School Data Is Messy: Interoperability Can Clean It Up

The Hechinger Report Mar 1, 2018
This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators.
Click here for more.

Data interoperability. A growing number of advocates argue that it’s critically important for schools — and not as scary as it sounds.

Today’s classrooms generate reams of data. It comes from a wide range of education technology products, assessments and other sources — there’s data from reading programs, math programs, state tests, daily quizzes, student history and more, each one a single puzzle piece that could be linked to other pieces to create a unified picture, but that, more often than not, stands alone.

Sometimes this data stands alone because it’s in such a different format that it can’t be understood in concert with data from other platforms. To mix metaphors, it’s as if one system’s data is in Spanish, another system’s data is in Mandarin and English-speaking educators who want to gain insights from the combination of the two must jump through the hoops of translation before being able to understand anything.

With data interoperability, the data would all exist in the same language and the puzzle would get put together automatically. Right now, in most schools, that’s just a dream.

And here’s why it’s a problem: When Providence’s teachers meet in teams to discuss student progress, they sit around tables with their laptops, logging into various systems, looking at PDF reports that show student performance data. One question can be answered by data in one system, another needs a log-in to a different system. It takes time. And it takes away from productive conversation.

Read the full article about how data interoperability would improve classroom innovation by Tara Garcia Mathewson at The Hechinger Report.

Education is a complex topic, and others found these selections from the Impact Giving archive from Giving Compass to be good resources.

  • This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators.
    Click here for more.
    LeBron James School is Using an Evidence-Based Approach

    Giving Compass' Take: • The Lebron James I Promise School is utilizing a whole-family intervention approach that provides extra workforce training development, GED programs, job placement services and a food bank serving all types of family needs.  • How will Lebron James school impact the surrounding community in Akron?  • Read more about the benefits of LeBron James I Promise School.  The goals of the LeBron James Family Foundation’s new school in Akron, Ohio, extend beyond educating at-risk third and fourth graders. The school is a bold, public experiment in whole-family community intervention, and it is rooted in strong evidence and a proven model. The “I Promise” ethos runs throughout the school’s mission. Students promise to work hard and complete school. Teachers promise to love the community’s students and families. James and Akron Public Schools promise every student free uniforms, meals, and a bicycle. James’s foundation will pay students’ tuition to the University of Akron after they graduate from high school. But I Promise’s designers recognize that to create an upwardly mobile community, what happens outside the classroom can be just as important as what happens during school hours.  The school’s dual-generation education strategy provides wraparound services for families, including a food bank, GED programs, and job placement services for parents, managed by two full-time employees. It also eases the burden of finding child care by offering longer school days and school years. Parents seeking to improve their job prospects through education and training often run up against scheduling conflicts and child care challenges. Urban Institute research finds that local workforce systems help parents overcome these boundaries to improved earnings, employment, and job stability. Parents in family-focused programs, encouraged by their children’s success, may pursue more credentials and obtain better jobs and improve their parenting skills and certification and education levels. I Promise’s family-centered model draws from other successful community collaboratives. Philanthropy, nonprofits, the public school system, teachers, parents, and students all play a role in supporting a shared goal: building cradle-to-career solutions in communities to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty. Read the full article about LeBron James school by Patrick Spauster at Urban Institute

Are you ready to give?

If you are ready to take action and invest in causes for Education, check out these Giving Funds, Charitable Organizations and Projects related to Education.

Loading...
Learn More

Sign in

Your personal information is confidential at Giving Compass. For more information, please visit our privacy policy. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use.