November 2001 — Applications
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Electronic Gradebook Products Change the Way Teachers Do Business in the Classroom
A school and a district are 2,000 miles apart. Yet both Mountain View High School in Loveland, Colo., and Broward County Public School District in Florida have experienced two uniquely effective implementations of the Pinnacle System, an electronic student management and assessment solution developed by Excelsior Software Inc.
When Mountain View High School opened its doors in August 2000 with
750 students, expectations for a high-tech building were running
strong. The school, part of the Thompson School District in Loveland,
looked for a new way to handle the collection and management of
student data. After researching various software solutions, Mountain
View selected Excelsior's Pinnacle System. Pauline Denning, the
school's media specialist and instructional technologist, assembled a
team to learn Pinnacle Gradebook together; with each member training,
in turn, about 10 people. Denning estimated 95 percent of their
teachers immediately began using Gradebook. A month after
implementation, one teacher was selected to hold individual user
conferences to solve problems and answer questions; with follow-up
sessions repeated midyear.
Student, Parent Appeal
Pinnacle System modules share information with those who need it. Using Pinnacle's Student Viewer, students can access their records on most of the school's 285 workstations. Denning believes that most students want to take responsibility for their work and attendance, but sometimes find it difficult to ask teachers about it. Student Viewer makes the process more private. 'Student Viewer totally changed the way we do business in this school,' says Denning.
The Parent Internet Viewer allows parents to logon to a Web site and view student records. Pinnacle Notification Systems automatically e-mail parents with information on grades and absences. 'When we implemented the e-mail program, the parents just went crazy. It was probably the most empowering thing we did for parents in opening this new school,' says Denning. The Notification Systems e-mail five different reports to parents:
- An absence notice when their child is marked absent and a parent has not called;
- A warning if their child's grades slip below a certain point;
- A weekly attendance record;
- A standard grade report; and
- A snapshot of their child's grade in every teacher's gradebook.
Mountain View initially used the school newsletter to explain Pinnacle Notification Systems and enroll parents in the program.
For parents who want to be involved in their children's education, but whose busy schedules make it difficult for them to stay in frequent contact with the school, the e-mail reports provide the quality and quantity of information they need. Mountain View also found that Pinnacle's Student Viewer, Parent Viewer and Notification Systems promoted conversation between parents and kids. 'Parents started using those e-mail reports as a way of summing up the week with their kids, and perhaps expanding or restricting privileges based on what was happening,' says Denning. Pinnacle's unique telephone interface lets parents without computer access call anytime to get their kids' grades. 'Twenty-five percent of our students are on free or reduced lunches, so we're talking a real equity issue here,' she says.
