The Digital Educator 3 | Page 10

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Say Yes to the SMS

How it Works

The Student Management System tracks the academic, social/emotional, and health/wellness status of every student in K-12 by drawing on academic, disciplinary and attendance data from the district and information provided on surveys of students’ parents, teachers. Students who are in grades six or higher are also asked to complete surveys. The system crunches this data and produces Individual Student Growth Plans for every student. These can be accessed by teachers and building administrators to understand where each student is off track, on track, or on track to thrive.

Say Yes Site Facilitators engage parents, students and teachers to complete the surveys and input them into the system. They also research community-based services that are available to help address any student challenges that are identified and connect that student and their family to the appropriate resources.

Timing

Surveys were distributed and collected at several schools this past year as part of the pilot testing phase of the system. It is anticipated that all schools will have access to the system for the 2014-15 school year.

If you have questions about the Student Management System or about Say Yes Buffalo, ask your school’s Say Yes Site Facilitator, call 716.247.5310 or visit www.SayYesBuffalo.org.

New Tool to Help Keep Students on Track for Academic Success

Say Yes Buffalo and its partners are committed to implementing data-driven programming to solve the challenges facing students in the Buffalo Public Schools.

To hold these efforts accountable, the following student data is measured:

Enrollment

Attendence

Academic Achievement

Disciplinary Suspensions

High School Graduation Rates

Postsecondary Matricultion

Postsecondary Completion

Measures to Achieve Student Success

Many of you must have heard of Say Yes Buffalo by now and its pledge to provide tuition scholarships to graduates of the Buffalo Public Schools. In addition to this, the local nonprofit organization is also providing funding and technical support for a range of other activities to support school staff and students toward the goals of increasing high school and post-secondary graduation rates.

One such project is the BPS-Say Yes Student Management System. Say Yes is providing the financial support and technical assistance to develop and implement this new state-of-the-art student monitoring and intervention system—as well as training support for school staff to learn how to use it.