Education

The gap between the US and international leaders in student proficiency in basic subjects as well as science and technology is growing, and it is undermining: the ability of our students to compete for the jobs of the future; the health of our economy; and the intellectual capital we need to solve the problems that confront our communities and our world. Improving our schools and making sure that every child has a opportunity for an education that will allow them to lead a rewarding, productive life is a recognized imperative at the local, state and national levels.

The foundation for many current attempts to improve education is the use of data to make decisions, with states and districts creating systems to track and report standardized test scores. Web-based platforms will take the use of educational data in new directions, bringing up-to-date information about each student to bear on decision-making at the classroom, school and district levels; and empowering students and parents to make informed choices as they direct a student’s progress through school. And by smartly aggregating, presenting, and using the available educational data in combination with data from after-school and community programs, we can paint a more complete picture of each student, and ensure that everyone invested in his or her future has the information they need to maximize their impact.

Innovative Strategies

Providing Access to All Student Data in One Place: New York City has become a leader in using data in the public school system where a portal for accessing student data (called the Achievement Reporting and Innovation System) has been created.  It provides a single point of entry to grades, test scores and attendance, and has given teachers a much broader view of students’ progress. This data system is the foundation for a collaborative, team-based and continuous process of refining teaching strategies and individual interventions. Importantly, this system is also available to parents and students through the ARIS Parent Link website.

Building a Platform for Educational Applications: As part of our partnership with the City of Boston in 2011, Code for America fellows will be building a web-based platform that will allow access to aggregated student data, and also facilitate the development of independent apps for teachers, administrators and students. Developers will be able to build a variety of tools -- from dashboards and productivity apps that makes sense of data for stakeholders and help educators manage their work, to apps that directly enhance learning and engage students in new ways. All of these tools will be available at a central “app store,” where students, teachers and administrators can access them.

Open-sourcing Resources: Just as software can be open-sourced, new collaborative technologies are enabling the creation and distribution of open source educational materials. OER Commons is a website that provides a database of high-quality educational resources that can be used free, and many can be modified and redistributed as well. Beyond access to these tools and the ability to review and bookmark them, the site contains information and dialogue about the open educational resources movement itself.  In a similar vein, Kuali Foundation coordinates development of open-source software for colleges and universities.

Resources