I built a live progress monitoring dashboard for my special education classroom.
A custom tool for logging IEP goal progress, independence, and interventions in real time — and what it changes about writing progress reports.
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.

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.

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.


A custom tool for logging IEP goal progress, independence, and interventions in real time — and what it changes about writing progress reports.
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.
I am a special education teacher in Chicago, IL. Are you hiring? Email me austin@austinmcnair.com.
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.