iGrad Texas — Graduation Planning Platform
Built from scratch a web-based graduation planning and endorsement exploration tool for Texas high school students navigating the state's new Foundation + Endorsement graduation requirements (HB5). As the sole developer, I designed and engineered the entire platform — from database architecture and interactive course selection wizards to an interest quiz and printable graduation plans. The platform was piloted with Alief ISD in Houston, later acquired by Texas OnCourse at the University of Texas at Austin, and continues today as MapMyGrad.org serving students statewide.
How We Delivered This Transformation
Sole Developer
Owned the entire technical build end-to-end — from database schema design and backend API development to interactive frontend engineering and production deployment. Zero to launched product as a one-person engineering team.
Product Impact
Translated complex Texas education policy (HB5) into an intuitive, student-facing tool. The platform's success led to acquisition by Texas OnCourse at UT Austin, where it continues serving students statewide as MapMyGrad.org.
Student-First UX
Designed a "TurboTax-style" step-by-step wizard that made complex graduation planning approachable for 14-year-olds — with interactive course selection, parent-child relationships, hover descriptions, and printable graduation plans.
Data Architecture
Designed a flexible relational model supporting multiple districts, schools, course catalogs, endorsements, career paths, prerequisites, and graduation requirements — with a template system for district administrators to manage their own data.
Platform Screenshots
MapMyGrad.org Homepage — 4-step graduation planning process(1 of 12)
Technologies Used
The Challenge
In 2014, Texas passed House Bill 5 (HB5), fundamentally changing high school graduation requirements for every student entering ninth grade. The old "4x4" plan was replaced by a new Foundation + Endorsement system requiring students to choose among five endorsement paths — STEM, Business & Industry, Arts & Humanities, Public Service, and Multidisciplinary Studies — each with distinct course sequences, career clusters, and elective options.
The problem was that no tool existed to help students, parents, or counselors navigate this complex new system. Every school district in Texas had different course offerings, and the endorsement options branched into dozens of career paths, each with unique required and elective course combinations. Students needed a way to understand their options, explore career paths, and build a personalized four-year graduation plan based on their specific school's course catalog.
The founder, an education policy expert, had the domain knowledge and the vision — but needed a technical partner who could translate complex educational data models into an intuitive, student-facing web application. The platform needed to support multiple school districts, each with their own course catalogs, prerequisites, credit values, and endorsement mappings. It also needed to be approachable enough for a 14-year-old to use independently.
Key Results
- Built the complete platform from zero as the sole developer — database, backend, frontend, and deployment
- Designed a relational data model supporting multiple districts, schools, and the full Texas endorsement system
- Engineered an interactive "TurboTax-style" course planning wizard with parent-child course relationships
- Built an endorsement interest quiz to help students discover their career path
The Solution
As the sole developer, I owned the entire technical build from architecture through deployment — designing the database, building the backend, engineering the frontend interactions, and managing the hosting infrastructure.
Database & Data Architecture: I designed a relational data model in SQL Server to capture the full complexity of the Texas endorsement system: districts, schools, courses, credit values, prerequisites, core content categories, endorsements, endorsement options, career and technical clusters, and graduation requirements (state vs. local). A client data input template allowed district administrators to populate their campus-specific course catalogs without touching the database directly.
The Schedule Wizard (Course Questionnaire): The centerpiece of the platform was an interactive, "TurboTax-style" questionnaire that walked students step-by-step through building their graduation plan. Students selected their school district and campus, chose an endorsement, picked a career path within that endorsement, and then selected courses in each content category — Science, Math, English, Social Studies, Fine Arts, Physical Education, and Languages. The wizard enforced parent-child course relationships (e.g., Chemistry branching into Pre-AP Chemistry, AP Chemistry, etc.), displayed course descriptions on hover, validated selections, and automatically included state-mandated graduation requirements in the final output.
Endorsement Interest Quiz: I built an interactive quiz that asked students fun, relatable questions to guide them toward the endorsement path that best matched their interests — a low-pressure entry point before diving into the detailed course planning.
Course Outline Output: After completing the questionnaire, the system generated a visual course outline organized by content category that students could review, adjust, and print to bring to their school counselor.
Multi-Stakeholder Access: The platform supported distinct experiences for students, parents/educators, and district administrators (including superintendent-level access for the Alief ISD pilot).
Iterative, Collaborative Development: I worked closely with the founder on content and data modeling, a UX designer on visual design and interaction patterns, and a project manager who tracked milestones. The team communicated constantly — refining tooltip styling, parent-child course expansion behavior, color schemes, and error messaging based on real user feedback.
Results & Impact
- Built the complete platform from zero as the sole developer — database, backend, frontend, and deployment
- Designed a relational data model supporting multiple districts, schools, and the full Texas endorsement system
- Engineered an interactive "TurboTax-style" course planning wizard with parent-child course relationships
- Built an endorsement interest quiz to help students discover their career path
- Piloted successfully with Alief ISD in Houston — the first district to adopt the platform
- Platform was acquired by Texas OnCourse at the University of Texas at Austin
- Continues today as MapMyGrad.org, serving Texas high school students statewide
- Supported the technical asset transfer and hosting migration to UT Austin infrastructure in 2017
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