The screen flashes, then reloads, displaying a 504 error code. A junior sits at her desk with her phone in hand, trying to log into StudentVUE for the third time. She needs to check her grade in AP World History before her quiz to see what she needs to earn a semester A. For students, checking grades isn’t a quick tap anymore; it’s a routine filled with extra steps.
Technical errors within the platform are among the most common complaints. Students say the platform often fails to load information, forcing them to log out and try again. “When I try to click on the class schedule, it says that it cannot be found,” junior Abigail Lee said.
Beyond occasional glitches, students say the platform lacks essential features that would make tracking academic progress easier. StudentVUE does not calculate overall GPA or clearly show grade trends over time, which makes it harder to plan for upcoming assignments. Without these built-in tools, students must manually calculate averages or rely on outside apps.
The platform used to allow students to calculate grades, but that feature was removed last winter, making it more time-consuming for students to determine their grade averages. “That was really annoying because I was doing that to make sure that I’m meeting my targets,” sophomore Joanna Funmilola said.
As a result, students have turned to third-party apps such as Grademelon or Gradekit. These apps help students plan for upcoming tests and see how each assignment affects their overall grade. “On Gradekit, they can show you the trends in your grades over the course of the month,” Funmilola said.
Unlike StudentVUE, these third-party apps offer automatic login, saving students from repeatedly entering their information. For students trying to keep up with deadlines and assignments at the last minute, this convenience makes it far easier to stay organized and track their progress.
From the teachers’ perspective, the platform effectively serves its intended purpose. “I find it really convenient. It is easy for me to write a little bit of comments if students are losing points, encourage students, what can we do to bring up their grade,” AP Computer Science Principles teacher Mousumi Chatterjee said.
Although grade-calculating apps can help students to understand their grades, students may focus too heavily on the numbers. For example, students may disregard practice and preparation assignments, since they impact overall grades less than major projects and exams. “What makes me sad is that students are just looking at their grades and trying to earn a grade,” Chatterjee said.
Recently, Grademelon has been blocked on school-issued Chromebooks, limiting students’ access to one of the main tools they used to calculate their grades. Thus, students feel frustrated, especially because StudentVUE does not offer the same features. “If you want to block their app, your app needs to be up to par. Because it’s not and I don’t really feel like it’s fair to other students to have to spend 20 minutes to find a GPA when that’s such an important part of high school,” Funmilola said.
