This February the Catalyst SilverStripe team collaborated with the Ministry of Education (MoE) to create the Curriculum Progress Tool (CPT) information site. The site brings together information about:
- The Learning Progress Framework (LPF): The typical pathways students take as they make progress in reading, writing and mathematics.
- The Progress and Consistency Tool (PaCT): Helps teachers make dependable judgments about student’s achievement through the use of exemplars.
The new site reflects recent changes to both the LPF and PaCT to strengthen their use. Frequent feedback sessions were held with teachers and principals during the development of the new site. This ongoing user research delivered a site that is easy for anyone to utilise the LPF to its maximum potential.
Nevertheless, there were a number of challenges Catalyst had to overcome to deliver the site on time:
- Content Migration: MoE needed to migrate large amounts of multi-compound content (1,200 illustrations – 3/4000 documents), with many of these files being PDF’s, which are not machine-readable: Catalyst provided the solution by migrating content through a bespoke built API, which saved time with automation, saving weeks of work, and preventing loss.
- Quick turnaround: MoE needed the site to be live at the same time as a significant PaCT release was due. Utilising the latest version of the SilverStripe content management system (SilverStripe 4) on the Catalyst Cloud CMS Platform, Catalyst were able to build key parts of the new site quickly and efficiently, which allowed the site to be used as a basis for user feedback, and those changes were able to be incorporated in time for the February release.
The success of this initiative was ultimately due to the close working relationship between the parties involved. Communication and good decision making were critical as the joint team reviewed and incorporated stakeholder feedback during the site construction while keeping one eye on the delivery date.
The new Curriculum Progress Tool site will compliment PaCT by removing ambiguity for the teachers marking, supporting and predicting students’ educational progression.
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Catalyst is a New Zealand-owned and operated company where values, community, and integrity are paramount. Since 1997, Catalyst has been dedicated to using the world’s best open source software and tools to deliver robust IT solutions for our clients. We have grown through long-term commitments to our clients, a culture of collaboration and organisations consistently experiencing the superior economic and social value that open source delivers.
