Address COVID-19 Blended Learning Challenges with a Flexible Student Information System

When it comes to continuity in education, there’s no shortage of challenges facing schools and districts. School closures due to COVID-19 have exposed issues like fragmented systems that don’t share data, hybrid schedule and attendance obstacles when juggling both in-class and online learning, adjustments to grading configurations mid-term, and more.

That’s why having student information system (SIS) software that offers a combination of full functionality and flexibility at the heart of your school district’s edtech ecosystem is so critical. Without a flexible SIS, districts are limited in storing and accessing critical information that can guide decisions for teachers, administrators, students, and parents. When adaptability to keep learning going through any crisis is a district’s biggest priority, an outdated or unadaptable SIS can make it difficult to accommodate blended learning scheduling and grading, or keep valuable student data siloed between essential digital systems like your learning management system, special education management program, or assessment tools.

What is a student information system and why is it important?

An SIS is the single source for managing a wide range of essential data—from attendance and grading, performance tracking, state reporting, to master scheduling and more. A modern, robust SIS can set you up for the future and help you improve student outcomes by providing accurate data, integrating with other systems, and improving communication.

As the center of your digital ecosystem, your SIS should be fully web-based and accessible anywhere, anytime—more important now than ever before. The right online SIS is necessary whether you’re working remotely or in the office. It makes it possible to keep operations going with accurate, updated, and secure data that connects to all your other systems.

Given the breadth of potential federal, state, and local requirements you may need from your student information system software—as well as district or school-level needs—it’s best to identify the top system requirements on your wish list and find the solution that checks off the most boxes.

Here are the most important factors to consider for a future-ready SIS:

An SIS has to be easy for teachers and administrators to use both in the office and when working from home. This includes basics like entering data only once, single sign-on, and quick, intuitive navigation from screen to screen. Parents should have the flexibility of seeing their student’s performance either online in a parent portal or on a mobile app.

If the system isn’t intuitive, then teachers and administrative staff probably aren’t going to use it. The format and interface should be simple to understand in a way that helps shape decision-making and communication. Processes shouldn’t require complicated training—they should be easy to learn.

If your SIS doesn’t communicate with other software systems in real time, teachers and administrators have to re-enter information in multiple places. This takes valuable time better spent on core functions—such as lesson planning or one-on-one instruction—and increases the chances of inaccuracies. Additionally, stakeholders only get a partial view of student performance if your SIS doesn’t include multiple sources of input.

To ensure interoperability, your SIS should be up to date with the latest standards. It should include an extensive set of Application Programming Interface (API) technologies so your systems can “talk” to each other fluently. Your SIS vendor should also offer a range of compatible products that extend the SIS’s functionality, save you time and money, and improve user experience across the board.

School closures, distance learning, and hybrid education situations are requiring districts to handle attendance, grading, and scheduling classes in unprecedented ways. Your SIS should let you configure the system to meet your needs, even mid-term, without adding burdensome work for teachers.

Your school or district shouldn’t be constrained by a one-size-fits-all solution that lacks the flexibility to support your unique needs. Instead, your SIS should allow you to easily create schedules and grading systems that work for your teams and workflows, including standards-based grading or other similar requirements.

Your student information system needs to provide useful, actionable insights to help you improve teaching and learning. Data should be presented in organized, user-friendly ways, helping stakeholders recognize trends and identify key challenges and areas for improvement. Users should be able to draw informed conclusions about individual students, classes, grades, and schools, as well as at the district level.

COVID-19 has put districts to the test with the need for custom fields and screens, and schools may be asked to track new kinds of information for the upcoming school year. A modern SIS should not only allow you to add fields to an existing page or screen, but also create entire new web pages and screens for courses, the classroom, or staff based on your unique needs.

Cloud or hybrid cloud hosting services, such as Microsoft Azure, offer K-12 districts a global network of data centers, industry standards, and best practices for physical security measures, as well as built-in redundancy, failover, backup, and more for stability and security.

In the age of blended learning and remote work, it’s important to partner with a student information system vendor committed to responsible stewardship of student data, taking all reasonable steps to ensure data privacy and security.

Other key SIS security factors include:

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Given how important an SIS is for managing, accessing, and using student data, a system’s features can significantly impact your district’s ability to improve student outcomes. It’s important to lead an informed and thorough search process before making a decision.

Today’s SIS needs to set you up to thrive into the future—with secure and flexible remote operability optimized for hybrid learning. The SIS should be open and expandable to integrate future innovations. It should be customizable to meet the needs of your individual district, and it should meet growing needs for customized assessment and analytics to better address learning gaps.

Other important student information system features to look for in your software or vendor include: