Two teachers in this northern school district have created a mobile app that will allow teachers to communicate with parents about their child’s academic progress.
The Pupil Performance Portfolio (or P3) is expected to be available before Christmas. Anna Elmentary fourth-grade teachers Jody Schaefer and Aimee Dye started creating the app last year and have since formed an LLC and a partnership with a Texas-based developer. The two have also applied for a patent.
“We’ve worked really hard,” Dye said. “And I feel like wherever it leads us, we’ll go.”
The app allows teachers to track both formal and information data on their students. Using a tablet, teachers can search their class rosters and the color-coded app will signify where students stand in relation to the common core standards. Those are national standards that many states, including Ohio, have adopted.
A version for parents also will be available. Through the app, parents will be able to send messages to teachers.
“We could say, ‘Hey, Billy’s having a rough day’ and be able to send that to them and they have that immediate real-time response with the teacher,” Dye said. “That’s not something that will have to wait until midterms.”
John Charlton, associate director of communications for the Ohio Department of Education, said he’d never heard of an app like the one created in Anna but said it was an “awesome idea.”
“If you look at studies, you’ll see students whose parents are involved probably perform at a higher level than students whose parents are not involved,” Charlton said.
When asked about privacy, both teachers said the app will be secure, and parents will only be able to look at their own child’s performance.
Schaefer said the two are working to market the application now. A price for the app hasn’t been determined.
“We’re wanting to keep it as affordable as possible,” she said. “Not just for individuals, but for school districts as well.”
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