News and Trends

Back Office Business

3/29/2012 By:

New Jersey districts to implement cost effective data-driven solutions

Challenge: Hunterdon County Educational Services Commission in New Jersey wanted to implement a strategic data-driven instruction and evaluation system to accelerate student performance gains and automate time-consuming data capture and analysis.

Solution: The Commission selected LinkIt! to bring data-driven education solutions to schools in Hunterdon County and throughout NewJersey. LinkIt! will offer school districts a way to benchmark student performance and will assist teachers in preparing for evaluations by providing constant feedback through reporting and data-warehouse solutions.

Florida schools are using technology to assess teacher performance

Challenge: Florida schools, in accordance with Senate Bill 736, the Student Success Act, need to revamp their evaluation systems for teachers and school leaders.

Solution: Twenty-two of Florida’s sixty-seven districts are using FASTe, the Formative Action System for Teacher Effectiveness, from Performance Matters. FASTe is a Webbased solution for assessment, data management, and teacher effectiveness. “We needed a tool to match the state’s new standards for teacher effectiveness and we wanted one integrated tool to serve our needs across the district. FASTe offered us a tool to measure teacher effectiveness, to connect that data with our student data, and to provide differentiated resources to support our teachers and extend their abilities,” says Patrick Simon, director of research and accountability for Citrus County School District.

Columbus City creates data-driven framework

Challenge: Ohio’s Columbus City School District wanted to improve the way they used data to gauge student progress.

Solution: They found Learning Circle, an ondemand business intelligence product, that allows them to search through years of quarterly assessment data to assess academic performance.

Using data helps a California high school improve results on state tests

Challenge: Cesar E. Chavez High School in California set out to help a greater percentage of its students pass the state’s high school exit exam.

Solution: After implementing Revolution K12’s intervention programs—adaptive learning software that lets teachers monitor and assess the progress of each student— for one year, the math pass rate went from 85 percent to 93 percent, the English language arts pass rate improved from 77 percent to 91 percent, and English language learners’ pass rates increased from 34 percent to 63 percent.

In Colorado, schools are using LoudCloud to analyze data

Challenge: Jefferson County (Colorado) Public Schools were looking for software to mine data to improve teacher-student engagement, identify at-risk learners, and track student outcomes.

Solution: The district selected LoudCloud Systems, a learning management system, that will let teachers and administrators use tools to capture and analyze teacher-student engagement information. Jeffco will use it to identify profiles and patterns of best practices including instructional strategies, content, and teaching styles that match various learners’ needs.