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5/1/2006
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PLAINVILLE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS – PROTRAXX’S POWERDISTRICT 2006
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Congratulations to Plainville Community Schools for being selected as our
newest PowerDistrict for Winter 2006. Read more about their results-driven approach and successful implementation.
ProTraxx has chosen Plainville Public Schools as the PowerDistrict of Winter, 2006.
On June 17th, 2005 ProTraxx and the Plainville Public Schools cemented their relationship by moving forward
with the implementation of the ProTraxx professional development management solution, EzTraxx Online.
This enabled the District’s five schools and Central Office to proactively monitor and maintain the
internal professional development process, while making data readily available to all staff (teachers,
administrators, and support personnel) to drive decision making and fulfill the district goals of accountability.
The project was initially spearheaded by John Laskarzewski (Technology Instructional Leader); but
as momentum grew, a cross functional team was assembled. This team comprised itself of administrators,
technical leaders, and teaching and support staff throughout the Plainville Public Schools District.
The team fosters an excellent balance and understanding of the user community and regulatory affairs.
Plainville started the integration process by providing ProTraxx with its existing CEU and demographic
data. ProTraxx migrated the legacy data from several different sources into EzTraxx Online which in
turn created an accurate, up to date, centralized repository that Plainville could begin using the
first day of training. Under the direction of Assistant Superintendent, Patricia Charles, the team
immersed themselves in training provided onsite and began to use the application the same day which
guaranteed maximum skill retention. Ms. Charles scheduled a working session with ProTraxx facilitator,
Pat Kell, to use the newly acquired skills to setup the upcoming August in-service day. The team
worked to established activities with related schedules, instructors, and facilities requirements
while Pat prepared the teacher’s site for initial access. Curriculum Director, Linda VanWagner
noted that the planning process was further enhanced as the solution prompts administrators and
instructional leaders to align their offerings with pre-determined district goals. This practice
assisted in the direct alignment of learning experiences designed for the staff with identified
student need.
The benefits of moving to a web based solution were seen
almost instantly by the administrative and support staff. The volumes of
paperwork associated with Professional Development, along with the errors
due to illegible handwritten forms, were essentially eliminated, improving
quality control across the board. CEU secretary, Jill Daley said, “Before
ProTraxx I had to do everything manually. Now I can run CEU reports to get
all the information I need.” Jill, Tina Gryguc and the other members of the
Central Office continue to realize new advantages of the system regularly and
share suggestions for enhancements with ProTraxx.
“I believe that Ez Traxx Online has helped the district staff meet
this challenge of working smarter by electronically storing and
accessing data and aligning our professional development to school
learning plans and the district strategic plan.”
Kathleen Binkowski, Superintendent of Schools
To launch the application to the remaining teaching staff, Kevin Ross of the Technology
Department chose a direct approach to MyEzTraxx, permitting the user community to learn
the limited features and functionality of this module through trial and error. While
this strategy was initially challenging, the readily available help files assisted the
staff as they worked, quickly resulting in 100% participation by the district’s estimated
400 staff members. Rather than adding additional work to an already full set of responsibilities
as initially believed, the staff soon realized that the tools allowed them to work smarter and more
efficiently. The resulting Staff Profile, Transcript and other instantly available reports and
information proved well worth the initial effort of getting to know the software. Each employee
now has immediate access to a complete record consisting of their basic demographics,
certification requirements, participation, education and more.
Ms. Charles said “ProTraxx has really helped us streamline the professional
development process.” Population of all necessary information for data integrity prevents
incomplete forms and ensures data integrity for effective real-time reporting. In addition,
the solution encourages use of technology by all teaching staff, including paraprofessionals.
Plainville Public Schools is a shining example how a district benefits from an aggressive implementation of the EzTraxx Online solution.
We value our rewarding relationship with Plainville Public Schools and appreciate the opportunity to provide online professional development management tools to them and all our clients. We look forward to continuing to provide the support and assistance needed to maximize the benefits of their investment.
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