There is a paradigm shift in the purpose and scope of student information system (SIS) solutions from one limited to capturing, tracking and reporting student data to one that addresses the information needs of the entire educational community. Superintendents seek SIS systems that provide real-time information, allows constituents to individually perform at their highest levels as well as collaborate amongst each other. The Synergy® Education Platform is the most technologically advanced student information system available, and it leverages collaborative tools to improve communication and deliver actionable information for instructional decisions to all stakeholders - administrators, teachers, parents and the students themselves - to ensure student success.
Superintendents recognize that a 'one size fits all' approach to teaching and instruction, where teaching the subject matter in the same way to all students regardless of their understanding of a concept, fails to address the learning needs of individual students and results in lower student achievement. The Synergy Education Platform provides innovative technologies to enable true differentiated instruction through curriculum support and real-time, standards-based data analysis of student performance. This empowers teachers to to identify students with similar learning profiles and deliver tailored instruction to these student groups so that all students receive an equal opportunity to succeed.
Superintendents know that data-driven decision making by teachers, principals and other staff is dependent upon accurate, consistent, and complete student data, and that accurate and timely reporting to school boards, state departments of education, and the federal government is essential. Synergy allows data to be entered at only one source, and validates this data against data validation and business process rules thereby ensuring that data in the central database is accurate and complete. The data from this database can be accessed by teachers, students, parents, school administrators, and district office staff and district administrators via web services, making access universal (depending on security set up) and intuitive.
Superintendents are concerned with improving the overall efficiency and effectiveness of their school system. The Synergy® Student Information System (SIS), with its integrated special education capabilities that create and manage IEPs and other aspects of special education program administration and compliance, does in one system what most school districts now attempt to do in two information management systems. This is all accomplished with one central longitudinal database, which contains only one student record per student, regardless of which educational programs and/or services the student participates in over the entire life of the student’s enrollment within the school district.
Which student information system the school district selects is one of the most important infrastructure decisions the school district will ever make. Superintendents understand that changing student information systems is a very expensive and difficult undertaking. Synergy delivers the flexibility necessary to meet student information management needs for the next twenty years or more.
Important Considerations Related to Special Education and IEP Process Management Systems
- Superintendents are concerned about District academic gains as reflected in test scores of students with disabilities, and Synergy® Special Education (SE) provides instructional support through enhanced opportunity for teamwork and collaboration among staff members and through available web access to instructional strategies and classroom accommodation plans.
- Because they are concerned about spending money wisely, Superintendents value the management reports, pre-written reports and those created by districts, which provide the information needed to help make important resource allocation decisions. Medicaid data captured in the IEP supports accurate billing and reimbursement of Medicaid related expenses. Synergy SE was designed to allow school districts to expand and modify the application themselves, thereby avoiding the costs associated with relying on vendors to do this for them.
- Because they are concerned about possible due process hearings, Superintendents value the significant assurance provided by Synergy SE that all state and federal Special Education laws are followed in district processes and documentation. This assurance allows school districts to focus their conflict resolution efforts on the substance of disagreements without being vulnerable to charges of legal violations, which require district compensation.