![]() ![]() ![]() We kept that in mind when we created the Pupilpath application, which was designed in a way to make sense to students and parents. While designing our original Skedula data systems with teachers as inspiration, we wanted to extend that and make sure that teachers could effectively communicate, provide key data for student performance, and provide valuable resources to assist in their performance. ![]() From homework assignments to where a student is on the graduation pipeline, students and parents needed to have easy access to this information-just like teachers. When a parent is able to keep track of a student’s assignments, that parent becomes the student’s out-of-classroom advocate for the child. The second step, parent and student involvement, is something other companies may take for granted.ĭesigning a system that keeps students and parents involved on a daily basis is one of the greatest gifts you can give a teacher. Engage stakeholders around the teacher-especially parents and students. Now, teachers could look at other data (attendance trends, credit accumulation, state and benchmark assessment, etc.) while grading, without having to open up multiple systems.Īs New Visions for Public Schools researcher Susan Fairchild describes in her essay, “technology needs to meet users ‘where they are’ and be compatible with other systems already in place.” When educators can create action plans with their local data in conjunction with high stakes accountability, it’s simple and easy-something educators like to see. Within Skedula, we created an application that tied data to their gradebook. So, we made data easily available within their day to day routine so they could have actionable data to be used in the classroom to help their students, in-the-moment. We knew that the data had to be delivered to educators in the right way for our system to make a difference. Teachers were tired of the inconvenience of logging into five different systems to organize their data. Make data integration easy.įor data integration, we knew it was crucial for teachers to have everything they needed in one place.Ĭreating a single sign-on was an important first step. And what did the users respond to? Easy data integration, parent and student involvement, and updates based on their in-time needs. You can give a school a data management system, but if it doesn’t provide teachers with the right data in the right places, the system will not be adopted successfully-and eventually will be replaced, like what happened to the free systems in NYC.Īs software designers leaving the classroom, we knew that we had to continue to listen to our best resource, teachers-our closest allies to the problems and our eventual users. At my school, we went through many free and paid systems over the years-everything from online gradebooks, testing systems, instructional tools, and data tools, and each new system failed the teachers in unique ways.Īn educator, like the parents, students and administrators who use our products, wants technology to make their lives easier, and in a competitive marketplace, a teacher is only going to want to use what works best. Having worked as a teacher for 16 years from 1993 to 2009, I knew there had to be a better way for teachers to manage their data. The day-to-day workflow of a teacher was not considered. It was clear these products were created by individuals, groups, or companies who did not take the teacher’s perspective into account. When my colleagues (also teachers) and I first tossed around the idea of creating our own teacher data management system, we were at a point of fury with our schools’ existing data systems. But not all online tools for teachers are created equal, whether free or otherwise. How did DataCation succeed in the market where IBM, Pearson, and other large competing companies did not get all the market share? And more importantly, what caused schools to opt out of a free DOE-sponsored option, in favor of switching to a product that costs $7,500 per year? The Genesis of a New Productĭata tools, online gradebooks and educational dashboards are no longer optional “perks” for a teacher-they are a necessity. ![]() In fact, over 5,000 schools are using DataCation products like Skedula and Pupilpath nationwide-and paying approximately $7,500 for our systems. Now, over 550 schools in NYC use our Skedula gradebook and dashboard. In 2009, 29 New York City schools opted out of a free Department of Education-developed data management system in favor of using DataCation, a platform that I had envisioned while working as a teacher at the Brooklyn-based High School of Telecommunication Arts and Technology. ![]()
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