Best Technology Practices for School Districts in Washington State

Best Practice for Data Management & Reporting
Better Decisions in Real Time

Master contracts that offer the best possible price for IT Services are a best practice that all school districts can leverage to save money and gain new efficiencies in their IT operation. Here are two exciting and successful examples of money-saving practices that evolved from public-private partnerships — both safeguard student data and ease the burden and complexity of district reporting.

Choice Solutions
We worked closely with Choice Solutions to launch a cost-competitive master contract for the design-build of high-availability and secure data warehouse solutions. These sophisticated data management and reporting systems deliver real-time longitudinal data that capture a multi-faceted view of a school or district operation. Administrators convert this data into the information they need to make the best possible decisions about school operations and finance, and teacher and student placement. Immediate data on student performance also help teachers adjust their instructional practice to meet the needs of different learning styles.

Washington School Information Processing Cooperative (WSIPC)
For those school districts who are members of the WSIPC network, we encourage administrators to take a close look at the organization’s new WEDSS system — Washington Education Decision Support System. Free to WSIPC members, WEDSS is data warehouse software that gathers student data and compiles reports: WASL scores, attendance, discipline issues, graduation milestones and more. Good news — WSIPC plans to expand its new offering with grade books, district assessments, MSP/HSPE and DIBELS results. WSIPC has functioned as a best practice for the past 40 years when 10 Washington school districts formed a cooperative that enabled schools to share the costs of software development and hardware acquisition and centralize technical support.