I have found, like many CHS students, that I have an addiction– and a rather serious one at that. I cannot say it is one that is so often addressed like drug abuse or alcohol. No, it is an addicting, painful and pleasuring experience that is reserved for the most grade obsessed students at our high school.
The internet phenomenon/addiction is called Powerschool.
I do admit. Especially after a large test I can check my grades every day, even several times a day seeking the reassurance of knowing my grade. Powerschool has found its niche in CHS for the past eight years as a way of easy access to grades for students, parents, and teachers.
“We needed a student information system and we decided it was time to look for one that had more options to it,” Assistant principal Marcy Pieper said. “Powerschool worked with the Mac (computers) seamlessly. There were committees and lots of talk about which to go to, and along came Powerschool. Along with Powerschool came a parent portal. Teachers could go in look at grades and it was working really well.”
When Powerschool made its debut at CHS, there were quirks.
“We found that at the very beginning parents were on constantly and emailing teachers on updating grades,” Pieper said. “There was that fear that once we opened it up to students and parents the focus wouldn’t be so much on learning but on grades and becoming obsessive about it. . . It’s a lot calmer now than it was when it first opened up.”
Checking grades too often is little much because Powerschool policy says that teacher only have to update grades every two weeks, however for some, checking grades is more like a routine.
“[I check Powerschool] every other day,” freshman Rachel Han said.
Other students, like freshman Jack Klamer, checks his grades “every fortnight”. Senior Hannah Klein didn’t start checking Powerschool until much later on.
“I didn’t really start looking at Powerschool until the beginning of my senior year, and maybe a little my junior year,” Klein said. “I think it helped me stay on top of my grades and know which classes I could relax a little bit in (we all need those classes) and which ones I had to start working harder in.”
According to English teacher Jennifer Sellenriek, some high schoolers often obsess about grades more than anything else.
“To a certain extent, I think high schoolers (and their parents and teachers) often fall into the trap of focusing on grades more than learning. And the quick access to Powerschool and the limits of the program, exasperate that reality.”
Senior Danny Steinberg agreed with Sellenriek.
“I think that the easy access does lead to more people being more concerned about what their grades on various assignments are rather than whether or not they have mastered the material,” Steinberg said.
According to Pieper, Powerschool hasn’t led to grade obsession but is merely an outlet for kids to know their grades.
“Our kids aren’t relaxed about grades,” Pieper said. “We live in a school that’s driven by academics while every other school I’ve been to has been driven by other things. Kids have been worried about grades since I’ve been here, which has been 15 years. Even before Powerschool kids were wanting to know about their grade, ‘can I get more points on this’ and all other things.”
Some students are more focused on grades rather than the information that they learned.
“The grade goes to what college you want to go to,” freshman Mitchell Lazerus said.
Jack Klamer, freshman, also added that the system is built “to get the grade, but you get the information when you get the grade.”
Sellenriek agreed with Lazerus.
“I work with a lot of students who really want to learn, who are curious readers and who want to become better writers, regardless of their grades,” Sellenriek said. “On the other hand, there is a lot of focus on grades. A lot of this focus over grades is about college admittance, so it’s not so much about Powerschool as the obsession over Powerschool is a result.”
Steinberg believes that Powerschool definitely puts more pressure on him.
“It [Powerschool] puts more pressure on me than there otherwise would be for two reasons,” Steinberg said. “One is that I can see my grades at will and so I want to work on them more and the other is that my parents can see them, and when teachers don’t enter every thing right away the grades may be very inaccurate.”
Other students find this easy access helpful.
“I really like the quick access,” Klein said. “I think at Clayton grades usually accurately reflect how well a student learns the material, so if Powerschool helps me stay on top of my grades, which it does, it is incentive for me to learn the material.”
Sellenriek comments on how Powerschool itself does not show as much as a student needs to know, and needs some tweaks.
“Feedback is an essential tool to learning,” Sellenriek said. “Students need to know what they are doing well and what they have failed to master so that they know what to practice, what to study, and what to seek clarification on. A grade on Powerschool does not necessarily give a student that information . . .A grade means very little in isolation.”
Pieper attributes the Powerschool “hobby” to how academically strung CHS is.
“What I like about our kids is that the grades are there to get them where they want to be, to get them into the schools they need to get into,” Pieper said. “What sets Clayton apart from other schools is that the kids here really love to learn. You know, they may not admit that to their friends. When you walk into the Commons or the library you always see a group of kids eating breakfast with a group of people, working on things. I’ve seen kids after ball games working on homework. That’s just the way it is here, it’s an academic school.”
Most other schools also have “parent portals” to see their child’s grades as well.
“It’s better just to know that it’s there and you can check it when you need to, but to go on every day and check your grades is a little much,” Pieper said.
Grading practices in general are ever to be perfected.
“I’ve been teacher for a long time now, and I’m always reconsidering my grading practices. It’s not that easy,” Sellenriek said. “If a student’s effort is evident in the quality of an assignment, then the grade represent that too. But, that’s not always the case,” said Sellenriek. “A student might work very hard on an assignment but not have mastered the skills required. That’s a difficult situation for student and the teacher. I think in an ideal situation, grades would only be rewarded at then end of a marking period. Students would have the time and space to explore and make mistakes and show their mastery of course objectives over time.”
Steinberg agrees that some teachers may find it helpful to reconsider different grading techniques.
“Not being assessed until the end of the grading period should be an option that teachers could use or could bring up to their students as a possibility,” Steinberg said. “It would be especially helpful in English and History classes where there is more room for growth and the classroom dynamic plays a bigger part in the material. that way students would feel freer to contribute without worrying about repercussions grade-wise.”
Powerschool has a lot of things to offer, undoubtedly. Grades do matter– yes, colleges will still look at your GPA. But the question is, how well does Powerschool– and grades in general– reflect your understanding of the concepts? CHS students must be prepared to keep in mind that what they learn counts just as highly as their grades to achieve a true academic excellence. If students wish to understand and enjoy courses in college and be able to function outside of CHS in general, we should be placing our emphasis (and time) on learning, not grade grubbing.
So for those of you out there with this plague called “Powerschool Addiction” you have been warned– be sure you check whether you actually showed that you learned the concepts first before arguing with your teacher for just those extra two points.