As a former educator, I can remember discussions with fellow teachers that often took place on the walk back to our classrooms after staff meetings. As many educators can guess, some of these discussions were largely venting sessions. Some of these discussions focused on our feelings that more was being expected of us as teachers, but we didn’t feel like there was always enough support in place for teachers to meet the increasing demands. We struggled to embrace initiatives focused on SOL preparation, remediation, and data-driven decision making within the confines of our resource and time limitations. The point was made that we felt like we were being crippled in our efforts to be effective teachers. The frustrating part was that we wanted our students to learn more than anybody else out there, but we felt like obstacles were being thrown our way.

Fast-forward a few years… after my school was closed due to state budget cuts, I came across a position with a company called Interactive Achievement. After reading about the company, looking at their website, and speaking with teachers that I knew who used onTRAC, I immediately saw the value of the service and support that they were providing educators. Upon seeing onTRAC, it was obvious that someone who had been in my shoes as a teacher was behind the design of the software!

I would have loved to have been able to use onTRAC in the classroom when I was teaching. The Standards-aligned questions would have been a huge resource while following my pacing guide. My students were always anxious to know their test scores and would have been appreciative of seeing their score immediately upon completion of the exam. Real-time reporting would have allowed me to quickly identify areas of need. As a teacher, this time of year would involve running off copies of the SOL Released Tests to give as practice SOL tests. Administering the released tests through onTRAC would have saved me the time that I spent waiting for the copy machine, running the copies, and then grading the tests by hand. onTRAC would have streamlined the benchmark testing process for our division as well. While I may have missed out on onTRAC in the classroom, I am glad to be a part of a company that is providing support and empowering educators.

In my current position as a District Representative with the company, I work with administrators and central office personnel across Virginia. It is now apparent to me that the increasing demands are not exclusive to classroom teachers. Demands are being placed on educators at the school and district level as well.

Effective tools like onTRAC are needed as demands on teachers increase. I enjoy the privilege of being able to see onTRAC help meet the needs and demands facing Virginia educators from the classroom to the district level.