Posted Monday, May 2, 2011 by Bryan Landaburu
For Immediate Release
Miami Dade County Public Schools Selects PlascoTrac for Positive Behavior Pilot Project
5/1/2011 - Miami, Florida - One of the hottest trends in school reform is the concept of Positive Behavior Reinforcement and the impact it has on both scholastic performance and school improvement. No one knows this better than Nikolai Vitti, Assistant Superintendent at Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS), head of the Education Transformation Office (ETO) Initiative, and the individual tasked with improving the 19 schools that were identified as "persistently lowest-achieving" by the United States Department of Education (USDOE) and Florida Department of Education. The ETO was created by M-DCPS Superintendent, Alberto Carvalho, to sustain and accelerate the recent improvements in the Rising 19 schools, as they are referred to by the ETO team.
The PlascoTrac pilot has been deployed at four of the Rising 19 schools in the district, and it is designed to be a phase of data collection and policy testing for the district. "The data we want to capture in this pilot will help us make decisions in the future as to what rewards, and alternatively, what consequences best influence our students behavior." says Vitti. "PlascoTrac is the only system of its kind that allows schools to not just capture, but also analyze this data and make information-based decisions versus assumptive decisions in regards to their student merit or discipline policies."
PlascoTrac is widely known for its innovations in student behavior tracking in schools. With over 1,500 users nationwide, PlascoTrac is constantly collecting information from schools on student performance and the impact discipline policies have on student behavior. PlascoTrac was also the first to introduce Merit Tracking components into its product and takes the lead in supporting national Positive Behavior programs. The guiding principles of Positive Behavior Reinforcement Programs ensure students are rewarded for their positive choices, and not just disciplined for their negative actions. "I don’t know how we would capture this information without a system like PlascoTrac." says Vitti. "Sure, if we wanted to monitor one school we could make some assumptions, but, PlascoTrac allows us to capture data at multiple schools in our district, analyze that data at the school level or the pilot level (based on where we are now), and eventually extend that data analysis to the district level. This dashboard allows me, and my fellow administrators to have visibility to what is REALLY happening in schools every day. With this information, we can make adjustments on the fly, and truly optimize our policies...thereby, assisting our schools and our district to radically improve our schools performance".
"We couldn’t be happier to have this opportunity to work with Miami-Dade County Public Schools on this pilot." says Alan Mendelson, President of Plasco ID, the developer of PlascoTrac. "We share the vision that Mr. Vitti has for school transformation, and we believe strongly that the schools who introduce Positive Behavior Programs using PlascoTrac will recognize significant improvements in their student culture."
The pilot, deployed at one elementary, one middle, and two high schools, is intended to run through the remainder of the 2010-2011 school year. Results on the program will be made available through Miami-Dade County, and PlascoTrac.
Miami Dade County Public Schools is the 4th largest public school district in the United States. The Education Transformation Office is made up of practitioners who were teachers, dynamic instructional coaches, and instructional leaders that have successfully worked in high-poverty schools and have a proven record of improving student achievement. We are committed to transforming the Rising 19, leading innovations that can be implemented across the district to build, sustain, and accelerate student achievement. For more information about Miami Dade County Public schools, visit http://www.dadeschools.net
PlascoTrac is a student management system that helps schools, and school districts control tardies and other minor disciplinary infractions on their campus. PlascoTrac was developed by Plasco ID. Since 1983, Plasco ID has been providing customers worldwide with the latest in ID card-based technologies and innovative, industry-specific identification and tracking solutions. Over the years, Plasco ID has provided strategic consulting services to thousands of corporations, government agencies, healthcare organizations, school districts, colleges and universities. To learn more about Plasco ID or the PlascoTrac Student Tracking System, please visit www.PlascoTrac.com or call (888) 457-5272.
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