The Adobe Flash Player is required to view this multimedia interactive. Get it here.
Article Preview local schools

Race to Top funds buys new software

The purchase will help district track progress of each of its 6,000 students.

Hot Topics

The Adobe Flash Player is required to view this multimedia interactive. Get it here.
Article Preview local schools

Race to Top funds buys new software

The purchase will help district track progress of each of its 6,000 students.

Hot Topics

By Andy Sedlak, Staff Writer 2:03 AM Wednesday, June 15, 2011

MIDDLETOWN — Middletown City Schools is putting a bulk of its federal Race to the Top dollars toward software designed to provide teachers with a detailed history of student data.

Software Answers’ DataMap program is described as a “data warehouse” by Curriculum Coordinator Debbie Houser, capable of housing state-level and district data pertaining to individual students, along with additional data teachers may keep in their classrooms.

Student data relating to the Ohio Achievement Assessment test and the Ohio Graduation Test will be broken down in accordance with state standards using data entered by the state, Houser said.

The software is capable of storing data on all students in the district. Middletown enrolls more than 6,000 kids.

About 250 teachers, principals and curriculum developers will start using DataMap next year, according to Houser. Three years from now, she said all teachers will be actively using the software.

Brian Lampart, a science teacher at Middletown High School, said he prefers a computer over folders or binders stuffed with hard-copy pages for data storage.

“For me, the first place to look is my computer,” he said. “I’m more organized if I can keep stuff on a computer than keep it in a filing cabinet.”

Race to the Top is part of President Barack Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Middletown schools will receive $1.4 million over the next four years. For the software, Houser said the district will pay about $66,000 in grant money over three years. She noted the district acquired the software at a discounted rate, paying $3.50 per student instead of $6 per student.

To land the discount, districts were asked to attend an initial meeting rolling out the new technology and also gain board approval for its purchase by today. The Board of Education approved the purchase of the software June 6.

Ohio is exploring data systems for statewide use as part of a Race to the Top requirement. Software Answers’ DataMap is in the running. About 470 school districts in Ohio, including Middletown schools, also use another Software Answers product, ProgressBook, which is a tool for teachers and parents to track grades online. Houser said ProgressBook is used at the middle and high school levels in Middletown.