The following questions will be asked of our school principal regarding Student Management Systems and Data Warehouses:
1.In what ways is the data collected for input SIS?
Daily attendance sent by teachers
Student personal information is stored in our SIRS database
Student test data is stored in excel spreadsheets created by the Principal
2.Who provides our SIS?
Our SIS is part of a consortium that is overseen by Hunterdon Central High School
3.How was it decided to use this SIS provider? (I can begin to answer this because I was at the meeting; our principal is new to the district this year)
Personal input: A panel of teachers and administrators met with the provider two years ago for a presentation on the overview of the system. Each person gave input to the presentation and the usefulness of the provider. No other provider presentations were given for comparison.
I would guess that the provider was able to meet the minimal needs that were required and came in at the best cost for our district.
4.What are the ways the SIS used in other ways outside of attendance for students?
The SIS is used to share information with the High School/Middle School and to keep track of students who are free/reduced and who frequently move in and/or out of the district.
5.What other technology based data systems, such as a curriculum/instruction/assessment management system used at LPS?
LPS uses Study Island, Microsoft Excel, teacher created technology assessments (videos, blogs, wikis, interactive websites, etc.)
6.How are these systems used by teaching faculty or other staff members?
Staff members have access to the Study Island Reports, Excel Spreadsheets have been shared with staff at professional development workshops, etc.
7.If no systems are used, has the school researched the pro's and cons of any of these systems?
The school is very interested in locating system that could be utilized. Unfortunately, financial constraints have kept us from being able to afford such systems/databases.
8.Why have the systems not chosen to be used?
Financial constraints
9.As an administrator with experience in a larger district, do you have any experience using a SIS and CIA management system? In your opinion are there benefits to the investment?
I do have experience using WinSchool and Learnia. There are benefits to using both. However, unless teacher have time to work with the available data, it is not useful. The benefit is that supervisors and administrators can access more regular data. and that some teachers who make the tie to review and use the data are able to provide instruction that meets the students’ needs.
10.What systems did your district use?
WinSchool and Learnia
11.Were the teachers trained on how to translate the data into information they could apply in the classroom?
Yes, but more training was always needed and some teachers “took to it” better than others and ran with it.
12.What benefits and disadvantages did you experience with these systems?
Benefits - excellent way to access data about students in a variety of ways quickly and efficiently.
Disadvantages - someone needs to enter the data and only a few actually utilize it on a regular basis.
13.Based on your knowledge and experience, in what ways do you believe that our staff and students would benefit from having a more extensive SIS that would allow a grade book and parent access?
Knowledge is power and this would give parents one more way to be “on top” of their children and what is happening at school. Teachers would have each student’s current GPA without having to manually calculate it. Students would be able to obtain an accurate understanding of where they stood in each class at any time and hopefully want to improve and work hard to physically watch their growth.
14.To date, has LPS looked at extending how it uses the SIS system?
There has been conversation around this topic, but much more exploration needs to take place.
15.Has LPS looked into CIA systems or a database warehouse?
We have explored the Link It system.
16.What areas of improvement do you see a SMS could provide. For example, long-term management and accessibility to information.
Our Google Mail Account actually will archive information (including personal information) for about 7 years. Therefore, we will have access to information for years after a student has left LPS. Having all that information at our fingertips will only help to advance future instruction and programs.
*All answers are only to be used for assignments pertaining to the class and not extended into any other reports or discussions regarding the interviewee or school.
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