Why is there a discrepancy between the student's score and my Teacher Grade Book?

Updated by Gayle McKee

Sometimes, we get screenshots from students who claim that their score on an activity is actually higher than what is recorded in the Teacher's Grade Book. We want to make teachers aware of a popular feature that is available in many of the most widely used web browsers like Google Chrome and Firebox. It's called "Inspect" or "Inspect Element".

What is "Inspect" or "Inspect Element"?

It is a browser feature that allows a person to make temporary cosmetic changes to a website that they are visiting. They can temporarily change certain elements of their display like text and images. The change is temporary and cosmetic, meaning that it only affects that particular person's view. It does not change the actual website for anyone else and the changes go away once the person hits refresh. Some tech-savvy students are aware of this feature and try to use it to change their grades on an activity. Then, they take a screenshot and send it to their teacher as "proof".

Because of this, we always advise teachers to be on the side of caution when accepting screenshots from students as evidence of work completed. There is no need since teachers can see this data in their Teacher Grade Book.
TIP: If you suspect that a student has used the Inspect Element feature to change their grade, just tell them to hit "Refresh".

Key Things to be Assured of:

  • Inspect Element changes do not affect teacher or student data or our actual website.
  • You can always trust the accuracy of the data that is in your Teacher's Grade Book.
  • This is not unique to just the Progress Learning website. The internet, particularly social media, is rife with this type of attempt to mislead others. So, just be aware!

Here is a video demonstrating how the "Inspect Elements" browser feature works:

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