The Tennessee Department of Education selected Skyward, Inc., an industry leading K-12 school administrative software provider, as a preferred student information system vendor for Tennessee school districts. The state selected the Skyward Student Management Suite to provide K-12 districts with a software package for the collection and reporting of student information.
To meet the state’s diverse educational needs, the Tennessee Department of Education chose multiple vendors that met its requirements for a student information system. With Skyward, Tennessee school districts will have access to web-based system that integrates key elements to manage student learning in one centralized system that minimizes data entry.
“Our implementation of a multi-vendor statewide student information system capitalizes on the Ed-Fi Alliance to effectively manage student information at the district and state level centered on supporting districts and teachers to positively impact student outcomes. We refuse to accept the national norm that for a State Education Agency to deliver quality, educator-focused system solutions, districts must sacrifice choice,” said Richard Charlesworth, Tennessee Department of Education Chief Information Officer.
Many districts already use the Skyward suite to monitor student information, including Oak Ridge Schools, which was the first district in Tennessee to select the K-12 school administrative software provider. As outlined in a Skyward case study about the district’s success with the software, Oak Ridge Schools chose Skyward because it was looking for a more comprehensive system. With Skyward, the district was better able to communicate with parents through the Family Access module, and with the Gradebook module, give students up-to-date progress reports.
After Oak Ridge purchased the Skyward Student Management Suite in 2007, many Tennessee districts began to acquire the software. The districts were impressed with the comprehensive data points Oak Ridge reported to the state, and the open communication Skyward provided its users. In early 2013, with districts moving away from the former state-sponsored SIS, the Tennessee Department of Education began a Request for Qualification process to fund a new multi-vendor option.
