I should preface this article by saying that this review on FreshGrade Classic is written from a parent’s perspective, and that I have never used it as an educator and therefore cannot comment on what is possible using the teacher settings. While I can appreciate FreshGrade’s intent of offering a window into the classroom and how it can help to report on student progress in schools moving away from traditional grading systems, in my opinion as a parent, it is not without its flaws and limitations. Let’s begin by looking at the pros.

When weighing all the pros and cons, FreshGrade is a great tool for commenting on progress and for teachers to share what students have been up to in class – from cool projects to presentations, etc. The student and parent portals are also a fantastic way for learners to share their work and for parents to comment on their progress. Where it falls short, and again it could just be at my daughter’s school as they are not using FreshGrade to generate and print report cards, is the lack of concrete documentation provided to parents at the end of the year and parents’ not being able to manipulate the comment feeds by subject area, by year, by progress vs. grade, etc.

Is your school using FreshGrade as a means of reporting? Are there any other comments you would like to add? We’d love to hear them!