In collaboration with the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) and the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), Gartner, Inc. has developed a collection of tools to help schools use student data to support teaching and learning in the classroom.
Closing the Gap: Turning Data into Action is designed to help districts sort through the many choices in student information systems (SIS) and learning management systems (LMS).
The goal of the project is to offer school districts:
- Recommendations for the selection and implementation of SIS and LMS programs
- Best practices for implementation of these solutions in schools and classrooms
- Suggestions for moving schools to a more data-rich culture
Closing the Gap includes nine templates for school districts’ use, each providing guidance on a different phase of the selection and implementation process. The templates include a checklist of critical success factors, a suggested timeline, a delineation of project roles and responsibilities for school personnel, a cost planning guide, and a guide for staff professional development.
The SIS/LMS Selection and Implementation templates and other resources available to the K-12 educational community can be found under the Resources tab of the Closing the Gap: Turning Data into Action website at http://turningdataintoaction.org/resources. The tools on the site focus on helping districts leverage their SIS/LMS investments successfully to provide data in the classroom to inform and enhance instructional efforts. All Closing the Gap project reports and resources are free to the K-12 educational community. Funding for Closing the Gap is provided by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
