2. Follow Up to Ensure IT Deployments Achieve Desired Goals
After a solution is chosen, IT leaders’ ongoing involvement can ensure districts get the return they’re looking for.
“It’s important for IT leaders to approach it from the perspective of, ‘Yes, we are the folks in charge of helping to technically implement this data, but how are we working across departments to make sure that it’s actually implemented in a meaningful way?’” says Susan Bearden, chief innovation officer for CoSN.
In one case, Daugherty’s district rolled out a platform, flowed in the data and set up reports — but teachers didn’t use it. Conversations revealed that users saw the tool as “one more system to log in to,” he says.
That led his team to choose a new solution that’s integrated into an existing platform. Now, he says, “when they log in, it’s a tab inside the student information system, and teachers are getting to their data so much quicker. They’re accessing it way more — and it all had to do with where it was located.”
Leaders can also facilitate buy-in by giving teachers opportunities to see the benefits of data-driven instruction firsthand, Tower says — a strategy that’s especially effective when teachers are initially resistant.
“It’s having to create experiences for them where the data changes their mind,” she says. “They have their ‘aha!’ moment and say, ‘I want more of this.’”
WATCH: Discover how data analytics can improve remote learning.
3. Boost Communication Efforts Around Data Privacy
When districts embark on a data-driven approach, questions about data privacy often follow, especially among parents.
“Addressing the issues of student data privacy, both real and perceived, is important because sometimes people have perceptions about data systems that may not be accurate,” Bearden says. “But it’s still incumbent on district leaders to make sure they know what those concerns are, what the facts are and how they are being addressed.”
IT leaders can strengthen those communications by providing specifics about which data districts collect, which vendors they partner with and what efforts they take to monitor privacy agreements and protect students’ information.
“The best way to earn that trust is to be transparent,” says Daugherty.