School Dilemma

[xenon200]

Our school division has recently switched over to an entirely electronic grading system. PC's were installed in each classroom, and the teachers enter grades into their systems, which are then tabulated.

Here's the problem. These guys have absolutely NO idea how to use these systems. The result? Gross miscalculations in grades. I have a HUGE problem with this, as per these grades go ON MY TRANSCRIPTS!!

The majority of the teachers will not allow students to see what is entered in on the computer, and most of that group won't even verbally inform students as to what grade they have. It's in the select few that I've had, who have actually allowed me to see my grades on the system, is where I've noticed the problem. Last semester, my Journalism teacher allowed me to see my grade on the system - at which point I noticed several errors in how she had entered the grading average. If I hadn't pointed out the error, my mark would have been 78% - instead of the 93% which I had actually achieved.

That, my friends, was bad enough. Today my math teacher allowed me to see the grades on the system - at which point I looked at my name, looked over to see 33.7% !!! ... So I checked out the individual assignments, and sure enough - ERRORS. She fixed them, and that shot my grade up to a 61.8%. I have to say, I wasn't impressed. But the teacher was in a bad mood - so I wasn't going to express my entire opinion on it. Sort of just a, "great... that's better." and sat my @$$ down.

I would take the effort to write a letter to the principal - but he's a bit of a hothead (understatement of the year), and I'm really not interested in taking time out of my day to get screamed at by that fool.

So, what do I do?!

~x2

[alondra]

dont know about there but here, would get some parents involved and take it to the school board, an if no help, an investigative reporter at the local newspaper,

[xenon200]

Suprisingly enough, my parents don't seem too concerned about it.

I, however, AM.. as I'm the one who GOES to the school everyday and SEES it.

~x2

[daveleau]

I would keep a running log of your grades. An idea would be to have a journal whose pages can not be removed and have the teacher initial after each grade. That might be extreme, but it is your grade. At the very least I would keep a log. If the problem persists and you can not get satisfaction with the principle, contact his supervisor (or have your parents do it) to alert them of the problem. Work the system. You need to convince your parents that this is a big deal, too. It could mean money out of their pockets if it keeps you from getting scholarships.

[NeoStarO1]

I have to agree with what Xenon and Dave say, Keep a log and also can write to your own school board of directors, I do belive students have a right to file complaints to the school board adn this is a valid complaint and deserves to be looked into.

Also the teachers should keep a manual set of the grading as well as the comperized versions untill they learn the system and know for a fact that it is fail safe in grading.