A new record and grade-keeping system will be introduced into Howard County public schools this coming school year as the school system removes an old program that resulted in late report cards and incorrect grade point averages.
“We have to have a system that?s an efficient way to process the data,” said schools spokeswoman Patti Caplan.
“We had run into some glitches in getting out some of the student report cards.”
The school board recently voted to enter into a three-year contract with X2 Development Corp. of Hingham, Mass. for the $1.5 million system.
The school system uses several programs to track student data, including Pearson Education?s Student Management System, and MacSchool software for enrollment, and other locally developed applications for grading and reporting at the high school level.
The Pearson Education software called Chancery Student Management System was blamed for causing recurring problems for high-schoolers such as late report cards, delayed schedules and incorrect grade-point averages.
Two years ago, seniors did not receive their final report cards until after graduation.
“As far as I recall, it didn?t affect anything,” said School Board Vice Chairwoman Ellen Flynn Giles. “It was just inconvenient and embarrassing.”
No one was prevented from meeting graduation requirements or scholarships opportunities, she said.
The new system would be better for high school students, where the amount of data collected increases over time because of the state-mandated tests and other records, school officials said.
The new data system, according to X2 Development, will:
- Consolidate information on student grades, registration and enrollment, disciplinary actions, attendance and health records.
- Allow parents to view their child?s records.
- Allow parents to alert schools about outdated or missing incorrect information.
The program will be implemented first in elementary schools with a goal of having all of them in the new system, as well as one middle and high school, as soon as possible in the coming school year.
All middle and high schools are expected to be included in the system by the end of the 2009-10 school year, officials said.
