Next-Generation Data Importation: Flexibility for the Future of Your School

The Arizona Framework for Measuring Teacher Effectiveness, Colorado State Council for Educator Effectiveness, The Massachusetts Task Force on the Evaluation of Teachers and Administrators… that which we call “instructional effectiveness” (IE) by any other name would still require accurate student enrollment and demographic information. With apologies to William Shakespeare, widespread interest in measuring the effectiveness of teachers has spawned legislation in many states outlining assessment requirements to guide the evaluation process for effectiveness of instructors and school administrators.

The need to measure progress regularly lies at the heart of instructional effectiveness initiatives and the ability to achieve positive results. To do so, districts will need to ensure accountability for changes within the instructional improvement and instructional effectiveness system to match the student information system (SIS) regularly, throughout the annual assessment cycle. Many state education systems face the question of how to achieve measurable, positive IE results and it can be daunting. But never fear, the Galileo Data Import (GDI) module is here to help! GDI is time-tested, having imported in excess of one million student records since being introduced over ten years ago. In addition to student enrollment and demographic information, GDI can also be used to update Galileo K-12 Online with teacher information, class-level and student user accounts, and IE-relevant course information such as subject area and grade level.

As part of the Galileo K-12 Online Instructional Improvement and Instructional Effectiveness System, all client districts are availed of the GDI module. The purpose of GDI is to allow districts to update student enrollment and demographic information with the frequency needed to support classroom initiatives – whether monthly or daily updates, GDI can meet the need.

Major advantages of the GDI module include:

1. Cost: In the increasingly challenging financial climate many state education systems face questions about how to fund worthy initiatives like IE. Client districts are able to update student enrollment with the frequency necessary to ensure classroom success at no additional cost over the annual Galileo K-12 Online subscription rate.


2. Data Pre-Validation: To start each program year, every district in need of frequent data importation will go through a validation process to ensure the export format meets their needs and the requirements of the Galileo K-12 Online Instructional Improvement and Instructional Effectiveness System. Once this is complete, SIS export files generated using a consistent format are assured of uploading efficiently and without risk to existing Galileo data.


3. Extensibility: Unlike many data exchange frameworks, GDI is flexible enough to accommodate the changing needs of the district SIS and data storage needs – at any point in the program year. This includes changes such as altering the format of a particular field (e.g., class name) up to, and including, the addition of new data fields at any time.


• A key advantage of this flexibility with regards to IE is the ability to add course subject data to the Galileo K-12 Online Instructional Improvement and Instructional Effectiveness System. Whether the information is stored in your SIS or you export a list of courses and update the subject manually, accurate alignment of district courses to the subject being taught is possible with Galileo and GDI.


4. Automation: Many student information systems are capable of scripted export. Add to these a batch FTP transfer to ATI servers and the entire import process can be “hands free” for the district once the initial pre-validation is completed.

The measurement of IE and student growth present the opportunity to perform timely intervention and create dynamic, customized assessments. Continuous measurement, evaluation, and adaptation of the assessment system enable a district to enhance learning for all students. The GDI module sets the table with up-to-date, accurate student data. If you would you like to learn more about frequent updates through GDI, please refer to the K-12 Importation Instructions or contact your Field Services Coordinator at 877.358.7617.