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Case Study · Classroom tool

I built a live progress dashboard for my special education classroom.

A custom tool for logging IEP goal progress, independence, and interventions in the thirty seconds between transitions — then rolling every entry into per-student analytics I can drop straight into a progress report.

Progress Monitoring Dashboard overview: a class roster with per-student cards showing goal progress, independence, and intervention state at a glance.
Live · Classroom tool
The Flagship

Progress Monitoring Dashboard — IEP data, in the moment.

The problem. In special education, data collection usually happens long after the lesson ends. Vague memory produces vague records, and vague data makes writing meaningful IEP progress reports an uphill battle.

What I built. A live dashboard where I log goal progress, independence level, and intervention type in the thirty seconds between transitions. One tap per data point. Every entry is timestamped and rolls up into per-student analytics I can drop straight into a progress report.

How it changes IEP writing. Instead of reconstructing a quarter from memory, I open the analytics view and read the pattern the data already tells. The anecdote and the number arrive together.

Per-student analytics view from the Progress Monitoring Dashboard, showing goal-progress trends, independence levels, and intervention counts over time.
Analytics · Per-student rollup
The per-student rollup view: goal-progress trends, independence levels, and intervention counts over time — the numbers I drop straight into a progress report.

Read the field notes →

Also Shipped

policydebate101.com — an accessible debate curriculum, shipped.

The problem. Policy debate is the highest-leverage academic activity most middle schoolers will never touch. The barrier is not intelligence — it is an intimidating vocabulary, a culture that assumes you already know the format, and materials written for high-school varsity. My sixth graders needed a runway.

What I built. A twelve-mission, self-paced platform where a "Support Commander" narrator walks the student through their first cross-examination. Graphic organizers are interactive; the reading floor is 5th grade; the tone is warm, not corporate. Every screen was audited for cognitive load — one idea per screen, one action per screen.

How it is used. Chicago Debates uses it as summer-institute pre-work. My co-teacher and I use it as differentiated in-class instruction — students who need the scaffolding get missions, students who do not move to live rounds sooner.

policydebate101.com Mission Control screen: Support Commander avatar, welcome message, Cadet rank, and the first launchable mission.
Live · Mission Control
Mission Control: where a student meets the Support Commander, sees her rank, and launches her first mission. Every screen holds one idea, one action.
policydebate101.com Lesson resource view: sidebar list of lesson slide decks, embedded slide viewer, and a magenta download graphic organizer button.
Teacher-facing · Lesson decks & organizers
The Debater Resources view: every slide deck used in class, every worksheet as a PDF download. This is the teacher-facing side of the same platform — same visual language, different vocabulary.
12
Missions shipped, WCAG 2.1 AA
5th
Grade reading floor, throughout

Read the full case study →

Selected Writing

Field notes from a Chicago SPED classroom.

Framework

Why I built PD101

Competitive debate was never built for the students who need it most. Here is how I designed a policy debate platform that meets them where they are.

4 min · July 2026
July 2026
Other Work

Products, in various states of shipped.

MathMissions 101
A middle school numeracy platform using the same mission scaffold. Pilot planned for fall.
Planning
InclusionLab.AI
A teacher-facing IEP-support tool. Small, focused, no login, no data retention.
Planning
HoloSketch
A browser-based graphic organizer builder for SPED teachers. Ships an artifact, not a login.
Planning
Free teacher tool. Fill a form, download a self-contained playable board. No account.
Live
About

Special education teacher. Product designer. In Chicago.

I am a special education teacher in Chicago, IL. Are you hiring? Email me austin@austinmcnair.com.

Hire me, quote me, or steal what works.

I'm open to speaking, PD sessions, product consultation, and full-time product design roles in education. If any of that sounds useful, let's talk.