How to handle constant demands for instant grade updates
Students expect assignments to be graded the next period and frequently email teachers to demand immediate updates for late work. Parents escalate these unrealistic expectations by complaining to administration over minor quizzes, sending multiple weekend emails, and even tracking down teachers' personal cell phone numbers to demand immediate score changes.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
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How to handle constant demands for instant grade updates
- 1Hiding the gradebook from students until formal progress reports come out.Did this help you?
- 2Setting clear expectations about grading timelines and late work policies at the beginning of the term.Did this help you?
- 3Limiting the total number of points available to focus on mastery rather than individual assignments.Did this help you?
- 4Giving canned email responses stating that grading will happen when the teacher gets to it.Did this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I’m tired of “I turned in a lab yesterday and you haven’t graded it and I really need it in to raise my grade” emails.”source ↗
“I cannot stand when kids email and tell ME to update their grade or grade their work or anything like that.”source ↗
“And another one turned in a bunch of late work at the end of the day on Friday, to which his father emailed me several times over the weekend then searched online and found and called my personal cell phone to tell me that I am causing drama in his house and demanded I get his grade updated with the late work immediately”source ↗
“I had a parent lose their shit on me and go to an assistant principal to complain about me two years ago when I put in her first low-stakes quiz grade (1% of her final semester grade by the way) in my class, which caused her grade to go to an 88%.”source ↗
“I've had students hand me late work and see me in the hallway between classes the next period and ask if I put in all their missing work.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 6How to tell demanding parents about bad test grades
- 9How to handle students who blame you for bad grades
- 10How to grade open-ended assignments and tests faster
- 5How to stop kindergarteners from constantly tattling?
- 4Why am I being forced to give minimum grades for missing work?
- 3Unexpected performance review meeting request tomorrow morning