Newschoolyard is not a SISsy
Two recent conversations with prospective clients have brought the Student Information System (SIS) topic to the fore. For the record, Newschoolyard is not actively developing data bridges, API tools, data shuttles or other web services to integrate web-based data with SIS data. Our view is that most schools fall into one of three camps:
1. Their scale and scope are such that the benefit of rich integration is negligible.
2. They seek the Holy Grail of a completely integrated system.
3. They are running an SIS from a company that has built a web interface, in which case Newschoolyard will integrate a single sign-on (SSO) protocol for access to that data from the website.
We are a good match for groups 1 and 3.
For now, we think that aside from a few basic points of data integration, and an SSO protocol, the website piece and the SIS piece can co-exist INDEPENDENTLY of one another. We believe this page on the site of our friends at inResonance raises a lot of good points on the topic:
http://www.inresonance.com/integration
If the market tells us we have to change our thinking on this point we will do so...and we are eager to partner with companies who provide such integration as a third-party layer of added value for those schools who demand it. Conversations on this last point are in progress on multiple fronts. And finally, our system does include a secure and robust parent portal, pulling from all points of web-based data filtered for any number of specific groups within schools.
So what were the two recent conversations all about? The first was with a school person of unusual multiple roles: IT guy and Director of Development. His view was that SSO is not quite enough--that in an ideal world parents logging into the website should see the same graphic interface whether getting sports updates or reading grades and comments. The second conversation was with the author of a robust home grown Drupal site who believes adamantly that if technology is capable of providing families with one-stop access to all the information they could ever want, then the school should provide that access. These are compelling arguments, but ones that we at Newschoolyard, for now at least, are not falling in line with. Commenting is activated on this blog so we'd like to know what others within schools think.
As for me, for the past six years my own kid has been in schools where I have had access to log into the SIS directly from a secure portal of the website and I have done so as many times over these six years as I have walked on the surface of the moon. Perhaps I'm missing something, but I get plenty of information about my student from talking with her.
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Comments
Mark, I think that this issue will continue to grow in importance, as schools provide richer data services to their users, internal and external.
I don't really agree with your conclusion. I find it helpful to consider new website functionality one case at a time, rather than treating "integration" as a separate feature. At our school, each website feature that taps into our SIS was evaluated in a separate planning conversation and developed at a different time. Some have had a tremendously positive effect, for example our online student photo directory and the admission inquiry forms. They met both specific community and business needs.
Do people use our SIS-integrated features? The family directory received 300 hits today. That suggests to me that people find it useful.
Single sign-on is a good feature, but it doesn't replace integration. People appreciate the convenience of remembering one login, but they really notice the graphic and UI transition from one site to the next. We provide views of SIS data right alongside other content of interest to specific audiences.
Our school falls into your third category. In fact, we actually did purchas the online community component of our SIS company six years ago. It was a total disaster. The product was difficult to set up and hard to use. It turns out that the company that makes our SIS makes good client-server products and terrible web-based products. When I came on board, everyone with whom I spoke wanted to get rid of that product. If we do not expect a website company to provide full integration with a SIS, then it follows that we also should not expect a SIS company to produce great website interfaces!
Our SIS company charges a substantial additional acquisition fee and annual maintenance charge for each online component. Given that practically all school departments are becoming more interested in publishing and collecting data online, it is simply not financially sustainable to purchase all of these products from a single company. We needed a general, in-house approach to access that data from any system.
I know another website company that offers many SIS features within their website. The website serves both as external presentation tool and internal SIS application. However, now all of their internal users have to use an externally-hosted web app to do their daily work. It hardly seems ideal.
Should Newschoolyard websites be capable of accessing local data systems? As schools become more sophisticated in their uses of data-driven systems, I imagine that many of your clients will express specific website needs that make good sense. I can't comment on whether it makes good business sense to get into that game!
From the small school perspective Mark is right on the mark. We recently redesigned our website an populated it with available software from the market place, i.e. constant contact. It is highly functional and low cost. I think the gravy train for the big glitzy website designers is running dry. The bottom line - Newschoolyard got it right!
Dave Faus
Falmouth Academy
My comment is primarily for Richard. I think that you're right in general about integration: it makes lots of good sense, both for users and for the schools. However - it's an unknown at this point exactly how well each SIS plays with web technologies. Drupal does a great job producing and consuming feeds of data, but that's not always all that is needed.
Our feeling in designing Newschoolyard is that we want to approach the topic carefully. SSO is a first step. Once we get a sense of what makes the most sense (what systems are most common, what technologies/methodologies are most common for data exchange) then we can look to develop these areas further. We recognize that this is never going to be a 'one size fits all' topic, so from the outset we're focusing on making Newschoolyard the best possible external solution. Then we can evaluate where we should focus our efforts to develop greater capabilities for truly integrating with internal systems.
One of the more interesting developments for Drupal is the Middleware Server/Client modules. While they are currently still in development, it may open some interesting doors for using XML/RPC to exchange and truly sync data with a variety of platforms.
Cheers, and thanks for the thoughtful response.
Jason Pamental
Platform Architect
Newschoolyard
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