Tennessee Dept. of Education Awards Follett Approved Vendor Status

The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) today announced Follett is an approved student information system (SIS) vendor for the state, making it easier for schools to select Follett’s Aspen SIS, a web-based solution for the collection, reporting and management of student data and information.

Follett already is managing student data for 63,500 students in the state for Knox County Schools in Knoxville and Jefferson County Schools in Dandridge.

“One of our goals was to create a better, more productive user experience while maintaining quality data,” said Beau Stanley, team leader/student information specialist, Knox County Schools. “With Aspen’s architecture, we can hide fields that aren’t relevant to the task at hand and define rules for entering information, which helps us ensure data integrity. And if we have a question, we know our customer relationship manager will be available to help us now and, more importantly, for the long term.”

Currently there are 137 PreK-12 districts and 1,700 state schools in Tennessee with data information needs for more than 950,000 students and approximately 70,000 teachers. Individual districts have started making their SIS decisions this winter, with implementations scheduled for next summer.

“Right from the start, we were impressed by the enthusiasm and personal attention from Follett,” said Mandy Schneitman, director of student support services, Jefferson County Schools. “Their dedication to the state of Tennessee was evident in their commitment – the staff was knowledgeable, always accessible, easy to work with, and showed a genuine interest in understanding and accommodating our needs. We are looking forward to the partnership with Follett.”