In light of the new school year, Poly is practically buzzing with change – new class schedules, a new food provider, and new routines. Yet one thing remains overdue for change: the gradebooks.
Different teachers have their own system with MyPoly gradebooks: some teachers make gradebooks accessible to students while others choose not to. However, this policy needs to be standardized, allowing students to see their current class grades for all classes. According to Upper School World Languages Teacher Katherine Schuhl, who keeps her class’s gradebooks open, “We’re trying to work within a system that just doesn’t really function as it should for the digital age.”
Why are students left in the dark about their grades? The closed gradebook is an outdated system that needs revision for two main reasons: it doesn’t build high school students’ independence, and it prevents advisors and parents from helping students before it’s too late.
Poly is a college prep school, where students must prepare for college and adulthood. Beyond academics, educators at Poly aim to help students learn and build skills that will serve them in the future. One of the most important skills to build in high school is independence. High school is a large jump from middle school. Rather than a teacher micromanaging a student, open gradebooks empower students to find their own solutions because with open gradebooks, the student can easily locate their grade and take the necessary steps to improve. Importantly, the student only made the independent change because the open gradebook alerted them to the issue. Schuhl said, “The biggest benefit is that students [could] look at the grade book. They can figure out what they’re missing. They don’t need me to be an intermediary for that.”
Furthermore, closed grade books prevent advisors from helping their students. Unlike other adults, advisors are a safe channel for expressing deep fears that the student might feel too uncomfortable to directly communicate with the teacher or even a parent. The advisor is like a middleman, acting with both parties’ interests. Overall, the advisor system is a great way for students to discuss and work out the complexities of their high school lives, but closed gradebooks hinder this process.
Specifically, advisors only conduct mid-quarterly check-ins when gradebooks are forced open, leaving the time in between a messy slog. These “dead periods,” the three- to four-week periods when gradebooks are closed, can make or break a student’s grade. Advisors can only help when they have the prerequisite information, and open gradebooks contain that imperative data. Permanently open gradebooks provide a streamlined, accessible way for advisors to keep track of the fluctuations of a student’s grades. Now, not only can students check in with advisors, but advisors can also reach out to help students when, for example, the student’s grade suddenly drops.
Even beyond advisors, parents are often similarly left in the dark. Grades are the most quantitative way to track their child’s progress, yet parents are unable to view them regularly. Instead of being surprised every quarter, an open grade book would allow parents to track their child’s grades with pinpoint accuracy and understand if their child is struggling or excelling. Consequently, students no longer have to dread revealing their grades to their parents when quarters come around. Open grade books provide an avenue for advisors and parents alike to aid the student’s journey within high school through the basis of transparency and trust.
However, there are reasons why open grade books have been shunned by the Polytechnic community. Some fear that open grade books would make students hyperfixate on their grades, making students less inclined to do the work for their own learning and more inclined to do the work for a grade. Others believe that open grade books are just another source of stress in an already stressful high school environment. Dean of Faculty Harvey Johnson remarks, “Grades might give you a fixed mindset, for example, I am a B student, or I am a C student, or I am an A student. It’s a fixed mindset rather than a growth mindset.”
My response to these valid concerns is this: open grade books are a tool that students can learn to navigate through proper diligence and restraint. Each person can set their own boundaries with the gradebook, just like with your electronics or other temptations. Gradebooks are a supplement that, with proper moderation, become the tool that students, teachers and parents can use in collaboration for a more enjoyable high school experience. In addition, no policy is set in stone either. If the open-gradebook policy runs into issues, it can adapt to fit the needs of the students and administration. Taking the first step is the hardest part of the process. Once the policy gains momentum, newer innovations could sprout from the foundation of open grade books.
Additionally, while the risks for hyper-fixation and anxiety are valid, these cases tend to fall on the extreme end: an exception, not the average. Hyper-fixation on grades is a symptom of the rigorous expectations of a college preparatory school like Poly. Hyper-fixation isn’t caused by the gradebooks; it’s a preexisting reality at Poly for certain students that is unlikely to change. Upper School Counselor Andrea Fleetham remarked, “Students who are predisposed to high levels of perfectionism and anxiousness will probably be the students who hyperfixate. Is that every student on our campus? No, it’s not.”
Gradebooks were simply lumped into this problem without further research into their benefits. Through proper use and mentorship through the administration, open gradebooks can become a powerful tool that teachers and Poly can use to communicate with students.
It’s time to give up the outdated system of closed gradebooks. Instead of shrouding a student’s grade in secrecy, it’s time to celebrate the achievements or to own up to the mistakes. Poly is a palace of learning, and open gradebooks are just one brick of it. Poly is changing, and the gradebook policies must change with it.
