Clover Park School Board Talks Technology

Slow but steady is the strategy in winning this educational race.

At their meeting Monday night, Clover Park School Board members heard a progress report on Versi-Fit, the student-data system district officials hoped to have implemented by Jan. 1.

However, various issues, including problems with the formatting of data as it is inputted into the system and personnel changes, have resulted in a new target date of April 4 for administrators and board members to begin using the system, and teachers a few weeks later.

The system, referred to as a Data Database, will combine student data from yearly state testing, as well as MAPS (Measure of Academic Progress) and DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills).

Versi-Fit is expected to give teachers a new way to look at data to help them create new teaching methods in an electronic, graphical format.

 “We’re getting there, but it’s a slow go,” said deputy superintendent Keith Rittel, who estimated that the work is 90 to 95 percent complete.

The school board got the recent chance to preview the system, but some members were unable to log on. And while board member Joe Vlaming could, all he could see was data from Harrison Prep.

“But it’s data,” he said jokingly.

Some board members raised the potential issue of parents wanting the data to be more transparent so they can see it, but Rittel said that is not a priority at this time.

“This was to put in front of teachers and administrators the most important data so they can make decisions,” he said. “It’s not to say that it isn’t a priority (for parents to see the data), but the goal now is to get the system going.”

But board member Carole Jacobs said that she wouldn’t be comfortable with parents having access to the database, citing the schools’ current system of showing student data as being sufficient.

“They’ve got what they need, and it protects student privacy,” she said.

Board president Walt Kellcy Jr. said that his first concern was getting the system up and running so that educators can look at such statistics as graduation rates, test scores and other “big-picture things.”

“The data they need to impact student achievement – that has to be the priority.”

Rittel said that they would rather do it correctly than just launch the system and deal with the ensuing problems. He admitted that the initial Jan. 1 launch date was “way too ambitious.”

Superintendent Debbie LeBeau said that an administrator in the Highline School District warned her that “it was a journey destination that we would arrive at on some date – and now I see exactly what he meant.”

Jacobs said that she did not have a problem with the delays.

“I would much rather do it slowly, correctly – and once,” she said.

Also during the meeting, LeBeau announced March 24 as the date for the groundbreaking ceremony on the new Hudtloff Middle School.

The ceremony is slated to begin at 5:30 p.m., which Kellcy called the “perfect opportunity to make it as much of a community event as possible.”

Besides, LeBeau pointed out in announcing the date, “We should have daylight by then.”