End of the Line for MCPS Edline
Edline, the homework-checking, grade peek-in online tool used by many of the county’s parents to keep tabs on their kids’ school work is on its way out.
In its place, Montgomery County Public Schools will move to a new web-based system called myMCPS.
In 2009, Montgomery County Public Schools developed and launched a web-based system, myMCPS, that has provided staff access to data and information, provides a structure for the online curricula and multimedia resources, and facilitates districtwide collaboration and sharing of best practices, according to MCPS Spokesman Dana Tofig. By consolidating different data systems into a comprehensive portal, school system staff have been using a one-stop, central location to access necessary information, including memos, curriculum, professional development resources, and key data reports on student and system progress. The result has been a savings in time and money, greater support for teaching and learning, and a more streamlined process for making decisions, Tofig wrote in an email to MyMCMedia Monday. The next step is use the myMCPS portal to share information and resources more broadly, Tofig wrote.
“The goal was to try to expand myMCPS to provide more access for students,” Tofig said. “Edline is great. It is wonderful. It is a product that is run by an outside organization and we wanted to bring it in house and expand on it.”
The move would allow the school system to do away with the contract with the provider of Edline, since myMCPS would be managed in-house. Currently, Edline is used in secondary schools. Tofig could not immediately say who the contract provider was for Edline or the cost of that contract.
“MCPS teachers, students, and parents are field testing the new myMCPS portal this year and will transition to the full use of this system next summer, according to an email from Tofig, citing the county’s chief technology officer.
The new school system portal is expected to allow for more information than Edline offers including dynamic reporting on student program, integration of curriculum resources, Web. 2.0 collaboration and communication tools and incorporating digital planners for teachers.
Michelle Gluck, Montgomery County Council of Parent-Teacher Association Vice President for Educational Issues, said parents have been ready for the new portal for years.
“We look forward to having it, We are frustrated that it has taken so long,” she told MyMCMedia Tuesday.
Gluck said the county’s PTA was told by MCPS that the new portal was coming online as far back as 2011. She said the new system promises to give parents the access to curriculum now unavailable.
“We used to be able to go and take a look at the curriculum binders housed at each school. It no longer is and has been a source of frustration that the curriculum material is behind the firewall,” she said.
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