Using Data and Technology to Support School Improvement Dr. Larry Fruth II Executive Director.

Using Data and Technology to Support School Improvement

Dr. Larry Fruth II

Executive Director

The Challenge…..

“Ya Gotta Be There”

What drives people to:

want to be a part of 110,000 fans at a televised college football game?

want to sit in driving rain and wind to watch golfers pass you on one hole of a golf course?

sit in scorching sun with 1 million others watching a religious service in a language you do not speak?

think coming to school is a “ya gotta be there”?

……………….. Impossible?

The Drivers I …..

On January 8, 2002, President Bush signed into law the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act

of 2001. The Act outlined four basic education reform principles: stronger

accountability for results, increased flexibility and local control, expanded options for parents, and an emphasis on teaching

methods that have been proven to work.

Today the driver is accountability demanded by end users and consumers – not just

reporting!

What is Data Driven Decision Making?

To:

Students “How am I doing?”

Educators “How are they doing?”

Administrators “How are we doing?”

State/Federal “Where are we?”

Policy Makers “What needs addressed?”

Parents “How is he/she doing?”

Stakeholders “What is the impact?”

Expectations With TechnologyTo:

Students Increased Engagement

Educators Increased Tools/Info

Administrators Increased Accountability

State/Federal Increased Capabilities

Policy Makers Increased Efficiencies

Parents Increased Information

Stakeholders Increased Output

SIS

Network Accounts

Cafeteria

Library Transportation

Challenge – Schools Traditional Setup

?

?

??

?

Horizontal Questions

Data Warehousing

K12 Data Model

Food

Serv

ice

Gra

de B

ook

HR

/ Finance

Libra

ry

SIS

Tra

nsp

orta

tion

Instru

ction

al S

erv

ices

Voice

Tele

phony

Accountability, Reporting, Planning, etc…

The Drivers II…..

USED National Educational Technology Plan - Toward A New Golden Age In American Education

Action Step 7 Integrated Data Systems: Integrated, interoperable data systems are the key to better

allocation of resources, greater management efficiency, and online and technology-based

assessments of student performance that empower educators to transform teaching and personalize

instruction

Recommendation: “Ensure interoperability. For example consider Schools Interoperability

Framework (SIF) Compliance Certification as a requirement in all RFPs and purchasing decisions”.

Why Standards? An ExampleSchools Interoperability Framework

• Non-profit membership organization comprised of:– PK-12 Educational Technology Companies– Regional Service Agencies– Schools & Districts– U.S. and State Departments of Education– Other educational organizations

• Jointly building the XML Specifications to enableK-12 software applications to share data quickly, dynamically and securely.

• The SIF Implementation Specification is publicly available on the SIF website.

• “Platform Independent / Vendor Neutral”

SIF Components Working Together

Network Account

H.R. &Finance

Data Analysis

& Reporting Instructional

Services

Library Automation

Student Information

Services

GradeBook

FoodServices

– Zone Integration Server (ZIS)

– SIF Agents

– Applications

– SIF Data Objects

The ResultNew Student Registering for Enrollment into: *Student Information System *Directory Service Application *ID Card System *Library Automation System *Cafeteria Management System

Typical School SIF School- 49 minute task - 4 minute task- 10 times data entered - 1 time data entry

45 minutes/student X 18,000 students=

6 FTE’s!1/10th the Time – 1/10th the Risk

SIF School Benefits

Teachers– Real-time access to critical

information

– Better data analysis

– Teachers time better spent

Students & Parents– Personalized Student Content

– Improved timeliness of service

– Accurate School Data

– Increased Efficiency

IT Departments– Reduced support costs

– Reduced time needed to manage multiple data sources

– Save money using existing systems and infrastructure

Administrators– Increased Efficiency

– Reduced redundancy and errors

– Reduced compatibility issues

Efficiency, Accuracy, Cost Savings

Vertical Interoperability

DistrictDistrictDistrict

State

State Return on Investment

Reallocation from State Reporting

Eliminate 23 Aggregate Reports

Reduce 8 hours per school per report

Reduce hours per district per report= 70,000 hours school staff time= 18,000 hours district staff time= $1,760,000 est. state report savings

What is SIF’s current status?

Over 250 members – new added from each type each week

Specification utilized to serve over 3 million students, teachers and tech coordinators in 40 states

Legislatively mandated in one state – 3 others on the way

Demanded/suggested by USED, states and schools in dozens current or planned state RFP’s

Currently 50 certified applications - 1.5 testing new

Expanding from student/administrative data into curriculum, content and other industry “verticals”

12-18 month focus on “out of the box” interoperability and implementation support

Workshop Topics

Organization of SIFA

Implementation Success Stories – LEA & SEA

Certification Overview and Importance

Implementation Tools and Resources

SIFA Future Directions

Data Interoperability Discussion

How to get involved and empowered!

Data – Just Part of the Picture!The Big Picture:

Data Utilization

Data Interpretation

Infrastructure / Specifications

Data Movement

Data Identification

Description

How do we report info to stakeholders?

How do we change policies, resource allocation and teaching/learning?

What does the data mean?

How do we send/get data?

How is the data formatted?

What is the needed data?

Research

Data Communication

Why?

For More InformationSIF website

www.sifinfo.org

Laurie Collins Larry Fruth, Ph.D.Project Strategist Executive [email protected] [email protected]

Mark ReichertChief Technical [email protected]