How would you feel if, in each and every class, you got to see all your grades immediately after being entered into the gradebook? Stressed? More comfortable? The open gradebook policy—allowing students, and their nosy parents, to check their grades for each course whenever they would like— presented for next year at SHS has clear benefits and drawbacks, and students and teachers alike have mixed feelings.
While the specific details of the open gradebook plan are still being decided, students’ grades could be available to students immediately after a teacher posts the grades. A problem that could arise is students seeing their grades before getting their actual assignment back. “I can be grading at nine o’clock at night, and you can get your grade without seeing what you did wrong. I think that element can create stress and worry,” SHS Spanish teacher Jose Lamela mentioned.
Along with the extra stress and worry that the open gradebook may create, students also note that this process may make the teacher’s job even harder. “I think the teachers may become really annoyed. Students will constantly be coming to office hours to get back any credit they can,” Ofir Savir ’28 explained.
The open gradebook may vary significantly in different aspects depending on each individual teacher and the way they conduct their classrooms. While some teachers may reveal total grades each week or after each test, some may not give any holistic number grades for the year.
Though there are some people who see drawbacks to moving forward with an open gradebook, there are also many benefits that can increase motivation and performance overall. “The open gradebook allows students to reflect on their work quickly. I also believe that students should have access to know how they did and what to improve on,” Lamela described.
Another element to note about the open gradebook is that it can help students stay informed of their current grade in each class. For students who may want to drop or move up a level, they may not know their grade until their first report card, and knowing their exact grade could help them make decisions. “I know people who didn’t know how they were doing until the first report card, and this made dropping a level much harder,” Noy Cottrell ’25 noted.
From a student’s perspective, the open gradebook may even prove to be very anxiety-reducing. “In my opinion, all it can really do is relieve stress. If I know where I am at all times, I will have less anxiety about it,” Cottrell added.
The rolling gradebook that was implemented two years ago at SHS was designed to allow flexibility for students and teachers. The open gradebook, paired with the rolling gradebook, could help address this gap. “Through the open gradebook, I can have exact number grades from every teacher, not just a few. This is definitely helpful,” Nicholas Bertini ’28 stated.
Although there are benefits and drawbacks to the open gradebook system, there is ultimately no “correct” answer to displaying grades. Perhaps even a balance between the two should be discussed. “I am really torn,” Lamela concluded.
