The simple days of grammar school, now long gone, have given way to a m
yriad of reforms. The most recent is No Child Left Behind.
The legislation is designed to change the culture of America's schools by closing the achievement gap, offering more flexibility, giving parents more options, and teaching students based on what works.
Under the act's accountability provisions, states must describe how they will close the achievement gap and make sure all students, including those who are disadvantaged, achieve academic proficiency. They must produce annual state and school district report cards that inform parents and communities about state and school progress.
States are relying upon data mining techniques to identify districts, school, and classroom performance improvement areas. In Oklahoma, a data warehouse, called Class Server, supports district and state reporting needs and provides analysis capabilities used to drive recommendations for improving student achievement based on numerous data points collected from student systems.
With data warehouse integration, Class Server information is readily correlated with actual measures of student achievement. Oklahoma schools can track the long term effectiveness of changes to curriculum, resources and teaching methodologies for individuals or any subgroup. Analysis and reporting can be done by administrators using familiar tools and interfaces within the existing Microsoft Office environment. Information for students and parents at home or for the community is easily and securely shared through the Web.