A key to increasing student achievement is a partnership between parents and schools. One of the most powerful tools in that partnership is what we call “Progress Book.” It is also a very good example of how we can use technology for more effective communication and, ultimately, to boost student learning.

Parents who have been using it have come to love it. If you haven’t tried it, I urge you to do so. It’s now being used in all grades in our district except for kindergarten.

Progress Book is an electronic version of a teacher’s old-fashioned black grade book, but it is also so much more. It’s on the school district web site (www.fairfieldcityschools.com), with a link to it right on top of the home page. We send out a letter to parents at the beginning of the school year with a username and password – no one outside the district can see your child’s records except for you. You can also change the password any time you wish. A nice feature is that if you have more than one child in the district, you can link them under one username and password, and not have to log in again for each child.

Using Progress Book, you can see the homework assignments each night, the grades on assignments that are completed, quiz and test grades, and your child’s overall grade in the class to that date. It also has the child’s attendance record and class schedule. And it displays the teacher’s name and email address.

Progress Book isn’t a substitute for talking with your child about what he or she is working on in school, and for overseeing their studying and schoolwork they do at home. But it can replace those sometimes maddening conversations (I’ve been there too) about exactly what homework was assigned, when it’s actually due, when the test is scheduled for, etc., leaving more time and energy for more positive and productive interactions.

Progress Book is also a powerful tool for teachers, with its planning and report capabilities. Teachers still have to enter assignments, grades, etc. But Progress Book has eliminated the old task of entering the same names over and over again. Our main database of student records is maintained in a program called Data Analysis for Student Learning. (The acronym is DASL, which we pronounce “dazzle.”) DASL is linked to Progress Book, so a new student who enrolls one day is in the teacher’s grade book the next day. DASL helps Progress Book do even the little things…a small birthday cake icon pops up automatically next to a name and reminds a teacher that it’s a special day for that child.

We are always looking for ways to make Progress Book even better. One new feature this year is important to parents who have students on Individualized Education Plans (IEP’s.) These students, who often face learning disabilities or disorders, may have many professionals from different disciplines contributing to their learning plan. Now a parent can review the input from all those individuals, in one place.

Progress Book is a tool, just as the old black grade book was. But unlike the grade book, it’s a tool that schools and parents can use together, to help increase student achievement.

Cathy Milligan
Superintendent
Fairfield City School District

Published in the Fairfield Echo, Sept. 20, 2007.