If parental participation improves student academic
performance
– and that’s what teachers have been saying for years – then
Edline must be a must.
It’s long past time for the Gilroy Unified School District to mandate the use of Edline – or a similar Web-based technology – by Gilroy High School teachers.
Currently, about 70 percent of GHS teachers use the service, which allows parents to use the Internet to view attendance, assignment and grade information that teachers post.
When the program was introduced in the fall of 2004, teachers – predictably, sadly – protested that their workload was increasing.
Instead, teachers such as social studies instructor Guido Zvigzne who’ve tried the program find that it reduces their workload. While inputting data into Edline takes about an hour a week, that is more than offset by reductions in time spent answering questions.
“It just makes communication faster, quicker and more efficient,” he told reporter Christopher Quirk.
Given that, we suspect that what some teachers don’t like about Edline is that it enables parents and administrators to check up on teacher performance – are they up-to-date on posting assignments and grading papers?
That’s because Edline allows parents to use the Web to check on their students’ attendance, assignments and grades.
That’s something some students would also prefer that parents not be able to do.
“God, I hate Edline,” said senior Mandy Jo Torres. “My mom uses that on me all the time.”
Now that’s an endorsement trustees, administrators and teachers ought to take to heart. Isn’t that exactly the kind of parental involvement and student and teacher accountability the district wants? Of course it is.
In fact, required use of Edline ought to be expanded to GUSD’s three middle schools.
That might ease contract issues raised by GHS principal James Maxwell, who said that because GHS is the only school using Edline, it makes it a more difficult negotiating issue.
We’re not sure we buy that argument, but if expanding Edline makes it easier to require its use, it’s just another reason to move the program to middle schools.
If parental participation improves student academic performance – and that’s what teachers have been saying for years – then Edline must be a must.
If accountability is a crucial part of the school district’s strategy for achieving academic excellence – and that’s what GUSD officials have been telling the community for some time – then Edline must be a must.
If communication is key to improving the district’s performance – and we believe that’s the case – then Edline must be a must.
