Northside Independent School District Taps the Power of Data-Driven Decision-Making to Improve Student Learning

Business Wire, Sept 16, 2004

NEW YORK -- Large Urban School Districts Select SchoolNet as Instructional Management Solution

SchoolNet, Inc. announced today that the Northside Independent School District, San Antonio, Texas, has selected SchoolNet's Instructional Management Solutions (IMS) for data-driven decision-making. The district joins a growing number of large urban districts using SchoolNet's open, content-neutral platform for district-wide data analysis and reporting, centralized data integration and management, comprehensive benchmark testing, standards-based curriculum and instructional management, web-based communication and collaboration and access to interactive course materials.

One of the fastest growing districts in Texas, Northside Independent School District serves approximately 74,000 students and plans to roll out its system in early 2005.

"SchoolNet's open, content-neutral philosophy and its Schools Interoperability Framework certified solutions ensure the flexibility we are looking for," said Dr. John M. Folks, superintendent, Northside Independent School District. "This approach gives us the freedom to use and integrate the content we select in a single, unified resource."

The Texas district will implement SchoolNet's four primary solutions: Assess(TM), Align(TM), Outreach(TM) and Account(TM), which includes an Instructional Data Warehouse component.

Account: Through Account, administrators are directly in touch with district data, providing a powerful way to track and generate data-analysis reports and incorporate that data into the decision-making process across classrooms, schools, and regions.

Assess: Assess allows educators to manage the scheduling, dissemination, administration and processing of benchmark tests.

Align: Through Align, districts deploy their standards-based curriculum and offer teachers a dashboard to view differentiated student performance data and to plan individualized instruction.

Outreach: Through Outreach, administrators, teachers, students and parents share best practices, collaborate on projects, and receive access to information on every aspect of schooling.

"The selection of SchoolNet's open, content-neutral Instructional Management Solutions by Northside Independent School District is indicative of a growing trend in K-12 districts," said Jonathan D. Harber, president and CEO, SchoolNet. "Instead of locking educators into using specific content, districts realize their own curriculum vision by integrating locally selected resources chosen by content and curriculum experts."

About Northside Independent School District

Northside Independent School District (NISD) is the sixth-largest public school system in Texas and is one of the fastest growing school districts in the state. Each year, NISD opens two or three schools to accommodate the growing enrollment. With over 10,000 employees, NISD is also one of the largest employers in South Texas. The sprawling suburban/urban/rural school system is often referred to as the "destination district" in San Antonio because almost one half of all the new homes built in the County are built within its boundaries.

About SchoolNet, Inc.

K-12 public school districts nationwide are collaborating with SchoolNet to implement comprehensive, Web-based Instructional Management Solutions that transform data into a powerful tool to improve teaching and learning. Since 1998, SchoolNet has been the leader in data-driven decision-making solutions that enable districts to integrate, access and analyze student demographic and performance data across their schools, classrooms, student groups and individual students. SchoolNet is passionate about helping administrators, educators and students achieve extraordinary results: achievement gaps narrowed, Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) goals met, teacher proficiency enhanced, and learning accelerated.

SchoolNet's Instructional Management Solutions, which meet industry standards such as SIF (Schools Interoperability Framework), A2A (Align to Achieve), and GEM (Gateway to Education Materials), are used successfully by some of the largest school districts across the country.