There’s got to be a better way
To whom it may concern at our school district:
I would like to introduce you to a wonderful technological advance of the century – err, make that last century. Introducing: the computer. You see, on every first day of school, children come home with the same paperwork that needs to be filled out by their parents. Usually parents are writing down the same information on the forms as they did last year. If there is more than one child attending school, the work involved in filling out paperwork is multiplied. Now, writing down the information is not itself hard at all, but it is a time consuming and tedious process. This is especially true when multiple forms want the same information.
I’ve been to your offices at the schools. I see computers in there. I can only assume that every year, the forms are returned with each child and hand entered into your “system.” Is the information not saved at the end of the school year? It seems that everything is purged when school is out of session only to be re-populated come next August? Though it seems that some information is kept as class lists are created and they know which grades they go to. With the onset of the twenty-first century, I would like to suggest that the district embrace technology and streamline its processes in the realm of student records.
Suggestions that may be helpful:
- Update, not Re-enter: Record the information and keep it in the system via a well-structured relational database. Every year for returning students, send a hardcopy home with the student’s information on it. The form would ask to update the information if it’s not accurate (i.e. address/phone changes, new doctors, etc). There really shouldn’t be any need to record the same information every year, just the data that changes. Then the records could be updated when the form is returned. When the child leaves the school district or graduates, make the record available to the next district or the family in some way.
- Cross-Reference: Some forms that are given at the beginning of the year ask for the same information. Heck, some forms that are given throughout the year (i.e. field trips, extracurricular activities) ask for information that was supplied already. Why do we need to reiterate? Just look at the main record with this data instead or placing it in multiple places where it could be subject to inconsistency or outdatedness.
- Accessibility: Go a step further and make the forms available online to cut back on the time needed for staff to update the system manually and allow for easier/faster submission of forms with common information. Security of childrens’ privacy is probably one hot button for people but seriously, we trust other information over the Internet (banks, insurance, credit) so this is hardly anything different. Security can be implemented that should satisfy the toughest critics. Traditional paper forms should also be available for those without Internet access or choose to submit paperwork the old fashioned way.
- Homework too: While we’re on the subject of using the Internet, allow for some homework to be submittable over the Internet. It could just be via e-mail but also consider using a workflow system. The student submits the homework and the parent certifies the homework (verifying that it’s not plagiarized or someone else’s work). The homework is sent to the teacher for review/grading. Optionally a grade could be available for viewing online. Even an online progress report could be dynamically generated so students can see how they are doing without waiting for interims to be passed out. This would also allow parents to be more informed of what their child is doing in class. I realize that younger children (ages K to 5th) probably have work that isn’t submittable in this fashion. I think that’s fine.
The above suggestions may seem insane and I can understand it may not be feasible at first glance. We use technology in a lot of areas in our lives so why can’t we leverage it for our schools in some way? Let’s save some trees, clutter, and potential headaches from parents. I know it’s not realistic to expect too much change in how our schools are run. An overhaul in the record system shouldn’t be taken lightly and would cost a bunch to implement, but we can’t expect to keep using the same record keeping procedures forever. If I have a misguided view on the current process, please, someone enlighten me. I do realize I have an outsider perspective on how school recordkeeping works, but from where I’m standing it doesn’t seem very optimal.
Tags: crazy ideas, paperwork, ranting, School, techonology
August 22nd, 2008 at 6:03 am
Good points. School districts laud the concept of computers in every classroom but do they really used as well as they could be? I find it hard to believe that there could still be teachers who are still computer illiterate. Computer literacy should be a job requirement, especially considering that it’s required of students.
School administrations have always been three steps behind the technology. They want the technology to show how progressive and modern they are but they don’t actually use it.
One of my co-workers lives in Middletown and they have a system where a parent can go online and see what homework assignments their children have and how they’re doing in their classes. If Middletown can do it, why not Huber Heights?
And think of the tax money that could be saved by eliminating all that paperwork and keeping the information electronically. They could cut down on administrative staff and hire more teachers. Did I just utter blasphemy?
September 9th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
I just recently filled out some paperwork for Jake’s re-enrollment into the district’s gifted program. Two of the forms were duplicates of what I filled out for the school year, except that I had to fill out the paperwork so the other school had them on file.
The next step is harnessing the power of networks and the Internet.