NY1: More Schools Passing Up DOE Database

When teachers at some 200 city schools want to check their students' progress, they don't turn to cabinets full of files or grade books. They just click on their pictures to get what they need: everything from attendance by class period, parents' cell phone numbers, or the type of help the student should get because of a disability. It also gives them the hard numbers which include state exam scores and day-to-day grades, like last night's math homework or last week's chemistry quiz. At home, parents can log on to get the same information.

"It’s just, ya know, amazing how much information's there for the parents to see," said New Dorp High School Parent Coordinator Donna Lechillgrien.

Schools call it transformational -- the same word former schools chancellor Joel Klein used to describe a different data system, one the DOE developed. The city spent $80 million so schools could have the so-called ARIS system for free, but more and more of them are paying to use another system instead.

Thirty percent of high schools have bought that system, called DataCation. They pay from $4,000 to $75,000 each. Add it all up and city principals will spend about $2 million this year alone for an alternative to the DOE system.

"ARIS gave us access to students’ previous grades, but it did not give us access to transcripts, it did not give us access to programs, current information. DataCation updates their information almost daily," said New Dorp High School Teacher Michael Hubbs.

ARIS had a bumpy launch in 2008, and although many of the early problems have been fixed, schools and parents complain that it still doesn't give them enough.

"ARIS doesn't give us the information that this is giving us. I am getting a grade that she's got a 98 on an exam. ARIS is giving me what she did in third grade. I'm not interested in what she did in third grade anymore, I'm interested in what she's doing now," said Parent Jackie Tripodi.

IBM systems like ARIS have come under fire elsewhere for taking too long and not being user-friendly. North Carolina canceled its contract and California officials called for their buildout to be suspended pending a wholesale review. But DOE officials say they're proud of ARIS.

"It's become a model that New York State is looking to emulate. So we are likely to see what we've built start to be scaled in other places in the coming years," said DOE Chief Academic Officer Shael Polakow-Suransky.

And while the DOE touts its own system, a growing number of schools say they would rather pay for something else.

It's a tale of two systems: computer systems to track how kids are doing in school. In part one of her special report, NY1's Lindsey Christ explained how the city's Department of Education spent tens of millions of dollars on one of those systems, and how leaders in a growing number of schools are using the other, which they say does a far better job. In part two, we head inside two schools to see how each of the systems works, or doesn't.

Educators at IS 136 spend a lot of time collecting and organizing data about the students there. They have to. They keep charts, graphs, and hundreds of binders. They build Excel spreadsheets to sort numbers, and email every update to everyone on staff.

"It's a lot of work. And we're still finding our way," said IS 136 Assistant Principal Sarah Herbert.

One tool they use is the DOE's data system, ARIS. It cost $80 million. It was supposed to be a one-stop shop for data. It hasn't worked out that way.

"The problem is that there are so many systems that schools use in independence of each other that ARIS is the largest of all of them. But it doesn't have the depth that a school really needs. Pulling up trends, like a child is always absent on a Thursday and a Friday of every month. Or pulling the behavior into it. You have to go to a different system to look at behavior," said IS 136 Data Specialist Samuel Zimmerman.

But all of that is in one system at a growing number of city schools. Two hundred are now paying to use a program called DataCation. New Dorp High School is one of them.

"It changed the culture of our building. It changed the communication of our building because everything is at their finger tips," said New Dorp High School Principal Deirdre DeAngelis.

"You’re talking pass-fail rate, average class grades, attendance, ranking of students, where they fall in, anecdotal logs on how the student’s progressing...grades themselves, Regents scores, transcripts, program cards," said New Dorp High School Teacher Michael Hubbs.

DataCation automatically organizes information differently for each person: teachers, parents, administrators, guidance counselors, students -- showing them what they need to do their job.

"I am able now to track my athletes on a daily basis," said New Dorp High School Athletic Director Richard Rucireto.

"When I forget my homework, I could look at it, cause the teacher update it every evening," said New Dorp High School Student Jeffrey Lam.

"I know her program, I know her schedule, I know her grades, I know when she was absent, I know when she was late. And when she's late, I'm able to say, 'Why were you late to class?' And the information is current. I know what is going on, I feel informed and it empowers me to help her make the right decisions toward her education," said New Dorp High School Parent Jackie Tripodi.

The DOE has been telling schools to use the data to help gauge and improve the education process. And while many are, it's just not being done with the system the DOE paid $80 million for.

City teachers can use all the help they can get in evaluating how their students are doing and what they need to succeed. Department of Education officials say that's why they have spent millions building a computer data system. Yet in this last part of a three-report series, NY1's Education reporter Lindsey Christ shows why more and more schools are turning to an alternative program, even though they have to pay for it.

When the Department of Education launched its ARIS computer system in 2008, Chancellor Joel Klein called it "truly revolutionary."

Klein said at the time, "It gives principals and teachers a single source for information about their students. It allows them to use this information to identify quickly areas where their students are struggling."

DOE officials say they have spent $78 million of the $81 million contract, and while more teachers and parents are logging on, it has not turned out to be the "single source" it was supposed to be.

Educators say what they really need is not quarterly report card grades or annual state test scores that ARIS provides. They need day-to-day information. So more than 200 schools now pay for a system that gives them that, called "DataCation," which was developed by teachers in Brooklyn.

"If I am able to run cross-analysis to see what was their Regents exam score, compared with how much homework they did and if they were in class 90 percent of the time, I am able to now target kids who need to help," said Peter Bencivenga of DataCation. "And by bringing all that data together and making it easy to use, it becomes a powerful tool."

DOE officials say ARIS is a good system and a huge improvement over old systems. The state Department of Education says it also hopes to start using it.

Former Chancellor Joel Klein remains a big supporter. In fact, the division of News Corporation where he now works recently bought the company behind ARIS.

Although city schools will spend more than $2 million this year to pay for the alternative system, officials say they are not discouraged.

"There are things that we didn't build it to do that people want, and it's good that people are finding resources that do those things," said DOE Chief Academic Officer Shael Polakow-Suransky.

The DOE says it will continue to work to give ARIS more of what educators want, spending $3 million of stimulus money and private grants.

"The biggest feedback that came out of the conversations with principals and teaches around ARIS is 'This is great, this is a good start, but how do we get to the things we are doing everyday?'" said Polakow-Suransky. "Those aren't moving right now in ARIS, and so getting more of that local data is the point."

It is a point that hundreds of schools have already picked up on.