Opportunities

Canfield High School: Implementation of an Online Grading System

 * ==== Background ==== || ==== **S**trengths ==== || ==== **W**eaknesses ==== || ==== **O**pportunities ==== || ==== **T**hreats ==== || ==== Diffusion ==== || ====Conclusion==== ||

Opportunities:

 * One of the greatest opportunities present, was the fact that many of our change agents were able to adopt the change by weighing the costs and benefits of the new system on their own prior to the mandatory implementation. As they learned the system they also recommended it to others who may have also tried the tool on their own. I think that the ability for these agents/adopters to do this really limited the resistance and encouraged the spread. It also helped a great deal that many of the initial adopters were well respected members of our staff, who many people would have went to for advice after the mandatory change took place.
 * Another opportunity that really sort of fell into the lap of administrators was the fact many teachers were already using the system in their classrooms, so they were able to use this to their advantage during the inservice. To the credit of the administrators they allowed each teacher to locate someone who was currently using the system and allow them to check out how it works, in addition they were encouraged to seek out that person for support as they too adopted the change.
 * It seemed to be a great advantage that we were able to see the impact of the increase in communication via the online grading system, as well as how it would affect all those involved. One of the other key groups that has not been discussed is how it actually affected parents. And to be quite honest I have had numerous parents at conferences comment on the ease of use Engrade provides, as well as how convenient the use is, because it allows them to contact a teacher as soon as a problem is sighted.