By: Emily Stroud, Reporter
Date Created 8/15/2007 5:08:18 PM

Knox Parents Have New Tool for Keeping an Eye on Kids

Soon Knox County parents will have an easy way to get a better idea of what their kids are up to: point, click and read.

A new internet program provides another communication tool for teachers and parents in Knox County Schools. "It will be very easy," said Chief Technology Officer Gail Byard. "There is a login that will be provided by their student's school." She demonstrated on her office computer how the new Parent Portal will give parents of middle school and high school students information. Parents log in and check report card grades, daily grades and classroom assignments. They can also see discipline information and even transcripts for high school students.

Finally, they can check attendance, both daily and broken down by class period. And it's all in real time, updated every day. "This is not intended to be big brother watching the students in the classroom," Byard said. "It's intended to be used for student accountability and for improving student achievement at the classroom level and for better communication with our classroom teachers." Teachers can even receive e-mails directly from parents. A parent just clicks on the teacher's name, and types a message.

"It's very difficult to communicate with a teacher in real time because they're in the classroom," Byard said. "So this way, it gives them the opportunity to express their concerns and get communication back from the teachers."