Akron Digital Academy (ADA) utilized a homegrown Microsoft Access database to support most of the business and academic functions at the Academy. This legacy system was used to store pertinent information about the Academy and its students, including personal information, attendance, work points, courses, contact logs, etc. It also provided basic functionalities resembling a Learning Management System (LMS), such as creation of coursework, generating teacher and student schedules as well as progress reports, transcripts and grade cards. However, as ADA continued to grow, the original database was forced to grow and adapt along with the Academy, serving a purpose it was not designed to handle. The necessity to update the database had been recognized by the ADA leadership, and as a result, RNR Consulting was contracted by ADA to evaluate and define the requirements for a new database and LMS.

RNR Consulting’s utilized a customized approach based on Rational Unified Process (RUP) framework and performed activities such as user surveys and interviews, requirements workshops, use cases design and functional requirements document development. RNR Consulting developed, collected, and analyzed surveys from ADA employees to gauge their feedback on the level of satisfaction with the current database and requests for any additional functionalities in the new systems, in areas of report generation, data collection and tracking, user interface, user permissions, and integration with additional applications. RNR Consulting interviewed key personnel at ADA to discuss their wishes for system requirements and functionalities critical to business processes and service delivery to students. RNR Consulting also determined the integration requirements pertinent to state reporting programs, as well as opportunities to use the new system to eliminate redundancies in activities within business processes.

The final requirements document provided ADA with a prioritized list of unique system requirements for an updated database and LMS, and will be used by the Academy to select a system(s) that could streamline and remove redundant activities within internal business processes, track and monitor critical data, and enable the Academy to enhance the overall educational experience of its students.