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Edline brings classroom home
Sun Sentinel — West Palm Beach, FL - December 10, 2004
Teachers at Omni Middle School in Boca Raton rarely wait for parent conferences to spread the word about student achievements, activities or areas for improvement.
They are using a Web site called Edline to post homework assignments, test scores, grades, and just about everything going on in their classrooms. The Palm Beach County School District is relying on the Internet service, [based in] Chicago, to dramatically improve communication between schools and the families they serve. The company touts that it is the world's leading Web site hosting provider for elementary and secondary schools.
Available at some local campuses since 2002, Edline should be in use by all 162 schools by the end of the school year while secure, password-protected accounts are created and teachers are trained. Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne interrupted and delayed the rollout by several weeks.
For parents who like going online, Edline is being introduced in the county as an easy way for them to monitor their child's classroom activities and performance, and send e-mails to teachers. Principals at the schools where it's actively used are noticing fewer phone calls seeking information about their children's progress.
"Kids do like to hide and not be as truthful as parents like them to be," said Omni Middle Principal Mark Stenner, who requires his faculty to update class and student information twice a month -- on paydays. He awards prizes to those teachers who log in more frequently.
"Edline is a wonderful tool as long as it's updated on a regular basis," said Stenner, whose school was one of the first in the district to use it.
Jennifer Ludwig, who teaches seventh grade world geography at Omni, says she usually adds information each day for her 146 students and their parents. The school also requires that teachers list all homework assignments on a separate Web page accessible from www.omnimiddle.org.
"Each year more students and parents are using these resources to be proactive in the educational process," Ludwig said. "Edline allows students and parents to be updated on a daily basis, versus having to wait for the midterm progress report and the quarterly report cards."
For experienced faculty users, it takes just a few minutes to update class information and upload grades. The system automatically generates e-mails to parents whenever teachers make changes.
Parents who don't own computers are welcome to use one in the main office of many schools during normal hours. District officials also are working on plans to put computers in neighborhood centers so that those without Internet access can use the service.
About a dozen schools had been paying $3,000 a year for their subscriptions to Edline, typically accessed by a link from each school's home page. The school district is buying subscriptions for all schools for about $120,000 a year. The district is getting a discounted bulk rate because of a deal to develop new program functions with the company, said Rich Contartesi, director of educational technology.
As the school year continues, more faculty and parents should see the value of the service, said Kim Cavanaugh, technology program specialist.
"It's a school-by-school decision on how strongly teachers are encouraged to use it," he said. "We really think we can improve that school-to-home connection. It's got a complete look at the teachers' grade books, essentially. It's a better way to communicate."
Parent Lucy Leo says her son James, a sixth-grader at Omni Middle School, calls Edline "a great feature." She says her son, a "very conscientious student," logged in and got an assignment while he was home sick recently. Students and parents have separate user accounts and passwords.
"It's definitely more informative than the old-fashioned way of the parent-teacher conference," said Leo, of Boca Raton.
Marc Freeman can be reached at mjfreeman@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6642.