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When teachers reject the Internet

By Jay Mathews

My former Post colleague Tracy Thompson has two daughters in a Washington area school district. I promised not to say which one. It doesn’t matter since the issue she raises involves all high-tech schools, of which we have many.

People aren’t using the new web features designed to help families. Is it because parents like me are techno-phobs? Not entirely. The reluctant participants that concern her are teachers.

Both of Thompson’s kids have attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. They have trouble getting their work done. Her school district, like several in this area, has web sites where parents can see what assignments their children have. That way they cannot be fooled by sly evasions when they ask their children, sitting in front of the TV, if they have any homework.

Thompson was delighted to discover the web homework schedules when her older daughter was a sixth grader. Disappointment followed when, she said, “I found out only about half of her teachers used it. Some teachers were weeks behind in updating the info. My older daughter is off to high school next year and has matured amazingly over the past three years, so I don’t have to worry that much about her stuff anymore—but now my younger daughter is in third grade, and I am in my second year of trying to get her teachers to use the web.”

The year started well. The third grade teacher, like many of her colleagues, had the information posted and regularly updated. But after three weeks she was transferred and her replacement failed to create her own site. Tracy volunteered to do it for her. The teacher was appreciative, but had trouble keeping it current.

Thompson’s daughter announced on Thanksgiving break she had no homework. Her mother was suspicious. She emailed the teacher. No answer. Two days after school resumed, she sent another message, cc’ing the principal. The teacher was discontinuing the web site, the principal replied. She felt it was not a useful tool, too much of a bother when she had different assignments for gifted and regular kids. So how could parents keep track of assignments if the teacher rejected the instrument designed to accomplish that?

Last year’s teacher, Thompson said, kept her website up to date only after Thompson complained to the principal twice. She has a signed agreement from the district to provide an online homework schedule, under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. But some administrators ignore that and say websites aren’t a priority because students need to learn responsibility.

“ADHD kids learn responsibility but on their own timetable, which does not track with everybody else’s,” Thompson said. One administrator suggested they give the child a zero for the missed assignment. Thompson said that might, in theory, impress the student two months later when she got her report card, but for now “it means nada.” The best immediate consequence, she said, would be doing the homework, but a parent can’t make that happen if the assignment is a mystery.

I am sure some teachers see this as one more chore added to an already long day. But wouldn’t it save time otherwise spent fielding parent calls or dealing with their children’s incomplete work? Other school districts told me they get few complaints like this, but make sure principals take them seriously.