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Due Diligence, or Distrust?
by Rich Thomaselli
Tracking software allows parents and grandparent caregivers access to kids' grades
Is it a matter of distrust, or a case of due diligence and responsibility?
Debate and discussion has ensued over the hottest thing going in education right now — tracking software, which allows parents and grandparent caregivers with access to a computer the ability to have a direct portal into their child’s progress — everything from assignments, test grades, disciplinary information, attendance, and more.
The web-based programs go under the name of ParentConnect, Edline and PowerSchool, among others. While they have been around for several years, The New York Times put a spotlight on the practice with a May 4 story titled “I Know What You Did Last Math Class.”
The programs are fairly equal in terms of what they offer and how it works. Parents or grandparent caregivers must sign up to be able to use the tool through their respective school or school district. After several days, they then must physically present photo identification at their child's school to receive a user ID and password. That helps to ensure that student records remain private and secure.
Or are they?
Last November, the Associated Press reported that an Elkhart, Kan., woman was able to access PowerSchool to look at the grades of high school honor students. The woman, 44-year-old Diana Boaldin, apparently used the usernames and passwords of two students and logged on to PowerSchool 68 times in a three-month period.
She was charged with one felony and several misdemeanors, but paid a $1,000 fine in a diversion agreement and will have her charges dismissed if she promises to stay out of trouble for a year.
Legal matters aside, the programs have still created a tug of war among parents, most of whom like it, and students, most of whom dislike it, and teachers, school administrators, and child psychologists in between.
Not only can parents or grandparents check a program like Edline 24/7, they can also receive e-mail alerts about their child’s activities and test-taking in school. This allows teachers to utilize paperless grading, but even some educators aren’t thrilled with it.
In an April 2008 article written for the Charleston Gazzette (West Va.) by Bayan Misaghi, a student at George Washington High School there, one teacher expressed her dissatisfaction with Edline.
“It is time that students begin taking responsibility for their work,” said Ruth Diller, a teacher of 43 years. “Edline promotes parents to hover over their children and their grades. As a result, I have had more conferences this year than any other in the past because of the grade updates parents receive every two weeks.”
Others differ.
“It’s just greater visibility for our parents,” Bob McGregor, data center supervisor for Great Falls (Montana) High School, told the Great Falls Tribune in February.
The extent of that visibility, however, is what has most students concerned. They like the idea of quickly checking their own grades, but feel like they’re being watched when their parents or grandparents have the same access.
“I don’t think kids have privacy,” Emily Tarantino, a 13-year-old middle-school student from Farmingdale, N.Y., told The New York Times. “It’s not like anyone asked our opinion before they gave parents the passwords.”
The Times article also noted how students are using their social networking sites to denounce the practice. Emily Cochran, a high school senior in Pittsburgh, wrote on her Facebook page about Edline, “It’s like having our parents or guardians stand over us and watch us all day at school, waiting for us to slip up.”
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