Progress Book Update 8-12-2002

NEOnet began implementing Progress Book, a consortium wide web-based grade book package, on August 12, 2002.

Software Answers, an Akron based software and training company, developed the software for Progress Book and provides software updates and administrative support. They are also responsible for supporting the computer interface between the Student Information System (SIS) and Progress Book. This interface is what allows class rosters, grade submissions, and attendance information to pass data back and forth between the two systems. With this new grade book package there is no need to manually add students to your grade book or use scan sheets to enter grades into SIS, saving teachers and administrative staff time.

Barb Couch and Bob McNutt are currently responsible for the help-desk support and training for Progress Book. NEOnet is committed to this project and is in the process of hiring a new support person to assume this responsibility. This new support person will be dedicated full-time to assist with the implementation and training of Progress Book for the member districts. Our priorities for a successful implementation of this software continue to be security, network and system performance, training, documentation, and future enhancements identified by district users.

The goal for this year is to have fifty percent of NEOnet member districts fully implementing Progress Book. In order to meet this goal, we will need teachers to enter assignments, grades, interims, print report cards, and incorporate the parent access module. Currently nine districts are participating with the Progress Book implementation. These districts include Barberton, Cuyahoga Falls, Green, Manchester, Norton, Springfield, Stow-Munroe Falls, Tallmadge, and Woodridge. Barberton, Manchester, and Norton successfully reported interim grades/comments and are getting ready to enter report cards. Tallmadge and Stow-Munroe Falls are testing the homeroom attendance module.

Making sure teachers and software administrators are adequately trained is critical to the success of this project. To date, we have offered five administrative training sessions, twenty four software demonstrations, and one train the trainer session. Additional “Train the Trainer” instruction will be scheduled at the November 7th Technology advisory committee meeting. In an effort to ensure all teachers attend training and are confident in using Progress Book, we are researching the possibilities of using district professional development money, teacher in-service days, and after hour training for college credit. NEOnet is requesting input on what the ideal teacher training solution is for your district.

Progress Book documentation developed by Software Answers needs improvement. A general administrative and user guide is provided to users but enhanced and updated documentation is being developed. The current Progress Book documentation can be found on the NEOnet website at WWW.NEONETDA.ORG under the student services “tab”. In addition to the basic documentation, NEOnet is currently working on a “Getting Started Guide” which will provide a check-sheet and instruction for what a district needs to do to begin implementing Progress Book. We are, also, working on an administrative and user training guide which will help enable us to provide more efficient “train the trainer” sessions. We anticipate these guides being available by the end of November.

The future of Progress Book depends on your continued feedback. It is this feedback which will improve the system and guide future development. Remember, Progress Book is being developed “FOR” the teachers of the NEOnet consortium. The first

Progress Book User Group meeting is scheduled for November 8th, 9:00 a.m. at the Cuyahoga Falls High School. This is a great opportunity to provide direct feedback to Software Answers and help influence the product development plans and product feature set. The highlights of the meeting will include a demonstration of the Parent Access module, discussion of report cards, and discussion of recommended product enhancements. In order to gather your feedback, we have attached a Progress Book questionnaire. At your convenience, please fax the completed questionnaire to 330-926-3901 or return it to your technology coordinator.

Lastly, all Progress Book enhancements can be found on the NEOnet website. We will continue to update you on the project and appreciate your continued support and participation. If you have any questions, comments, would like to schedule training, or a demonstration of the software please call 330-926-3900 x7.