Aspen - grades posted late and incorrectly

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Teachers don’t have any options for comments except the generic ones. Which I find not helpful."

This not true actually. Each grade a teacher gives offer a tiny comment box next to it if teachers want to give comments on a particular grade or offer teacher notes. Many choose not to. But there absolutely is the option.

As for the "WS" grade, be happy about it. It is intended as a grade that by definition will change when the work is submitted. Aspen is one thing but Canvas is the program that actually shows when a student submits work. The teacher is likely is trying to send you a message about productivity. Take it for what it is. Frankly the option other than WS is an F, which teachers are not allowed even give anymore. WS is a covid-era "do better and it can change but if it were a different time you would have failed" grade

Yes, teachers can write a note on each Aspen assignment that is individual. However, we do not have the option of writing notes on the actual progress report or report card. There’s a list of about 10 statements that either say your kid is wonderful or awful. Most teachers default to wonderful because very few deserve the awful ones. It would be nice to have some that were in between.

I’m curious what the comment options are. 2 of my kids’ teachers took the time to click one of the comment options, but none of the others did.

Comments are useless and silly.

“Good participation” is the most commonly used one in my experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Teachers don’t have any options for comments except the generic ones. Which I find not helpful."

This not true actually. Each grade a teacher gives offer a tiny comment box next to it if teachers want to give comments on a particular grade or offer teacher notes. Many choose not to. But there absolutely is the option.

As for the "WS" grade, be happy about it. It is intended as a grade that by definition will change when the work is submitted. Aspen is one thing but Canvas is the program that actually shows when a student submits work. The teacher is likely is trying to send you a message about productivity. Take it for what it is. Frankly the option other than WS is an F, which teachers are not allowed even give anymore. WS is a covid-era "do better and it can change but if it were a different time you would have failed" grade

Yes, teachers can write a note on each Aspen assignment that is individual. However, we do not have the option of writing notes on the actual progress report or report card. There’s a list of about 10 statements that either say your kid is wonderful or awful. Most teachers default to wonderful because very few deserve the awful ones. It would be nice to have some that were in between.

I’m curious what the comment options are. 2 of my kids’ teachers took the time to click one of the comment options, but none of the others did.

Comments are useless and silly.

“Good participation” is the most commonly used one in my experience.

Just wait until you see the new report cards.

[Anonymous]

The “self-advocate” stuff drives me bananas. Yes, of course we want to teach our children to do this but some teachers are frankly more receptive to this than others. It has been extremely frustrating to watch my child attempt in good faith to follow up with certain teachers to get feedback on why points were deducted (when it seemed to be an error) or when he could re-take a test, only to be given the runaround. The power dynamic between an adult teacher and a 12-year-old child is not exactly fair. MS grades are of some significance if a kid is hoping to apply for private school or walls. So yes, I keep on too of my kid’s grades and if there are scores that don’t add up, and I know he has already attempted to ask the teacher without success, I will reach out myself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The “self-advocate” stuff drives me bananas. Yes, of course we want to teach our children to do this but some teachers are frankly more receptive to this than others. It has been extremely frustrating to watch my child attempt in good faith to follow up with certain teachers to get feedback on why points were deducted (when it seemed to be an error) or when he could re-take a test, only to be given the runaround. The power dynamic between an adult teacher and a 12-year-old child is not exactly fair. MS grades are of some significance if a kid is hoping to apply for private school or walls. So yes, I keep on too of my kid’s grades and if there are scores that don’t add up, and I know he has already attempted to ask the teacher without success, I will reach out myself.

+1..I attribute it to everyone getting back acclimated. We have instructed DC to email and CC us with issues if there is no response in person. We won't have unnecessary running around that stresses a kid out. At this point, it seems like DC is actually babysitting teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The “self-advocate” stuff drives me bananas. Yes, of course we want to teach our children to do this but some teachers are frankly more receptive to this than others. It has been extremely frustrating to watch my child attempt in good faith to follow up with certain teachers to get feedback on why points were deducted (when it seemed to be an error) or when he could re-take a test, only to be given the runaround. The power dynamic between an adult teacher and a 12-year-old child is not exactly fair. MS grades are of some significance if a kid is hoping to apply for private school or walls. So yes, I keep on too of my kid’s grades and if there are scores that don’t add up, and I know he has already attempted to ask the teacher without success, I will reach out myself.

+1000
My son took a make up test and some on paper assignments and was never given credit for it. Then the teacher left the school. I emailed them and they said they no longer had access to classroom papers so they were just going to “excuse” the assignments. But that’s bullshit because not getting credit for work you’ve done is about the worst way to motivate a 12 y/o.
Same thing in my other child’s class, teacher keeps saying “oh yeah I’ll
Update that” and they don’t. Like, isn’t there a deadline and a grade to submit at this point? I hate canvas and Aspen and the app based education our kids are receiving. It’s barely an education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The “self-advocate” stuff drives me bananas. Yes, of course we want to teach our children to do this but some teachers are frankly more receptive to this than others. It has been extremely frustrating to watch my child attempt in good faith to follow up with certain teachers to get feedback on why points were deducted (when it seemed to be an error) or when he could re-take a test, only to be given the runaround. The power dynamic between an adult teacher and a 12-year-old child is not exactly fair. MS grades are of some significance if a kid is hoping to apply for private school or walls. So yes, I keep on too of my kid’s grades and if there are scores that don’t add up, and I know he has already attempted to ask the teacher without success, I will reach out myself.

+1000
My son took a make up test and some on paper assignments and was never given credit for it. Then the teacher left the school. I emailed them and they said they no longer had access to classroom papers so they were just going to “excuse” the assignments. But that’s bullshit because not getting credit for work you’ve done is about the worst way to motivate a 12 y/o.
Same thing in my other child’s class, teacher keeps saying “oh yeah I’ll
Update that” and they don’t. Like, isn’t there a deadline and a grade to submit at this point? I hate canvas and Aspen and the app based education our kids are receiving. It’s barely an education.

yep. We moved out kids to a top private in 7th and 9th an it's night-and-day. I estimate they are learning 200% more.
We are huge supporters of public school and are living a pauper's life to be able to afford tuition but my kids' brains were atrophying in DCPS. I couldn't sit by anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The “self-advocate” stuff drives me bananas. Yes, of course we want to teach our children to do this but some teachers are frankly more receptive to this than others. It has been extremely frustrating to watch my child attempt in good faith to follow up with certain teachers to get feedback on why points were deducted (when it seemed to be an error) or when he could re-take a test, only to be given the runaround. The power dynamic between an adult teacher and a 12-year-old child is not exactly fair. MS grades are of some significance if a kid is hoping to apply for private school or walls. So yes, I keep on too of my kid’s grades and if there are scores that don’t add up, and I know he has already attempted to ask the teacher without success, I will reach out myself.

+1000
My son took a make up test and some on paper assignments and was never given credit for it. Then the teacher left the school. I emailed them and they said they no longer had access to classroom papers so they were just going to “excuse” the assignments. But that’s bullshit because not getting credit for work you’ve done is about the worst way to motivate a 12 y/o.
Same thing in my other child’s class, teacher keeps saying “oh yeah I’ll
Update that” and they don’t. Like, isn’t there a deadline and a grade to submit at this point? I hate canvas and Aspen and the app based education our kids are receiving. It’s barely an education.

DCPS teacher here who also hates Aspen and Canvas. Please know that some of us are working hard to ensure your kids get a strong education with real experiences and work that is meaningful and given feedback. We see the “appification” too and also say hell no!!!
yep. We moved out kids to a top private in 7th and 9th an it's night-and-day. I estimate they are learning 200% more.
We are huge supporters of public school and are living a pauper's life to be able to afford tuition but my kids' brains were atrophying in DCPS. I couldn't sit by anymore.

[Anonymous]

NP - I also hate Canvas and think kids should be learning off of screens. Please write to downtown about it.

[Anonymous]

My kids are in supposedly good dcps schools but im finding myself completely agreeing wity the private school poster above. This is a joke of an education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The “self-advocate” stuff drives me bananas. Yes, of course we want to teach our children to do this but some teachers are frankly more receptive to this than others. It has been extremely frustrating to watch my child attempt in good faith to follow up with certain teachers to get feedback on why points were deducted (when it seemed to be an error) or when he could re-take a test, only to be given the runaround. The power dynamic between an adult teacher and a 12-year-old child is not exactly fair. MS grades are of some significance if a kid is hoping to apply for private school or walls. So yes, I keep on too of my kid’s grades and if there are scores that don’t add up, and I know he has already attempted to ask the teacher without success, I will reach out myself.

Yeah, we went through this. Telling a 12 year old to fix grades/get assignments completed with an underperforming and defensive 30-something teacher is not a recipe for success. I hope that DCPS managers can get this and respond so that parents can stay out of their business.

[Anonymous]

We have a kid in a (let's just say it) nonwhite DCPS and constantly wonder if the experience there with parent expectations of teachers and staff (i.e., these staff just objectively are not as professional as we are in our own jobs, not even close) makes me wonder (get angry) about what the experience must be like for lower-income/non-English-speaking families where they might not question how teachers and principals are doing their jobs. These families are likely not getting the level of service they deserve. They and their kids are being told that they are not succeeding/not supported/not given rigorous work/put in a vicious cycle of poor results and negative expectations and I wish somebody expected greater professionalism from the people who are effectively gatekeepers for their future success.

Sorry to be so negative.

[Anonymous]

All of these things and worse were happening before the age of online grade books. Parents just didn't really know how bad it was.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh my. All this microscopic following of grades and parental management is exhausting to me. Just.can’t. Do. It. I have kids still in DCPS and kids in college. It all worked out, getting into college, without all of the stressful monitoring and intervening. I know it depends on the student, but why not try letting go and seeing what happens? Intervention could be saved for when your student asks for your help. Good luck everyone. Life’s too short…

The cycle for literally every single DCPS family that I know — particularly those with kids who struggle with LDs and/or ADDH — looks something like this:

Parent intends to let kid handle things and doesn’t look at Aspen until end of the advisory. Kid has Fs or Ds posted in multiple classes.

Parents freak out and yell at kid.

Kid says “I turned all of those things in.”

Parent asks kid to contact teacher.

Kid talks to teacher. Teacher claims items not turned in, won’t listen to kid. Kid asks parent for help.

Parent emails teacher.

Teacher ignores the email.

Parent emails again and cc:s admin.

Teacher responds “Oh, I found the assignment”, or “Aspen isn’t working for me”, or some random excuse.

Extra points when parent requests a meeting after teacher has insisted that kid didn’t turn in the work, and during the meeting parent happens to look down and see one “missing” assignment for their kid literally sitting on the teacher’s desk and then finds another gathering dust at the bottom of the tray where kids are supposed to turn in work — along with weeks of other “missing” work for other students.

My kid at Wilson got to the point that they emailed teachers a copy of all assignments before handing them in (they’d use CamScanner to take a scan of handwritten work). This was the story for elementary, middle, and high school.

[Anonymous]

As a newbie to this online system - where are the grades for report card generated from - canvas or aspen? Canvas has many many more assignments listed than Aspen does . . . so grades look good on Aspen, but I don't know whether to trust it (since so many entries on Canvas not listed on Aspen).

[Anonymous]

Grades are from Aspen.