The Evolution of Woodburn School Districts Student Information

The Evolution of Woodburn School District’s Student Information System SASI LISA ANN RODRIGUEZ EDUC 8848 NOVEMBER 21, 2009

Prologue Student information systems, also referred to as student data systems and student management systems, are programs that enable school districts to organize and manage students’ attendance, contact information, demographics, and health information. Some of these systems also integrate with grading and lesson planning programs.

Prologue This year Woodburn School District’s student information system switched from the School Administrative Student Information system (SASIxp) to the Power. School Premier student information system. Not changing from SASI was not an option because Pearson, the company that publishes it, changed to Power. School. However, other student information systems were considered by our district before choosing Power. School.

What’s the Difference? SASI Power. School � Limited to district server � Web-based � Grading in Integrade � Grading in an integrated � Used for taking attendance � Used to access students’ demographic and health information gradebook � Used for taking attendance, grading, and accessing students’ demographic and health information � More user-friendly interface (Pearson, 2009) � Parent communication center � Easy generation of various reports

Enhances Obsoletes SASI gave the student information SASI made the DOS-based student system a user-friendly Windows information system, Columbia, interface. Access to student obsolete. Columbia did not include information was no longer limited to attendance or grading tools. Because district office personnel. Teachers it was DOS-based it was not userlearned to use SASI and it enabled friendly, and only district personnel them to immediately enter used it, while teachers took attendance so that accurate lunch attendance and recorded grades by counts could be determined. hand. SASI Tetrad Rekindles Reverses In the 19 th and early 20 th century, teachers had acce 3 ss to students’ personal information. As class sizes increased, especially in middle and high schools, they did not have instant access to students’ personal and demographic information until it was computerized and teachers were given access to it in SASI. Access to SASI was limited to school district servers. Pearson discontinued technical and customer support for SASI when it replaced it with Power. School. SASI only enabled teachers to record attendance and access student demographic information. It did not include a grade recording feature.

Enhances Obsoletes Powerschool includes all SASI’s features and more. It is web-based and allows school personnel to log into the system from anywhere with Internet access. It includes a grading utility and a report generating feature not included with SASI. Rekindles Power. School made SASI obsolete because the company that produced both products discontinued technical and customer support for SASI and offered all SASI customers free site licenses. Power. School has a more user-friendly interface, is more convenient, and has more features than SASI. Power. School Tetrad Power. School rekindles the ability for teachers to work and access student information from home. They used to bring home paperwork if they wanted the information, but now they can easily access it from anywhere with Internet access. Reverses Power. School could someday be replaced by an attendance taking mechanism that requires no time or effort on the teachers’ part, such as eye scanning technology that records students’ presence in school from the first time they enter a classroom door each day. This would be especially useful in large lecture classes, and could also enhance school security.

Interviews

Power. School Features • Report. Works • Prerequisite Checking & Teacher Recommendations • Power. Teacher • Family Management • Inform Analytics • Address Management & Boundary Validation • Power. Scheduler • Student and Parent Access

Evolutionary Technologies SASI The principle of evolutionary technologies explains why SASI originally emerged, having evolved from a DOS-based student information system called Columbia. The basic need was the same: to keep track of student demographic and health information. The tool used to keep track of this information evolved as computer technology evolved. The DOS based program was the most appropriate tool for computers at that time, with DOS operating systems. When Windows became the standard operating system for school office computers, it made sense to replace Columbia with a student information system designed for a graphical interface. Power. School Now that mobility, flexibility, and convenience are the significant trends in computing technologies, Power. School is the evolution that offers these benefits by being webbased rather than confined to school servers. The basic task that is performed by the tool remains the same, but now teachers and other school personnel are able to access the tool from anywhere and anytime they choose.

Rhymes of History SASI In the 19 th and early 20 th century, teachers had access to students’ personal information. They had very small class sizes, often with all grades combined in one room schoolhouses. Teachers may have been friends or family members of students’ parents. As class sizes increased, especially in middle and high schools in which teachers may have had more than 150 students throughout the day, they did not have instant access to students’ personal and demographic information. SASI computerized information about students and gave teachers convenient and instant access to it. Power. School rekindles the ability for teachers to work and access student information from home. They used to bring home paperwork if they wanted the information, but now they can easily access it from anywhere with Internet access. In addition, Power. School has was described by users, including the teachers interviewed, as very userfriendly. This rekindles the simplicity of pen and paper, but with the power and speed of technology.

Disruptive Technologies SASI Power. School SASI was a disruptive technology because it was a radical departure from the DOSbased Columbia system that was used only by data entry personnel. I believe that Columbia is just one of many systems that were obsolete by the bigger disruptive technology takeover of Windows and Macintosh graphical user interfaces making DOS obsolete. Power. School, on the other hand, is a natural extension of SASI, its most significant difference being that it is an Internet-based program that can be accessed from anywhere with an Internet connection. Therefore, Power. School is not a disruptive technology.

Science Fiction SASI Power. School Neither SASI or Power. School appear to be inspired by science fiction. They both are just electronic versions of student information systems previously stored in manila file folders, rolodexes, and teachers’ attendance books.

Increasing Returns and Red Queens SASI Power. School SASI was an evolution of the DOS-based Columbia system to a graphical interface information system. It was one of many student information systems, and many systems still exist (Edtekki, 2009). Power. School is simply the next generation of student information systems produced by Pearson, Inc. , the same company that produced SASI. There are many student information systems on the market; there have never been only one or two frontrunners. Power. School and SASI never competed with one another because Power. School is produced by Pearson, the company that produced SASI. Therefore, neither Red Queens nor Increasing Returns had any bearing on the emergence of SASI, or its replacement by Power. School.

Debbie Wolfer, Data Specialist Click to go to Part 2 of Debbie Wolfer’s Interview Click to return to Interviews

Debbie Wolfer, Data Specialist Click to return to Interviews

Tera Castile, 4 th Grade Teacher Click to return to Interviews

Korrin Petersen, School Secretary Click to return to Interviews

Kari Acosta, 3 rd Grade Dual Language Teacher Click to return to Interviews

The Future of Student Information Systems One of Power. School’s main functions is to keep student attendance records. Teachers still must do this manually by logging onto Power. School and marking if students are absent. The goal of many technologies is to replace redundant actions that require minimal cognitive functions with automation, freeing humans’ time for more complex activities. Power. School could someday be replaced by an attendance taking mechanism that requires no time or effort on the teachers’ part, such as eye scanning technology that records students’ presence in school from the first time they enter a classroom door each day. This would be especially useful in large lecture classes, and could also enhance school security.

The Future of Student Information Systems Another function of Power. School is to enable teachers to enter grades. Teachers must log onto Power. School and type in grades. This is usually done outside of teaching time. In the future, teachers may have handheld devices that they can speak into, allowing them to input information that links to students’ records throughout the day, and eliminating the need to go to the computer, log onto a program, and type. These kinds of technologies are already being used in some school districts (Edtekki, 2009).

Epilogue Power. School is more user-friendly than SASI Power. School allows users to perform more functions than SASI. Major Themes expressed by users involved in the transition from SASI to Power. School The web-based format and the ability to access the information system from anywhere is valued by users. Power. School was designed more for middle and high school than for elementary.

SASI The End

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