Going High-Tech with Tracking Student Progress
State education officials are looking to use an online system to track student progress.  This way, students, parents, teachers, and administrators will be able to see attendance, grades, and test scores for a particular student or whole groups of students with just a click of a button.

Iron County School District was the first district in Utah to pilot the system starting in 2005.  And the results look promising: 

“I feel like we have moved light years in terms of looking at individual students,” said Iron District Superintendent Jim Johnson.

Thirteen districts in Utah have already used or will be using the system. They are: Iron, Wasatch, Beaver, Cache, South Sanpete, Kane, Garfield, Provo, Duchesne, North Summit, South Summit, Rich and Daggett.

If used properly, this new system for tracking student progress will empower parents to know how their kids are doing and help schools focus more on the needs of individual students.  It could also be instrumental in implementing merit pay programs and increasing school accountability.

For more info…

• Schools to go high-tech with education records>>  Deseret News, August 4, 2008