Online grade book system purchased

Parents of Oklahoma City Public Schools students soon will be able to monitor academic performance and attendance online.

A pilot program at Douglass High School and Classen School of Advanced Studies will be expanded to every school by next year, district Chief Operating Officer Manny Soto said.

The SmartWeb Gradebook allows parents to access teacher grade books for assignments, homework, tests and view attendance information anywhere they can locate an Internet connection.

The program also allows parents to communicate with teachers by e-mail, Soto said.

School board members this week approved a $40,000 purchase to buy the program from SmartWeb Technologies Inc. About $15,000 came from funds available during the 2003-04 school year. The remaining $25,000 will be split between district and federal funds this year, Soto said.

"Ultimately in time, it will be a conduit for parents to regularly monitor their child's grades and attendance from home, which has been proven to increase parent participation in their child's academic progress in other SmartWeb districts, he told the board.

Teachers will be required to regularly update their gradebooks online. Parents will receive a username and password to log onto the system.

Board member Jennifer Puckett said she and her husband have used the program and encountered some problems.

"This is an important thing to have access to your children's grades, Jennifer Puckett said. "I just want to know that it is being sort of monitored, updated ... A lot of the things I hear from other people, as well, is there's some frustration over it.

Tony Puckett said he's received error messages when trying to log onto the system. Once he was finally able to access the program after calling a helpline he said the student grade sheets weren't clear or timely.

Soto said the district is working to make the program more user-friendly.

Douglass Principal Vallene Cooks helped some parents access the system. She said one-hour training sessions were held in the fall.

"Anything you can add technology to makes it that much easier and that much more accessible to more people, Cooks said.

Principals meeting with students and parents can access the student's grades without interrupting a teacher during a class period.

Soto said the program will be expanded to all secondary schools this spring and should be operating in elementary schools by the start of school next year.

Archive ID: 2244952