Likelihood to Recommend This is perfect for the district looking to convert older physical forms to digital copies, and mitigate the tracking of forms from desk to desk. Frontline will do it all digitally. Those in the approval process can approve or deny, or even ask for more information, which sends the form back to the user who submitted it. This is also good for those looking for a way to manage professional development in their district and all that comes with it, including tracking workshops, awarding hours, etc. Most districts use Frontline programs somewhere, so this is another piece to that. However, this is cost-heavy.
Read full review A good, and constantly improving solution for private schools. I don't know that a lot of its functionality would be well suited to public schools, but maybe? The integration with other Blackbaud software is a huge plus for us, as we have several of their other products including their flagship Raiser's Edge. Smaller schools may not need the sophistication of Blackbaud solutions, and it is not an inexpensive option.
Read full review Pros Frontline Professional Growth is set up to organize and document all aspects of a teacher's evaluation. Artifacts are archived and can be used in multiple areas. SGOs, observations, PDPs, and documentation logs can all be shared between the staff member and the administration. The forms are easy to fill out, can be saved as drafts in progress, and can be referred to from year to year. The Professional Development Workshop section offers a calendar of workshops in catalog format as well as calendar format. As a workshop presenter, enrollment tools are easy to use and offer multiple ways to access your roster. As a workshop participant, workshops are listed as in progress and completed. Hours are tabulated and saved each year. Read full review Seamless integration between the LMS, EMS and SIS modules Real-time, effective chat support helps me not only with urgent needs but also to work through possibilities for increasing how we use the product. Feature upgrades monthly that respond to voiced needs from users Read full review Cons Confusing sign-on processes. AESOP (absence management) is not integrated with Professional Growth as advertised. Read full review Forms - lack of conditional questions Gradebook -lack of links to assignments Not being able to customize displays, for example, Grading tab - we just finished 1st semester and teachers could only see the current quarter but not the 1st one which is still part of the first semester. Lack of customization in assessments. Scheduling- even though re-running generating schedules, we're still getting a high number of unscheduled students. Lack of being able to limit the number of scheduled classes in a row for teachers. Read full review Likelihood to Renew It is a solid product. We have some issues with the capabilities of the website building components and the out dated technology behind its communications software but overall Blackbaud Education Management Software services to combine numerous functions into one product.
Read full review Usability Blackbaud EMS is very usable from my perspective. I am a power user and get lots of valuable functionality. It is, however, a complex system. Sometimes necessarily complex to accommodate flexibility for diverse customer needs. Some complexity seems unnecessary and/or hold-over functionality from earlier versions; nice to see this type being evolved away from over time. It is valuable to receive regular updates to the system along with good release notes of what changed and notices of significant changes in advance.
Read full review Support Rating Overall, Frontline Professional Growth manages observations, SGOs, documentation logs, and Professional Development Plans. In addition to these evaluation pieces, it allows our district to manage our Professional Development Workshops (in-house), Professional Development requests (for out-of-district), and many online request forms. The only real negative is that some of the menus are a bit cumbersome, and it takes several steps to get around the system.
Read full review Decent support however the chat feature can take a great amount of time out of the workday. If for instance you are waiting for someone to respond in the chat and there is a fire drill, if you are not responding within a few minutes, you are disconnected and have to start all over again. It would be great if you could submit your problem and then whoever has the most experience, can respond. The training in the Blackbaud University is good but also time-consuming - a 3 hr training in the middle of a workday is a lot to ask. I like the 90-minute sessions. It would also be great to offer a shorter webinar to update on any changes implemented. Other than the email I subscribed to, there is no information on how these updates actually work.
Read full review Alternatives Considered I have only used this and GCN trainings. I think it helps having more choices that hold value to your work day.
Read full review Blackbaud K-12 is very similar. I feel like I would be trading one set of issues for another so it's kind of a wash. We are very much hooked into the Blackbaud website with our Google SSO, SmartTuition, and Schooldoc integrations. It would be difficult for us to transition. That is the main reason I haven't really entertained other web firms.
Read full review Return on Investment We have used a lot less paper over the past few years which leads to cost savings. The time it takes to submit a form and get approval has sped up since this is all digital. The time it takes to track and award professional development hours has sped up. Read full review Negative - The rollout is brutal. Blackbaud said it could happen in 6 months, but that is definitely not a reality. It will take well over a year, and one complete school cycle to actually integrate everything correctly. Positive - The amount of time saved in data processing has allowed our office to become more involved in other areas of the school. Positive - The ease of having everything in [one] place, from inquiry to application to contracts and course registration, has been a HUGE benefit to our applicants and their families. Read full review ScreenShots Blackbaud Education Management Solutions Screenshots