Education Database

A while ago, my fiancee and I were talking about her job as a High School Guidance Counselor. We were discussing some of the downfalls and problems she faced and what she lacked in resources. In particular was the lack of background on students and the backup paperwork that showed their progression throughout their educational career. This is the part that interested me the most since, at the time, I was taking courses in Management Information Systems at college.

I talked to her more about the subject and what I found astounded me. The school systems do have a database for the students; however, there are several different ones to track different areas (i.e. grades, attendance, courses, etc). On top of that, different school systems use different database programs. So, a student transferring from School A to School B doesn't bring any backup education information along except for their transcripts which doesn't show everything about a student. More importantly, the backup they do bring is paperwork so it is not electronically stored, they just enter in the classes taken and throw out the rest. Furthermore, a student going from grade school to middle school or from middle to high school doesn't have his past keep up with him. Basically, there is very little tracking being done within the educational system for our students. Because of this, their needs and requirements are not met properly.

My proposed solution to this, one which I dont have the necessary skills for, is to make a database that tracks the student from the day he or she enters school to the day he leaves. The program would not just track classes but it would track grades, behavior problems, attendance, etc. This system would not just be for one school, it would be for practically the whole country. This way, when a student transfers to another school or district or state, the school administration can just reassign the student to the new school and allow the new school to have a better understanding of what the students needs are. Not only would this be beneficial to the school and the student but it would be a huge help for state officials to track each school districts requirements and make the necessary changes in allocating resources.

There is a lot more going on in my mind as to how this could work but this is the basic outline of the system I envision and how it would help alleviate a problem occurring in the school systems. Unfortunately, I have neither the time, money or the skills necessary to make something like this a reality. So, if anyone out there can throw this thing together, more power to you and I hope it works out.

Now down to the final part? Good idea or a load of rubbish? Any thoughts or modifications that you think should be made to the grand idea?

Thanks for reading,

Bob