They come twice a year and have the power to determine one’s academic future, but report cards are slowly becoming a thing of the past.

Junior high and high school students in the Lake Washington School District (LWSD) now have instant access to their progress throughout a semester with Webgrader, a Web-based grading system.

But, students and teachers are not the only users of Webgrader; parents can also monitor their child’s performance on every test and assignment. Some believe this is a great addition to report cards because it allows for day-to-day communication between students, parents and teachers.

“Now teachers and parents have a common language,” said John Vaille, LWSD Chief Technology Officer. “We can really inform students and parents about expected progress and actual progress.”

Katherine Kier, LWSD project manager, feels student grades have improved greatly since the adoption of Webgrader.

But others think Webgrader has gone too far.

“It should be available to parents, but sometimes it feels a little intrusive,” Tommy Weinmeister, a senior at Redmond High School (RHS), said. “My grades are my business.”

Weinmeister likes being to able to check on his progress from home and make up assignments before it’s too late.

But, he says parents should use Webgrader in moderation.

“It is annoying when parents check nightly,” he said.

Richard Westrick, executive vice president and co-founder of Collaborative Learning Inc., believes the system is in students’ best interest. He said his son went from being a B or C student to receiving all As when the company released Webgrader.

“Research shows that parental involvement can really help student performance,” he said.

Vaille couldn’t agree more.

“Young people tend to break away between the ages of 12 and 14 and want to be more independent,” he said. “If parents are there to advise them, they’re better off than if left to flounder by themselves.”

However, Kim Axelrod, a parent of three in the district, said that while Webgrader allows for better communication between students and parents, the responsibility of managing grades needs to shift more to the student once they reach high school.

“Not only can parents micromanage, some students can get obsessive and miss the whole picture,” she said.

Created in 2001, Webgrader was originally designed to match what a student was taught with what they learned. The idea was if Webgrader could account for what went on in the classroom, schools might be able to better align educational standards with those that students face on standardized tests.

After piloting the program last year, a committee of more than 25 teachers in the LWSD chose Webgrader from among other web-based grade books to be used in secondary schools for the 2007-2008 school year. According to Paige Carrol, a teacher at RHS and member of the pilot committee, Webgrader was the most user-friendly system and had all of the components the district wanted.

But, teachers and students alike have expressed discontent with the system as it is currently functioning.

“I wish there were some guidelines from teachers or the district about when information should be posted,” Axelrod said. “Some teachers don’t always update it.”

Weinmeister said that his parents bug him about making up missing assignments that he’s already turned in; the teacher simply hasn’t updated his grade on Webgrader. In fact, some teachers enter a score of zero for missing assignments instead of “NG” or “no grade,” which can make a student appear to be failing when he or she is not.

In response to these concerns, Kier said every secondary school in the district has its own guidelines about when teachers must update grades on Webgrader. But, at RHS no such guidelines exist, according to Carrol, one of several “Webgrader Experts” now within the district.

“We vaguely talked about it, but there is nothing written down,” she said. “I’m assuming that for this upcoming year we will have more set guidelines.”

On the other hand, a teacher at Evergreen Junior High, who has asked to remain anonymous in order to protect his reputation on the Webgrader pilot committee, believes students and parents need to respect the fact that teachers are working very hard all the time. He thinks it is unreasonable to expect teachers to post grades within three days.

One of the district’s goals for adopting Webgrader was to improve communication. However, two teachers said that the opposite is true; they believe teachers use Webgrader as an excuse to avoid direct contact with students and parents.

“You don’t have to go talk to a teacher,” Weinmeister said. “You can just check at home and email teachers.”

In teachers’ defense, Vaille said: “It’s hard for teachers if 10 parents call per night.”

According to Carrol, the district is partnering with Collaborative Learning Inc. in order to look for ways to improve the system. In fact, only three months after adopting Webgrader last fall, they released the first set of upgrades based on the district’s suggestions.

The biggest upgrade still being developed is the ability for Webgrader to process standards-only scoring (SOS) in elementary schools. Unlike secondary schools, which use percentage scores or bell curves to determine letter grades, elementary schools grade according to curriculum standards.

Westrick said SOS taps into what the state is assessing.

“A lot is observation below fifth grade and it’s hard to quantify,” he said.

However, the challenge the district is now facing is how to match the standards programmed into Webgrader with the Lake Washington District standards. “Inform” is the report card system now being used by elementary schools in the district. As of now, there is no way to automatically convert grades from Webgrader to Inform.

“Nothing new is ever 100 percent,” Vaille said.

The district does not expect Webgrader to be ready for elementary use for at least another year.

Westrick acknowledged that there still much room for improvement with the system.

“I remember a letter we received from a student saying Webgrader had ruined his life,” Westrick said. “He said he was not able to have a social life and do things high schoolers should do. I think some parents are overly strict and kids are just trying to do too much.”

Perhaps the key to success is balance.

“A lot of parents have a lot closer touch with what their kids are doing in school now,” Vaille said.

In fact, even Weinmeister couldn’t deny the greater purpose Webgrader serves: communication.

“The problem I have is I can’t think of a good alternative,” he said. “I see no other way to show parents why you have an A or an F.”

Catherine Daley is a student at the University of Washington Department of Communication News Laboratory.