It’s no secret that K-12 educators are spread thin. Having to manage multiple administrative tasks while teaching, dealing with attendance and keeping grades up to date can take a toll on anyone. Add to that the need for personalized attention for every student and ongoing demands for real-time data like grades and behavior, and it’s easy to see why so many educators simply throw their hands up in frustration. There are simply too many demands and not enough time.
That’s where Student Information Systems K-12 or SIS can help.
What is a Student Information System (SIS)?
A SIS is a software platform used by schools and institutions to help manage and organize student information. Think of it as a centralized database where administrators, teachers, students and parents alike can access important information about the student’s academic performance as well as any particular behavioral concerns.
Today’s SIS platforms are more than just databases though, and can encompass detailed, two-way communication, reporting on key metrics and even scheduling for classes.
How Does a SIS Help in K-12 Education?
At its core, a SIS helps schools and districts alike manage resources, improve communication and easily handle a wide range of administrative tasks. If you’re considering a SIS for your school or district for K-12, you’ll want to look for the following features:
Centralized Data Management
The best SIS for K-12 education centers on not just gathering and organizing important data, but security storing it in a centralized hub where teachers, administrators, students and parents each access their own specific version. No more sorting through piles of paperwork or logging into disparate systems. Having everything in one place frees up valuable educator time to easily record attendance and input grades, all available in real-time.
Automated Attendance Tracking
Tracking attendance across the K-12 system can be a challenge, but with the right SIS, much of the heavy lifting can be automated. Teachers can mark attendance in just a few clicks, while the system itself can be personalized to automatically flag things like tardies, excused absences or unexcused absences.
Such a system can even adapt to integrate with card-based or RFID systems, allowing students to check in themselves, further helping reduce administrative workload. The SIS can then generate daily, weekly or monthly attendance reports, enabling administrators to see trends and take action, particularly if a student’s attendance becomes worrisome.
Easy Gradebook Integration
Any teacher will tell you that grading is one of the most time-consuming parts of their job. The good news is that a K-12 SIS comes equipped with an intuitive, user-friendly gradebook that supports multiple styles of grading, from numbers to letters to simple pass or fail. Teachers can freely include grades for assignments, quizzes and tests and even participation scores, all in one place, freeing them up from having to manually track how each student is performing.
Beyond this ease of use, the SIS gradebook is fully customizable, so each school within the K-12 system can set its own policies with regard to how grades are weighted, how extra credit is handled, and how late submissions are dealt with. This ensures that grades are applied consistently and fairly across all classrooms while still giving individual teachers greater freedom.
Real-Time Two-Way Communication
Keeping parents informed as to their child’s academic performance is at the forefront of every educator’s mind. With a K-12 SIS, parents can have secure access to both student attendance and grades, in real-time, no more waiting for report cards or emails. If a student has missed multiple classes or is falling behind in one or more subjects, the system can notify the parents, making earlier intervention possible to help the student get on track.
Should the parents or educator have any concerns, they can reach out to each other and communicate via the secure SIS, keeping an entire history log of the conversation in the process. This real-time two-way communication is vital to keeping everyone in the loops and making sure that students get access to the resources and support they need.
Detailed Analytics and Automated Reports
Educators and administrators benefit from implementing a K-12 SIS as well. In just seconds, they can generate detailed reports and view trends on student performance, attendance and more. Each report can then be further customized to show overall school performance, classroom metrics, or granular detail down to the individual student.
This gives teachers both a bird’s eye and detailed view of which students are excelling and may need more of a challenge, and which are struggling, so that they can adjust their strategies to give additional support where necessary.
Automated Notifications and Alerts
One of the best reasons to consider a K-12 student information system is its ability to automatically handle notifications and alerts. Teachers and administrators can set up various alerts, which are triggered, for example, when a student misses more than a specific number of days or when their grades drop below a certain amount.
Highly Customizable and Scalable
Finally, the ideal SIS for K-12 education is both versatile and customizable. Schools can easily tailor the system to their own unique needs with no technical experience needed. Whether your district has thousands of students or you need a solution for a smaller, more close-knit environment, the right SIS adapts to your needs, and not the other way around.
Plus, today’s advanced SIS platforms integrate seamlessly with existing educational tools like Blackboard, Canvas and more, further improving the school’s operations and overall efficiency.
When It Comes to Selecting a K-12 SIS, Maestro SIS is Truly the Best in Class
With all of these features in mind, it makes sense to choose a K-12 SIS that’s built by educators and administrators, for educators and administrators. Maestro SIS not only includes all of the aforementioned features, but also consistently incorporates new features and options to further enhance the system.
Today’s education system is more complex than ever. For this reason a K-12 SIS that incorporates centralized management of grades and attendance, real-time two-way communication and customizable features is a must. By automating much of the heavy lifting that schools and districts have had to do in the past, Maestro SIS is specifically designed to save time, improve resource usage and maximize impact so that educators can focus on what really matters — their students.
