EDPlan Insight Supports the Learning of Every Student in Canada
Streamlined, Digital, Data-Driven Workflows
EDPlan Insight™ is designed to positively impact learning for all students. It does not matter if a student is struggling or exceeding expectations. Our comprehensive, data-driven technology platform provides teachers and school administrators with the information needed to make the best decisions for each individual child as well as the whole school community. Randy McGraw is an education consultant at Public Consulting Group (PCG), and he knows, firsthand, how EDPlan Insight increases positive outcomes for students, classrooms, and school districts through this all-in-one system.
Real Results in Canadian Schools
Randy has been in the field of Canadian education since 1986. In addition to teaching elementary, middle, and secondary levels in various settings, Randy was an administrator in elementary, middle, and secondary schools and two alternative school settings. He used EDPlan Insight to achieve meaningful, measurable success. Randy also received Canada’s Outstanding Principals Award in its inaugural year (2005) based on his use of data to support student learning.
Today, as a consultant at PCG, Randy’s extensive education experience is invaluable, as he shares the ways that EDPlan Insight can streamline workflow processes and provide essential data to all Canadian education team members conveniently and in real time.
When Randy was a school administrator, during one particular year when the district started to administer a local assessment, it collected a considerable amount of valuable information, but there was not equal access to it for all education team members. For example, the reading levels of all children in the district were recorded through paper forms that were stored throughout the district.
After years of struggling with various solutions to give equal access to all team members (with many of these solutions being labour-intensive), EDPlan Insight was implemented by the district. Every teacher and administrator then had access to all local student assessment data, including reading levels— immediately after the data was entered into the system. The system also loaded data from the district student information system (SIS) on a daily basis as well as data extracts from outside sources, including provincial assessments, as provided.
For this school system, EDPlan Insight also displayed comprehensive student profiles, showing evidence of student learning throughout the school year. It displayed customized dashboards and reports so that strategies for improvement could be created at the classroom, school, and district levels. EDPlan Insight’s digital system and streamlined process not only helped the district to improve outcomes, it also saved the staff many hours of paperwork facilitation. Randy also witnessed teachers using the option to adjust support schedules from a term-by-term basis to a week-by-week basis.
A Customizable, Turn-Key Solution
Configured as a customizable, turn-key solution, EDPlan Insight allows for quick implementation, training for teachers and administrators, and the ability for school districts to build and manage their own local assessments in the system. From a school administrator’s perspective, Randy found these features particularly valuable, because the centralized local assessment data gave his district the opportunity to identify the most vulnerable schools in the district and provide insight into areas for improvement. In one case, Randy witnessed a school’s outcomes improving to meet a top performing school with regard to primary reading levels. Randy said, “when you know where the kids are at, you know how to support them and can move forward with reading-level support with a laser-sharp focus.”
Convenient, Cloud-Based Functionality
EDPlan Insight’s convenient functionality is a significant benefit for education teams. The secure platform uses Canadian cloud-based technology and can be used on mobile devices and multiple browsers. It also directly exports reports into PDF, Excel, PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, and XML formats—with graphics. Most of the data is uploaded through a district’s SIS, and local assessment information is entered by teachers through a user-friendly interface. As soon as the data is entered, it is available to all members of the education team who have access to a student’s record.
In addition to saving an education team time, EDPlan Insight’s functionality optimizes school districts’ valuable resources. Randy said, “districts don’t just allocate resources based on school size. They also allocate resources based on supports they need in place, such as bonus time for teachers in vulnerable schools. There might also be a need in a specific area for a staff in-service.” With EDPlan Insight, districts can use the data provided to utilize their resources more efficiently and target the use of them more specifically.
Benefits That Reach Students Directly
In EDPlan Insight, each student has a digital profile that includes demographic information, course history (including subject areas), assigned teachers, and key performance indicators. There is also a historical summary report of all local assessment results, and any assessments that meet provincial needs can be uploaded. Comprehensive student profiles are invaluable, as teachers plan for measurable student success.
One teacher shared a story with Randy that demonstrated just how valuable these profiles are, not only to districts for planning purposes, but also to students directly. This teacher’s student worked with another education team member in a separate classroom to complete a reading-level assessment. As soon as the student completed the assessment, the teacher was able to access the assessment results in EDPlan Insight before the student returned to their main classroom. When the student arrived at the door, the teacher had a big smile and congratulated the student for going up three reading levels. This is EDPlan Insight at its best.
Learn how EDPlan Insight can help your district to support the learning of every student with our comprehensive, digital, data-driven platform. Contact us today!