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ST. GEORGE -- Educators in southern Utah say they've noticed students have become more engaged in their education over the years, and an online program may be one reason why.
The PowerSchool program is used by school districts all over the country. Recently, its creators released an app which makes it quicker and easier for parents to look up what their children are assigned, the grade they received on their tests and what they need to improve for the rest of the term.
The Washington County School District has been using the online tool since 1998. Since then, some district officials say students have become far more engaged in their education.
Washington County School District Technology Coordinator Lawrence Esplin said, "We find that students have almost 80 percent of the access rather than parents, especially from secondary students."
Esplin believes a lot of credit for this should go to PowerSchool. He says it wasn't as easy for students to know where they stood in their education before the program's release.
"[They're using it] to find out when their assignments are due, to find out how well they did on the last test [or] to see what they can do to make sure they're ready to talk to their parents when they get home," Esplin said.
The mobile version is better formatted for the phone, and it doesn't require people using it to repeatedly log in to use it. But Esplin says the online version has more tools for students to use.
"Most of the students are fairly proactive about their education. It's cool. They're working on scholarships. They're trying to do better," he said.
