Montgomery Public Schools Consider New Software to Track Graduation

Montgomery Public Schools is considering HiEd, a software program that allows high school students and counselors to track the student’s progress toward graduation. The software program, which costs more than $100,000 annually, was presented to the Montgomery County Board of Education during an Oct. 7 meeting.

The program looks at students’ transcripts and shows them which courses are offered and are needed to graduate, as well as what is required from the state’s four-year colleges to be admitted. The program also shows athletic requirements for NCAA eligibility, which involves a sliding scale based on GPA and ACT and SAT scores.

The program would alleviate a school counselor’s tight schedule and keep students up-to-date on their academic progress.

The cost is a per student rate, averaging between $18 to $25, depending on the size of the district. MPS has eight high schools with about 8,000 students. An estimated cost for the district is $126,000.

HiEd launched two years ago and is being used by 17 schools, including Troy City Schools, just outside Montgomery.

"When you’re dealing with a large student population, it does get difficult to see where a student stands as far as college acceptance and scholarship opportunities,” Troy City Schools Superintendent Lee Hicks said to a local newspaper. “It does free up time for counselors as well as administrators."

About the Author

Yvonne Marquez is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. She can be reached at ymarquez@1105media.com.

Featured

  • Nonprofit Launches Center to Boost Data-Driven Student Success Strategies

    National nonprofit Complete College America (CCA) recently launched the Center for Leadership, Institutional Metrics, and Best Practices (CLIMB), according to a news release. CLIMB’s ultimate purpose is to help higher-education institutions use data-driven strategies to improve student outcomes by providing tools, frameworks, and support.

  • Rush-Henrietta Central School District’s Sperry High School

    A New Perspective: Using Adaptive Reuse Concepts in K-12 Planning

    In the face of increasing pressures on construction timelines, budgets, and material availability, the renovation and reuse of pre-existing structures for new purposes can help bridge the gap between modern school programming and outdated school infrastructure.

  • modern college building with circuit and brain motifs

    Anthropic Introduces Claude for Education

    Anthropic has launched a version of its Claude AI assistant tailored for higher education institutions. Claude for Education "gives academic institutions secure, reliable AI access for their entire community," the company said, to enable colleges and universities to develop and implement AI-enabled approaches across teaching, learning, and administration.

  • IFMA Appoints New President & CEO

    The International Facility Management Association (IFMA), based in Houston, Texas, recently announced its appointment of Michael Geary, CAE, as its new President & CEO, according to a news release. Geary’s previous role was as CEO of the Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) and the SMPS Foundation.