the results were analyzed. Information from the interviews
served to provide verification of information gained from the survey.
Setting
This study was conducted
at a high school in the southeastern United States in a suburban area.
The school is an independent school and as such, students apply for
admission to the school. There are approximately 610 students in the
ninth through twelfth grades. 81.99% of the students are Caucasian,
7.74% are Asian American, 7.52% are African American, 1.9% are Hispanic
American, and .8% represent other cultures. (see Figure 3) All faculty
members hold certification in their respective fields and
seventy-percent of the faculty hold advanced degrees. One-hundred
percent of graduates from this high school go on to attend college.
Figure 3. Students for the school year 2004-2005 by
cultural/ethnic/racial groups.
Participants
Parents of tenth through
twelfth graders were invited to participate in the survey
questionnaire. Additionally, a representative sampling of parents was
asked to take part in interviews. This sampling was determined
randomly. A list of students in each grade was obtained. Using a random
number generator, two numbers were determined. The parents of the
students who appeared next to those numbers in the list were contacted
for inclusion in the interviews. Finally, a representative sampling of
teachers was asked to participate in interviews. The group of teachers
interviewed represents a continuum of minimum use to full use of the
many features offered by the online grading system. Teachers were
provided minimum requirements from the administration for use of the
online grading system. These minimum requirements will define
“minimum use” where teachers are concerned.
Procedures
Parents of tenth through
twelfth grade students were invited to attend a training session that
not only acquainted them with the technology of the online grading
system but also provided guidance on how they can best use the system
to provide help for their child. The administration communicated
expectations for minimum use of the online grading system to teachers
and communicated to parents what should expect from teachers. Once this
orientation phase was completed, tenth through twelfth grade students
and parents were assigned login information. Letters were mailed home
to all parents of high school students containing expectations for
teachers and the parents and students login information.
After the first nine
weeks of the fall semester, a survey questionnaire was made available
online and in print form to parents of tenth through twelfth grade
students. The survey was sent home to each family through the Bible
classes. The parents were required to provide their name on the consent
form in order to assure only one response per family. Responses to the
questionnaire were recorded and tallied. Parents from six families were
then asked to participate in an interview, either by phone or in
person. Following the completion of the questionnaire survey and the
parent interviews, six teachers were asked to partake in interviews as
well. To ensure accurate data collection, all interview questions and
answers were typed and given to the interviewees. They were asked to
review the document to make sure their responses were recorded
accurately. Consent forms (see, Appendix D) were given to all
participants of interviews and those parents participating in the
survey were required to acknowledge their consent through written
signature or online acceptance depending upon which version of the
questionnaire they complete.
Data
Analysis
After the data was
collected, questionnaire responses were analyzed by graphing of
closed-ended question responses and sorting of open-ended question
responses. Open-ended question responses were sorted based upon
categories that emerge from the comments. Microsoft Excel was used to
keep track of the tallying and graphing of close-ended questions as
well as the sorting of the open-ended questions. Additionally,
interview responses from parents were analyzed and categories of
responses were created to allow for a more accurate data comparison.
Interview responses were noted with paper and pencil notations and then
compared with questionnaire responses to determine if the information
from the two sources matched. Data from teacher interviews was analyzed
separately by creating categories of responses and sorting the
information obtained. The data gathered from the teacher interviews
were then compared with the information received from the parents.
Conclusions were drawn determining if the use of the online grading
system had any impact on the quality and quantity of parent involvement
exhibited.
Role of the Researcher
In my experience as a
classroom teacher for 17 years and a Technology Instructional Lead
Teacher for the past 5 years, I have attempted to lead teachers with
integrating technology and their curriculum. As part of that
leadership, I help teachers develop their own vision for how technology
can affect their students’ achievement. I view the online
grading system as a technology with great potential impact on student
achievement. During the 2004-2005 school year, I participated in a
pilot group that implemented the use of the online grading system.
Having familiarity with that implementation gave me practical knowledge
that I could use as I work with teachers and parents. Further, I
believe that parents desire more communication from teachers about
their child’s progress and that teachers desire to feel
comfortable opening lines of communication with parents. As I
acknowledge the limited time of teachers and mounting duties placed
upon teachers, I view the online grading system as a mechanism to help
teachers provide parents with personalized information without added
work. Conducting this study allowed me to explore the impact that
specific, individualized communication can have on the type of parent
involvement manifested and the relationship between teachers and
parents.
Results and Discussion
Survey Data
Out of 450 total students
in grades 10 – 12, thirty-four parents responded to the
questionnaire. Twenty-five filled the questionnaire out online while
nine completed paper copies of the questionnaire and returned them. The
number of respondents represents 7.5% of the overall population. 44% of
respondents were parents of eleventh graders while 32% were parents of
tenth graders and 24% were parents of twelfth graders.
The questionnaire results
indicated that the vast majority of parents access the online grade
system from a range of multiple times in a month to multiple times in a
week. (see Figure 4) A more positive result is the fact that none of
the respondents indicated accessing the online grade system less than
once a month.
Figure 4. Frequency of Access to Online Grade System by
Parents.
A little over 70% of
parents responding to the survey also indicated they are very
comfortable with using the system even though 79% indicated they did
not attend the parent training session offered at the beginning of the
school year. (see Figure 5) Respondents generally indicated being
comfortable with using the system although almost 30% selected needing
some sort of assistance with its use.
Figure 5. Degree of Comfort Using the Online Grading System
by Parents.
When indicating the
frequency with which parents received communication from their
child’s teachers through the online grade system, 94% of
respondents said that most teachers update the information on their
child once every three weeks or more frequently. (see Figure 6) 85% of
parents indicated that they either never noticed the codes or comments
in the system or that only a few of their child’s teachers
made use of the codes and comments tools within the system. (see Figure
7)
Figure 6. Frequency that Teachers Update the System.
Figure 7. Frequency that Teachers Use Comments/Codes within
the System.
The frequency of
communication received this school year to last school year has shifted
slightly according to the parents surveyed. Fifty-six percent of
parents indicated that the frequency of communication last school year
was in the range of average to high frequency while almost 70% of
parents said that the frequency of communication this school year is in
the range of average to high frequency. Perhaps the most interesting
number to look at here is the fact that almost 24% of those surveyed
indicated having a low frequency of communication from teachers last
school year compared to less than 9% reporting the low frequency of
communication for this school year. (see Table 1 and Figure 8)
|
|
05-06
|
04-05
|
|
High Frequency
|
5.88%
|
2.94%
|
|
|
29.41%
|
17.65%
|
|
Average Frequency
|
35.29%
|
35.29%
|
|
|
20.59%
|
20.59%
|
|
Low Frequency
|
8.82%
|
23.53%
|
Table 1. Frequency of Communication from Teachers Compared.
Figure 8. Frequency of Communication from Teachers Compared
for 04-05 and 05-06 school years.
65% of parents
participating in the survey said that they feel they have more
consistent information than in the past as a result of the online
grading system. (See Figure 9) 27% of those responding indicated that
the online system had not changed the amount of communication they
received or that the amount of communication has decreased.
Figure 9. Impact of Online Grading System on Amount of
Communication Received.
Parents characterize
their relationships with their child’s teachers as good
indicating that they feel comfortable asking questions when needed. 12%
of those surveyed indicated that they had no contact with their
child’s teachers and therefore, did not know what type of
relationship they had with them. (see Figure 10) 100% of parents
participating indicated that the online grading system has had a
positive impact on their relationship with their child’s
teachers. (see Table 2) The parents believe that they either have more
specific information available to use in discussion with teachers or
that they have less of a need to contact the teachers since the
teachers are providing information through the online system.
Figure 10. Parents Characterize Relationships with Teachers.
|
Impact of Online System on Relationships with Teachers
|
|
Positive - communications with teachers
can be very specific and I don't have to ask questions to get basic
information
|
41%
|
|
Negative - I feel my child's teachers are
not willing to talk with me one-on-one when I have specific questions.
|
0%
|
|
Positive - I have had less of a need to
contact teachers since the teachers are providing information through
the online grading system
|
71%
|
Table
2 . Impact of Online Grading System on Relationships with
Teachers.
71% of parents indicated
that they have available to them specific information about their
child’s progress while 94% of respondents said they typically
ask their child specific questions about the child’s
schoolwork after viewing the information online. (see Figure 11)
Additionally, 76% of parents indicated that they typically have
discussions with their child either daily or several times a week
regarding academic matters or school activities. (see Figure 12)
Figure 11. Typical Behavior after Viewing
Student’s Grades Online.
Figure 12. Frequency of Discussion with Child Regarding
Academics or School Activities.
The survey open-ended
question responses yielded several themes. When asked to elaborate on
the availability of specific information regarding their
child’s progress, 38% indicated that the information comes
mainly through the online grading system while almost 30% indicated
specific information comes through other means such as email or
telephone conversations. Perceived disadvantages of the system included
a need for more specific information from teachers, a need for more
frequently updated information, the lack of personal contact, and
possible negative feelings by students when parents use the information
provided in a negative way. Additionally, the main benefit of the
online grading system as perceived by the respondents is more available
information for students and parents. 35% of parents noted a higher
accountability and ownership level with school achievement on the part
of their child while 44% saw no difference with their child as a result
of the online grading system. Some of those seeing no difference in
their child also commented that their child has always been good about
communicating with them regarding his/her school work.
Parent Interview Data
Parent Interviews were
conducted with six parents. Two parents were randomly chosen from a
list of students for each grade level involved, 10 th – 12 th
grades. The list of students for each grade level was numbered and a
computerized random number generator was used to determine the parents
to involve in the interviews. All interviews were conducted over the
phone to minimize issues with schedules. All of the randomly selected
parents agreed to take part in the interview as consent was obtained
over the phone.
Two of the six parents
involved in the interviews indicated not using the online grading
system at all. Their reason for this was due to the belief that keeping
up with grades and progress in classes is the job of the student. Both
parents believe that their children should be responsible for informing
them of problems as they go through. One parent indicated that students
will have to be responsible for their own achievement in college and,
therefore, should be required to do so in high school. It is
interesting to note that both of these parents chose not to fill out
the survey since they did not use the online grading system. Even
though the two parents mentioned here do not use the online grading
system, they both believed that such a system has a place as an
available tool for younger students or for students who are having
academic difficulty.
Other than the above
noted differences, the remaining data gathered from the interviewees
matched with the data retrieved from the survey. Most felt the online
grading system was a positive means of communication for their
families. Specific information about grades was more frequently
communicated and that the online system did much in the way of
providing a communication vehicle between parents and teachers. Four
out of the six parents interviewed felt that the type of information
learned through the online grading system was different than before.
Parents and students now have access to good grades as well as the bad
grades that have been communicated in the past. All six parents
indicated having regular discussions with their children about academic
matters and school activities. Table 3 lists quotations from parents
that were echoed by others.
|
Quotations from Parents
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Advantages:
|
|
|
|
|
|
kept informed; can be proactive for child
|
|
keeping up with progress
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Disadvantages:
|
|
|
|
|
|
not updated frequently enough
|
|
|
|
child may think too much information
available to parents
|
Table 3. Quotations from Parents recorded during
interviews.
Teacher Interview Data
Teacher interviews were
conducted with six teachers to find out the perspective of the teachers
after using the online grading system. The teachers who participated in
the interviews were chosen from a list of teachers who work with the
different grade levels. The teachers interviewed represented different
curricular areas as well as the different grade levels involved, 10th
– 12th grades. In addition, a variety of experience levels
was represented within the teacher group that was chosen.
Four out of the six
teachers interviewed reported having attended the training session at
the beginning of the school year. Five teachers indicated having an
average to above average level of comfort with using the system. All
but two teachers indicated some level of decrease in their overall
workload as a result of the online grading system citing fewer parent
conferences and fewer email contacts from parents requesting
information. Two of the six teachers mentioned specifically that their
relationships with parents are now more of a partnership and that
discussions with parents center on how to help the student rather than
retrieving basic grade information. In addition, two of the teachers
admitted to being worried that the online grading system would
encourage parents to micromanage or “hover” over
their high school students, but they quickly added that their fear had
not proven to be warranted. According to most of the teachers
interviewed, parents are using the online system to engage in
discussions with their children and require the student to be
accountable for their work. It should be noted that one of the teachers
interviewed was a first year teacher and had no basis of comparison
regarding increased/decreased parent contacts or increased/decreased
overall workload. In addition, one of the teachers indicated that they
recently had difficulty with a group of parents and felt this
experience cast a negative shadow over perceptions of the online
grading system. Table 4 shows some of the quotations gained from the
teacher interviews.
|
Quotations from Teachers:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Advantages:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
makes kids & parents more aware
of what it takes to make up their grade
|
|
parents see everything; don't have to
answer "what has he not turned in"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Disadvantages:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
can be used to micromanage students by
parents but haven't seen this happening yet
|
|
expectation that everything has to be
seen quicker than before
|
|
|
Table
4. Quotations from Teachers recorded during interviews.
Conclusions
This research study
showed that the careful implementation of an online grading system can
have a significant impact on meaningful, positive parent involvement.
When parents were given specific information regarding their
child’s progress, they responded favorably by engaging in
meaningful conversations with their child regarding academics. Parents
and teachers alike saw the online grading system as a vehicle for true
partnerships with the achievement of the student at the center.
Communication between
teachers and parents improved as a result of the implementation of the
online grading system. Not only did parents indicate a higher frequency
of communication than in the past, but they also noted that the online
grading system provided a means by which positive achievement could be
reported in addition to the negative achievement that was noted
previously through printed deficiencies and progress reports. Parents
report having more consistent information readily available to them.
This study also brought
to light some difficulties with implementing such a system. There is a
real danger for teachers to allow the online grading system to
“speak” for them and not seek out more personal
forms of communication when appropriate. In addition, the online
grading system is as good as the data inputted. Timely information that
can make a difference in dealing with a child is only available if
teachers input grades in a timely fashion creating a higher expectation
for teachers. The use of comments and codes can help to more fully
communicate to parents where a single grade may not tell the whole
story. 30% of parents and 20% of teachers involved in this study
indicated needing some sort of ongoing support and assistance with the
use of the online grading system. Care should be taken to develop a
support system for parents and teachers that consistently provides help
for those who need it.
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Appendix A
Parent Survey
Please answer all
questions as completely as possible.
In what grade is your
child? Choose all that apply.
- 10 th
- 11 th
- 12 th
How often do you access
the online grading system?
A. several times a week
B. once a week
C. several times a
month
D. once a month
E. less than once a
month
Did you
attend the parent training session offered at the beginning of the
school year? A. Yes B. No
How comfortable do you
feel in using the online system for checking on the progress of your
child?
- Not comfortable at all
- I use it but am not sure where to look for
information.
- I use it but am not sure how to interpret
the information there.
- I can use it when I have help.
- Very comfortable
Structure of Online Grading System
How often do your
child’s teachers update the information in the online system?
Choose all that apply.
- Most update it once
every three weeks.
- I found several
teachers who update the information more frequently than once every
three weeks.
- It seems like every
time I checked the information had not been updated at the three week
intervals.
- All I see are my
child’s averages and not the individual assignment grades.
Do your child’s
teachers make use of comments and/or codes (M for missing assignments
or E for exempt) to give you more information? Choose all that apply.
- Most of the teachers
use codes and/or comments.
- I was not aware of
what the codes meant.
- I have never seen
codes or comments used.
- A few teachers use
codes and/or comments.
Has the online grading
system impacted the amount of communication you receive about your
child’s progress? Choose all that apply.
- Yes, I receive more consistent information
than in the past.
- No, I don’t see a difference in
the amount of communication I’m receiving
- Yes, I feel the information I need is at
my fingertips with the online grading system.
- No, I receive less communication than in
the past.
Communication between Teachers and Parents
How would you
characterize your relationship with your child’s teachers?
- Good relationship – feel
comfortable asking questions if needed
- Strained – don’t feel
encouraged to be an active participant by the teachers
- Don’t know –
haven’t had any contact with them
How has the online
grading system impacted your relationship with your child’s
teachers? Choose all that apply.
- Positive – communications with
teachers can be very specific and I don’t have to ask
questions to get basic information
- Negative – I feel my
child’s teachers are not willing to talk with me one-on-one
when I have specific questions.
- Positive – I have had less of a
need to contact teachers since the teachers are providing information
through the online grading system
Place a mark on the line
indicating the frequency of communication you received from your
child’s teachers last school year. (1 = high frequency, 5 =
no frequency)
