Edline: The Grading Curse

Edline is a useful website where students and parents can go online to access the individual student’s grades with a password. The idea behind Edline originated from other schools. Years ago security for the program wasn’t strict and it was expensive. Since improved and protected software became available and the cost of Edline went down, ACC acquired Edline this year. Now it’s in full use with grades updated on Thursdays and homework posted daily or weekly. There are many good points to Edline while there are downfalls as well.

Edline should make communication between home and school more efficient. “The office ladies don’t have to put papers together and send them out to the students,” said Mr. Krebs. “It’s helpful for the students to see their grades regularly. My favorite part is posting the grades,” said Mr. Scarbeary. Mrs. Zagorce said, “The good thing about Edline is that parents are informed, and the students are up to date. Instead of printing out 87 sheets of paper, students can just go online to see grades. But the site can cause confusion.

Though the site can be very convenient, it could also get students grounded. Unfortunately, Edline can reveal past tests and assignments.

With Edline having made its way to ACC, many students are stressing out even more about their grades. Some students feel Edline is a great tool while others see it as a curse.

Haley McCoy wasn’t afraid to voice her opinion when she stated, “I HATE it! My parents check it every day.” Haley said, “It’s never current and even inaccurate.” “Edline ruined my life,” said Mike Melchiorre. Some students decided to remain anonymous and had some bad things to say about Edline, “It’s been the reason for me getting grounded.” “I avoid telling my parents about it, because they’d freak-out on me!”  “It’s hard to read and understand it.” “Some teachers don’t give out progress reports now; there goes an easy five points!”

On the plus side some students, who also requested anonymity, think that Edline is a good thing. “It helps me keep up with my homework,” said one student, “If I have missing work, Edline will tell me.”  A sophomore said, “It’s a good idea because Edline lets parents stay connected.” While another student said, “I guess it’s good that my parents are on my tail about my grades because it pushes me harder.”

There are some major mixed feelings regarding Edline but one thing that a lot of people can agree on, it takes away from those easy extra credit points students get when the teachers hand out computer generated progress reports to be returned and signed. With Edline many teachers are reframing from printing off those reports because with Edline, parents now can view their student’s grades anytime. However, teachers will continue to mail or send the handwritten progress reports. Stay tuned as Central Times will do a follow up on this issue by year end.