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Officials Say New Data System Could Be a Game Changer

September 5th, 2013

Georgia teachers now have access to an electronic records system that tracks students from pre-kindergarten through the 12th grade. State education officials say it saves teachers time by putting critical data at their fingertips.

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Pam Williams has been teaching in the Appling County schools in South Georgia for 23 years. For many of those years, it took her weeks to dig through paper files to find student information. Now, she says, it takes her minutes.

“I’m able to access anything from attendance data to demographics about the student, if the student has moved during his/her tenure at our school or within our district,” Williams says. “I’m able to access previous test data to see whether this is a student that struggled with testing.”

All of that information is part of a statewide longitudinal data system now available to teachers. The system was mostly funded by the state’s federal Race to the Top education grant. So, it’s free to school districts.

Bob Swiggum, the Georgia Department of Education’s chief information officer, says in addition to saving time the system helps teachers help students.

“Teachers are so much better-prepared to deal with the kids and their needs,” Swiggum says. “[They] actually spend the time teaching as opposed to spending the time trying to figure out, ‘Well, what do I have?’”

Districts such as the Atlanta Public Schools have used the system more broadly. Speaking on a panel in May, APS research director Rubye Sullivan said Atlanta uses the data to address graduation rates.

“Just knowing that number doesn’t give us action,” Sullivan said. “Now, we’re able to identify which schools, given the population of kids coming in being similar, are actually doing work that’s better than predicted on both graduation rate and college-going rates.”

Swiggum, of the education department, says state officials built the system based on teacher input. He says they’ll add more components as teachers request them.