For many students, knowing their grades has become a must. Whether they have to know in order to try out for a sport, for their parents, or just to know how well they are doing. Checking and knowing grades has become so essential that it has become a part of a student’s life to login to Synergy’s StudentVUE.
However, grades aren’t always so up-to-date, said junior Daniel Diep. “My grades are never updated and I don’t find out my grade until I have to turn in a grade check or I get my progress report.”
When it comes to inputting grades for StudentVUE, there are two types of teachers, students say. One updates grades as soon as assignments are turned in and they encourage students to discuss any problems or questions they may have with their current grade. The other is a student’s worst nightmare when their parents ask to see their grades.
“My teacher doesn’t put in my current grade until the end of the quarter,” said sophomore Jordyn Garcia.
Several teachers like this have been labeled by students for their reluctance and what they consider to be complete disregard for posting grades.
For junior Marco Medina, he said this is the case. “All my other grades are updated on StudentVUE except for one. I turn in all the work, and I get it back graded but it doesn’t show online.”
The junior goes on and says that he talks to his teacher constantly, asking to get his grade updated, but that these talks yield no results.
“If my grade doesn’t get updated, I could get in trouble from my parents and I won’t be able to play this season,” he said.
Even though students perceive this as neglect, math teacher Kathy Sady said, “Students forget we have things to do other than update grades constantly. The main problem with today’s society is (the desire for) instant gratification.”
Sady said that there is no patience when it comes to grades but that students shouldn’t worry if their grades have changed everyday “because it probably won’t have.”
Students should note that teachers are only required by the district to update grades before progress reports and report cards are to be sent out.
However, assistant principal Gamal Salama said, “We (administrators) are pushing teachers to update their grades every one or two weeks.”
Salama explains how teachers attended workshops to inform them on how to use the online grade book and push for more frequent updates. “(Students) should know that our teachers make mistakes, they are human,” he said. “When it comes to grades, there might be a slight error, but we are working to help both teachers and students with this situation.”