The Plans and Executions
Efficiency and Productivity Systems
College Class Eligibility Checker
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The Need
As an early college high school, our key offering is the ability for students to take community college classes as part of their high school schedule. However, since COVID, shifts in student populations, skills, and values have led to fewer students being adequately prepared for college coursework.
We began receiving increasing complaints from college instructors regarding:
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Disruptive behavior in class
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Students skipping sessions
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Failure to complete coursework
It became clear that we needed a system to evaluate student eligibility for dual enrollment more effectively.
Challenges Before Implementation
The evaluation process was manual and relied on the academic counselor to check multiple factors, including:
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Attendance data (tardies & absences)
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Student GPA
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Behavioral records
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Reading and math proficiency (where applicable)
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History of failed courses
The process was time-consuming and error-prone, leading to frequent mistakes that damaged our reputation with the college.
The Solution
What it does: Automated system within Google Sheets to check if students meet eligibility requirements for dual enrollment/college classes.
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Counselor can generate a report for each class being scheduled
Efficiency Gains: Eliminated manual review, ensuring faster, more accurate eligibility determinations.
Automated Progress Reports and Email System
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The Need
Our front office is understaffed, making it difficult to send regular progress reports—even though many students are struggling academically and parent involvement is critical.
While parents technically have access to their child’s grades online, many never check until it’s too late. Too often, we hear:
“But this is the first time I’m hearing about Johnny’s struggles!”
To prevent these last-minute surprises, we needed a consistent, automated way to ensure parents were informed before the end of the semester.
Challenges Before Implementation
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Our Student Information System (SIS) generates progress reports, but only if teachers submit grades manually—something many failed to do regularly.
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Printing and mailing reports would cost time and money that we simply don’t have.
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Sending reports home with students was unreliable, as students often failed to deliver them (intentionally or not).
The Solution
What it does: Created a system within Google Sheets that:
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Pulls information from 5 different reports in our SIS
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Formats the information in a clear, visually organized progress report
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Emails the PDF of the report to parents
Efficiency Gains: Eliminated manual report generation, ensuring timely communication with students while reducing administrative burden.
Writing Skill Tracker and Feedback System
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The Need
Our benchmark tests provide measurable data on reading and math skills, but English teachers struggle to generate quantifiable writing data that can inform instructional focus and technique.
Writing assessments are difficult to quantify. While rubrics are the most common tool, they lack granularity and don’t pinpoint specific skill gaps—making it harder to target instruction effectively.
English teachers spend more time grading than any other subject, yet students often don’t engage with feedback or apply it to their writing.
Challenges Before Implementation
The lack of structured, skill-based writing data makes it challenging to:
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Identify specific areas for improvement
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Facilitate data-driven discussions in collaborative study groups
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Group students for personalized, targeted instruction
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Feedback delivery is slow. Teachers need a way to provide actionable, timely feedback without an overwhelming workload.
The Solution
What it does: Created a streamlined method of collecting data on student writing skill levels and progress within Google Sheets. The application allows teachers to:
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Track student mastery of specific writing skills, beyond the broad categories of traditional rubrics
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Generates quantifiable writing data that teachers can use for instructional planning
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Facilitates collaboration, allowing teachers to discuss trends and adjust strategies
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Delivers feedback to students quickly via email, ensuring they can apply it immediately
