Be the leader you wish you had — Simon Sinek, CEO, The Optimism Company
Teachers may be the lifeblood of a school, but school leaders are its beating heart.
Just as teachers inspire and encourage students to become more engaged and passionate about their education, leaders inspire teachers. They have a pivotal role in upholding the morale, reputation, and culture not just of teachers but also of the surrounding community.
In other words, they are the pillar upon which the success of students, teachers, schools, and school districts rests.
But what exactly is a school leader? And what does it take to be an effective one? While we don't really have a cut-and-dry, one-size-fits-all answer to the question, there are certain strategies, attitudes, skills, and traits that most effective leaders — school leaders included — have in common.
A generation that acquires knowledge without ever understanding how that knowledge can benefit the community is a generation that is not learning what it means to be citizens in a democracy. — Elizabeth L. Hollander
Humans are and always have been a social species. Even before the rise of anything resembling a society, it was through communication and collaboration with one another that we were able to thrive. A good school leader recognizes this, just as they recognize that in order to be successful, a school must be part of its surrounding community.
Such a leader cultivates partnerships between students, teachers, parents, districts, and community members, then leverages these partnerships to promote cooperation. The effectiveness of this undertaking largely hinges on the leader's visibility in the community. They must themself have an active role, one where they always demonstrate transparency, accountability, and a shared sense of purpose.
Outstanding leaders go out of their way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it’s amazing what they can accomplish — Sam Walton, Walmart and Sam’s Club Founder
It's no secret that burnout is at an all-time high amongst educators. In 2024, for instance, 39% of K-12 teachers reported always or very often feeling burnt out. What's more, only 30% of U.S. K-12 employees reported feeling engaged at work in 2023.
One of the most effective ways to address this problem is to simply be a leader teachers can trust — someone they know is supportive and understanding of their needs and challenges. People who trust their leaders are in their corner are more engaged, more productive, more collaborative, and ultimately more motivated to give it their all in the workplace.
The best leaders I’ve gotten to know aren’t just the boldest thinkers; they are the most insatiable learners.—John Gardner, author and University Professor.
There is no such thing as perfect, complete knowledge of a topic. An effective leader accepts this reality, but engages in a lifelong pursuit all the same. Knowing it all might be impossible, but knowing enough and acquiring more knowledge each day?
That's a winning mindset.
This doesn't just apply to leadership, either. School leaders should encourage their faculty to become lifelong learners, as well. That way, they'll be able to change and grow with the world, embracing and applying breakthroughs in teaching styles, techniques, and technology — preparing themselves for the present while also laying the groundwork to plan for the future.
Leadership is the capacity to transform vision into reality —Warren G.Bennis, founding chairman at USC’s Leadership Institute
The best leaders are visionaries who understand how to turn their visions into concrete ideas. That's well-established knowledge. What you might not know, however, is that vision alone isn't enough.
The ability to convey that vision to colleagues and subordinates is just as important.
As such, the best school leaders must not only have a strong sense of what's best for their district, they must also be able to collaborate with teachers, students, parents, and communities. They need to know how to build the motivation and inspiration to get everyone working collaboratively toward their goals. Finally, they must be focused, with a well-executed plan and the foresight to avoid getting sidetracked by unrelated issues.
Every student can learn, just not on the same day, or in the same way. — Professor George Evans, Ph.D.
Individual Education Plans (IEPs) are a must-have for a modern school district. Presented with a learning environment tailored to their needs, learning abilities, personal traits, and challenges, students can truly thrive. The school leader's job is to do what's necessary to support the creation and management of IEPs.
That starts with collaboration. Establish a continuous dialogue between students, teachers and parents, and then listen to teachers when they say what they need to ensure the best possible outcome for each student. It's also worth looking into deploying AI-driven education technology capable of supporting adaptive learning.
Become the kind of leader that people would follow voluntarily; even if you had no title or position — Brian Tracy, motivational speaker and self-development author.
Genuine enthusiasm is infectious. Moreover, when coming from leadership, it shows dedication to the well-being of both the district and its teachers and students. That, in turn, motivates everyone to do their best.
To put it another way, a good leader never loses sight of why they got into education in the first place — and as a result, they have a tremendous positive impact on their district's morale and culture.
The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man. — George Bernard Shaw
We learn more from our mistakes than from our successes. That's something many of us forget as we progress from childhood into adulthood. We're cautious about making mistakes because we're scared of their potential consequences.
An effective school leader has no time for this attitude. Rather than relying solely on the established way of doing things, they aren't afraid to think creatively and engage in some calculated risk-taking. And when teachers see this attitude reflected in their leadership, they become more inclined to do the same.
It's a top-down strategy that works — and one that's immensely helpful to students, as well. Teachers can encourage students to be more daring and creative with their work, inspiring growth and potentially sparking new interests. Just remember the one attitude that ties everything together: Reward innovation, celebrate success, and do not punish failure.
People of integrity and honesty not only practice what they preach, they are what they preach. — David A. Bednar, educator and President of Idaho’s Brigham Young University from 1997 to 2004.
If there's one truth about effective leadership that transcends industries, it's that the best leaders have integrity. They lead by example, practicing what they preach and serving as role models for everyone who follows them. They never ask people to do something they wouldn't, and their actions and words always line up with one another.
To put it another way, they are:
Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort.— Paul J. Meyer, Pioneer of the self-help industry
A leader doesn't run from challenges. Instead, they overcome obstacles through a combination of planning, determination, and skill. Within the context of a school district, the importance of this kind of leader cannot be understated — nor can the impact of a leader who avoids or ignores obstacles.
This isn't just about problem-solving, either. It's about commitment. A good leader sticks with their district to the best of their ability rather than ducking out the moment things become challenging.
Technology will never replace great teachers, but technology in the hands of great teachers is transformational. - George Couros, Creator of ConnectedPrincipals.com and host of education podcast The Innovator's Mindset
Last but certainly not least, an effective leader provides their people with the tools they need to do their jobs as effectively as possible. That means giving them technology that empowers them to become more resourceful, productive, and efficient. It also means allowing them to automate cumbersome, tedious work so they can focus more on doing what they do best.
Sparkrock offers a comprehensive, cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution that seamlessly integrates finance, HRP, and student management into a unified ecosystem. Purpose-built for K-12 districts and other educational institutions, it arms teachers and leaders with everything they need to transform the educational experience.
Want to experience the transformative power of Sparkrock 365 firsthand? Book a demo to see what’s possible.
Related: Are you using your Sparkrock 365 ERP to Its Greatest Potential?
Budgeting is one of the most labor-intensive undertakings a school district will ever experience.
It's also one of the most vital. Your district's budget is about more than fiscal planning — it's a ledger of your promises to the community, including faculty and students.
Let's talk about how you can make sure you fulfill those promises while also helping administrators set better goals and allocate resources more effectively. It all starts with making the right budgeting decisions.
The school budgeting process can be broken down into four broad steps: reviewing, planning, forecasting, and implementation.
Reviewing prior years is crucial for ensuring your current year's budget is accurate — mostly because it allows you to identify areas where overspending or underspending occurred. Make sure you consider your cost base during these reviews, and benchmark your budgets against similar schools or school districts. You should also assess how well those budgets aligned with your forecasts if any exist.
Remember: Unless you start your budget from scratch, you're basically writing a sequel to prior years. Take a look at last year's budget and how well it aligns with your forecasts.
You'll also want to look at any lapsed or uncommitted budget appropriations so they can be addressed in the current year.
Next, note your staffing, accommodation, and resource needs for the coming year. You'll need to model a range of cost and income scenarios based on your data and benchmarks. You'll also want to consider critical factors such as:
Some educational budgets are built by projecting the revenue and then using that to tell the administrative side what they can afford. While that's fine for most districts, we still recommend setting priorities for the team. Start by reaching out to administration for a statement of budgetary priorities.
These may include additional support for special education students, reducing class size, adding emotional learning to the curriculum, learning aftercare, or raising test scores. All of these factors must be developed outside the business environment. However, the business must keep the admittance to rank priorities, define them, and keep expenditure discussions on track.
Getting accurate staffing composition costs can be challenging for any budget development team, though it's a bit easier if you're within the contract terms for your district’s collective bargaining agreement, the process can be easier for you. In that case, the only real unknowns in your budget are retirements, disability, or maternity leaves.
With that said, unsettled areas in a collective bargaining agreement can cause problems. If that is the case, you might have to use different tactics for your budget.
You should now assemble your models into several "best guess" three-to-five-year forecasts for your budget. We recommend using a combination of historical data and benchmarks from both your district and other school districts to try to get as accurate a prediction as possible. You'll want to account for factors including, but not limited to:
AI-driven analytics can help immensely in terms of making more accurate predictions, as you'll be able to leverage algorithms capable of parsing and assessing far larger datasets than if you were working manually.
Once expenditures match revenues, you can share the budget with the administrative team, board, staff members, and the community for finalization and approval. Just bear in mind that as priorities shift, you may still need to make the occasional modification.
Once your budget gets approval from the governing body, it's time for implementation. Make sure you continuously monitor all areas of your spending, and review your budget monthly to identify areas of potential risk. This feeds back into step one, providing you with datapoints to assist in the next year's review and forecasting.
A good school budget starts with a solid foundation — so with that in mind, these best practices will get you on the right track.
A budget calendar plays a key role in both planning and execution, specifying deadlines and milestones while also designating responsibilities to any involved stakeholders. It can also serve as an index for tracking your development process. Build yours by working backward from the current year, then share it with both the board of education and your administrative team.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, staff salaries represent the largest percentage of most education budgets. With that in mind, it's essential that you're as accurate as possible. That means you'll need to build a staffing roster and account, to the best of your ability, for new hires, retirements, lateral movements, leaves, terminations, and resignations.
For certain expenses, it's better to work with an experienced professional rather than attempting to forecast costs on your own. Health insurance is one of the best examples of this in practice, mostly because of how complex it can be to plan. This is, at least in part, due to the fact that while some districts provide their own insurance, others belong to regional or state joint insurance funds.
Making cuts is part of the process, like it or not. At some point, you're going to need to remove a line item or two from your budget. Ranking your line items in order of importance will make it a lot easier to figure out what to axe — especially since you can do it without engaging in endless back-and-forth conversations.
A financial management system like what you'd find in an enterprise resource planning (ERP) tool takes the guesswork out of your budget planting, allowing you to maintain greater visibility into and control over transactions and financial data. Some platforms even incorporate HRP and workforce management, making things even easier on your accounting team.
Need help managing the budgeting needs of your educational institution? That's our specialty — hosted in the Microsoft intelligent cloud, Sparkrock simplifies purchasing, reporting, budgeting, and workforce management. Book a demo to learn more.
To say that 2024 was a big year for education and EdTech would be putting it lightly.
The continued evolution of innovations such as artificial intelligence has fundamentally disrupted the landscape for K-12 districts and post-secondary institutions alike. Things don't show any sign of slowing down, either — if anything, we'll likely see even greater changes in the New Year.
The good news is that with a little awareness and preparation, you can take full advantage of those trends. Rather than feeling overwhelmed by new technology, you can leverage it to enhance productivity, optimize spending, reduce overhead, and ultimately deliver better student outcomes.
Let's go over some of the biggest education trends you need to understand for 2025.
Unsurprisingly, artificial intelligence (AI) remains at the top of our list. We've already seen the technology put to use with adaptive learning — a personalized approach to education where a course's content and delivery methods dynamically adjust based on a student's needs, preferences, and performance. Many EdTech vendors have also integrated AI into their offerings for a number of different purposes:
These use cases are only the beginning. In 2025, AI-driven education will continue to evolve, offering deeper personalization and better outcomes. This evolution won't come without hurdles, though, which will include privacy concerns, skill gaps, and the question of where teachers fit into this new, more intelligent model of education.
Modern students require knowledge and skills they can't get with textbooks and summative assessments. That's why, for the past few years, educators have been changing their curricula to focus on preparing students for life outside the classroom. In addition to social-emotional learning and soft skills such as communication, critical thinking, and creativity, we've also seen digital literacy take center stage, with course materials focused on:
In the past decade, technology has obliterated plenty of concepts that were once deemed normal. For one, there's the idea that post-secondary education is the only way one can qualify for certain jobs. While this still holds true for careers in fields such as healthcare, businesses are increasingly hiring people for their skills and mindset rather than their knowledge.
Moreover, to keep up with changing job markets and business landscapes, organizations are establishing alternative credentials and education pathways. In Spring 2024 alone, for example, graduate certificates increased by 10% and undergraduate certificates grew by 4%. At the same time, more people than ever are becoming lifelong learners, continuously upskilling and seeking new opportunities for professional development.
This is probably one trend you're not terribly surprised to see on the list. After all, the transition to hybrid learning has been ongoing for several years now. You can expect this to remain the case in 2025.
As technology becomes more robust and widely available, more schools will take the plunge and embrace digital education. Case in point, it's been predicted that in 2025, hybrid learning options will become the norm for post-secondary education.
School districts both generate and collect a massive amount of data. Until recently, however, they've not had the capacity to leverage that data for any tangible purpose. Thanks to AI, that's changing.
Armed with sophisticated data orchestration and advanced algorithms, educators can now go beyond simple performance tracking, enabling use cases that include, but are not limited to:
Brain-computer interfaces (BCI) are currently the realm of eccentric billionaires and science fiction. That won't always be the case, though. Over the next decade, school districts should expect to see an intersection between neurotechnology and education — one with the potential to completely revolutionize how people both teach and learn.
Some researchers even believe it might be possible to monitor neural activity as a means of optimizing how we learn information and develop skills.
We're probably still a few years out from anything quite that disruptive or world-shattering. At the same time, we expect research into neuroeducation to continue into 2025. There may be some limited experimentation around improving the learning experience for students with disabilities, though it's likely much of the conversation in the New Year will revolve around the moral and ethical implications of technology that can literally read one's mind.
Imagine a classroom where, instead of sitting at traditional tables or desks, the students don virtual reality headsets and dive into a digital learning space. Picture an instructor who can teach students as though they're sitting across from them in the same room, even from halfway across the world. Or, if you'd prefer, visualize a history course where, instead of studying the development of an ancient city, students can wander its streets and experience it firsthand.
A lot of that probably sounds like it's taken straight from the pages of a science fiction novel, but it's not. These are all examples of immersive learning which are at least theoretically possible today. As virtual reality and augmented reality technology becomes more sophisticated and widely-available, we could well see it become a fixture of the modern learning experience.
And 2025 could well be the year that finally happens. Even if it's not, gamification and hands-on learning will continue to replace passive education.
According to a survey of school leaders, a lack of student focus is one of the most significant barriers to learning, with 75% noting it has a moderate to severe impact. Research by Dr. Gloria Mark found that the average person's attention span has dropped from two-and-a-half minutes in 2004 to an average of forty-seven seconds in 2024. Finally, the 2022 Program for International Student Assessment found that two-thirds of U.S. students get distracted by digital devices in class, with 54% saying they're distracted when others use those resources.
Basically, modern education is facing an attention span crisis. Microlearning could be the solution. Rather than expecting students to sit through several hours of uninteresting coursework, microlearning delivers materials in short, easily-digestible bursts.
Alongside other alternative modalities such as gamified learning and social learning, expect microlearning to become progressively more prominent in 2025.
There's a paradigm shift happening in the education sector. Driven by digitalization and technologies such as AI, schools and school districts are increasingly choosing to embrace a more inclusive, human-focused, practical approach to education. And now that you know what's coming, all that's left is to prepare for it.
It's no secret that regulatory compliance for K-12 education can be a bit complex. A school district in Alberta follows different standards from one in California, and both districts will have different requirements from one operating out of Ontario. There are common threads, though, with data sovereignty being one of them.
It's arguably also the most important — because it plays a key role in protecting student data and ensuring regulatory compliance.
At its most basic, data sovereignty is the idea that data is subject to the laws of the country in which it was created. These laws may or may not include data residency requirements establishing where and how data must be hosted. Data that's stored and processed in a different location from where it originated may be subject to the sovereignty requirements of both regions.
Typically, data sovereignty rules also establish the steps an organization should take to keep its data secure, private, and accessible. Depending on your jurisdiction, there may also be rules around data ownership. Here's where things get complicated.
Canada has two federal pieces of privacy legislation. The first, known as the Privacy Act, pertains to information collected by government agencies and institutions. The second, known as the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), focuses largely on the private sector.
Per the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, neither act is applicable to public school districts, whilst private schools are advised to operate under the assumption that they must follow PIPEDA. Beyond that, data sovereignty is largely enforced on a provincial basis. In British Columbia and Nova Scotia, for example, school districts are explicitly required to store student information in Canada.
Data residency isn't the only thing school districts need to consider, either. PIPEDA mandates under its Accountability Principle that data cannot be transferred across the border without its owner's explicit consent. The problem is that K-12 students generally aren't of the age of majority.
Through technologies like the cloud, K-12 school districts have the potential to revolutionize how their students learn, embracing a new world of personalized hybrid learning. These technologies can also eliminate unnecessary busywork for teachers, allowing them to focus more of their time and energy on students. For students, meanwhile, digital technology lets them take ownership of their education, resulting in deeper engagement and better outcomes.
You cannot embrace these innovations without data sovereignty. Doing so would be a recipe for disaster, and not just because it would open you up to a whole host of regulatory penalties. You'd also be putting both your systems and data at risk.
See, while not always explicitly required, adhering to data sovereignty laws usually entails following cybersecurity best practices. It means you're taking foundational steps to protect your systems and data from bad actors. And these days, that's absolutely something you need to do.
Ransomware attacks targeting K-12 institutions are on the rise. Schools, even those that are underfunded, make attractive targets for financially-motivated criminals. Because system downtime directly correlates to learning loss, a district might be more likely to pay the ransom, to say nothing of the potential value of exfiltrated student records.
And as we already mentioned earlier, data sovereignty and data privacy almost always go hand-in-hand. Your district has a responsibility to keep students safe while they learn. Without proper safeguards and controls around accessing and storing student data, that responsibility becomes impossible to fulfill.
Lastly, let's talk about how your choice of vendor can make data sovereignty either simpler or more challenging.
Picture a private school district in British Columbia. Looking to embrace digital transformation, the district's administration has deployed a new cloud-based student management system. The vendor they've chosen is based in the United States — but because it maintains data centers in BC, that's not an issue.
Now imagine the vendor suddenly and arbitrarily opts to shut down its Canadian facilities and move all data they contain to the US. If the school district has advance warning of the data transfer, it'll need to scramble to find and deploy a replacement cloud solution. If the transfer happens without the district's knowledge, though?
That school district would be subject to regulatory penalties not just under provincial legislation, but also for non-consensually transferring student data under PIPEDA. Not exactly ideal either way.
At Sparkrock, we understand the role digital technology like ERP solutions and student information systems play in empowering both teachers and students. But more importantly, we understand the complex regulatory landscape facing many of our K-12 customers. And we know that, for many school districts, storing data within Canada is a requirement.
That's why we'll always remain committed to helping schools maintain security, data sovereignty, and data privacy — for their own sake as much as for the sake of their students. You'll never have to worry about your data being hosted outside its original jurisdiction. We'll make sure it's securely hosted right where it needs to be.
Thinking of moving to a new ERP vendor? Contact our sales team and we'll get you started.
Managing HR and payroll for a K-12 school district comes with unique challenges. Outdated systems can make it harder to streamline operations, ensure data security, and support your workforce effectively. If your current solution isn’t keeping up, it’s time to explore a modern HRP platform designed specifically for K-12 schools.
Join our on-demand webinar, "From Payroll to Privacy: Optimizing HR in K-12," and discover how Sparkrock can help your team streamline workforce management, protect sensitive data, and enhance employee experiences with a secure, integrated HRP solution.
Don’t let outdated systems hold your district back. Watch the webinar now and see how Sparkrock’s HRP solution can transform HR and payroll management for K-12 schools.
The past few years have been a time of explosive growth for the education technology (EdTech) market, with much more to come. This year, the market reached a total value of $144.64 billion USD. By 2032, it is projected to be worth $598.82 billion USD.
School districts and higher learning institutions alike now integrate digital technology into the learning experience. This has led to massive improvements in both the quality and accessibility of education, with benefits that include greater flexibility, deeper personalization, more access to resources, and increased collaboration.
Unfortunately, the path to digital transformation is not without its roadblocks. Problems such as insufficient training and support, poor infrastructure, lack of digital tools, and budget restraints can impact technology adoption and integration at all system levels.
In this post, we’ll look at some of these challenges and how they can be overcome.
One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to treat cloud software as a cure-all for your district's problems. While it's true that schools at every level can benefit immensely from a cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution, you cannot deploy such tools blindly. There are certain growing pains you'll need to address first.
Education is becoming more personal and student-focused, and schools must do more than rearrange their furniture to adapt. Modern education has long since shifted to a stronger focus on mobile and remote learning. For this option to be accessible — or even feasible — you need a solid technical foundation.
In its 2021 Infrastructure Report Card, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) gave public school infrastructure in the United States a D+. According to the report, available data indicated that 53% of schools needed improvements to get to “good” condition. Another 24% of schools were said to be in “fair” or “poor” condition.
As schools invest in their physical infrastructure, they must also invest in IT, including better networking hardware, electrical upgrades, and better devices.
Most educators have long since acknowledged that digital tools can greatly improve the student learning experience. Unfortunately, many schools lack the resources to invest in those tools due to limited funding and constricting budgets. Given the future of education funding is uncertain in both the United States and throughout Canada, this problem will likely worsen before it gets better.
The good news is that the right EdTech can still be incorporated into a district or institution's budget even in the face of funding issues — one need only make the case for how updated technology can cut costs, reduce the workload of teachers and administrators, and boost productivity.
Before going digital, education had become stagnant. It had always been about maintaining set rules and curriculums, focusing solely on the teacher. The landscape has changed a lot since then, and it continues to evolve.
For teachers and administrators to be successful, they need to be able to evolve, as well. That means staying up to date with the latest teaching strategies and technologies. To maximize the use of digital tools and software, schools must provide their teachers with the three key components of professional development — access, training, and support.
An adequate training program not only improves digital readiness but can also increase job satisfaction, which is incredibly valuable at a time when teacher burnout has reached unprecedented heights.
So, what should you do to ensure digital readiness? How can you establish a solid technical and professional foundation that'll help you make the most of modern EdTech? And how can you achieve that goal while remaining within your budget?
The first question you must ask is whether your current Wi-Fi connection is good enough for teachers and students to stay on top of their day. If your network is outdated, everyone in your district will waste time waiting for pages and apps to load. For students, this could mean spending more time on waiting than learning.
Also, consider security and student privacy regulations. Using outdated technology and not updating critical network apps can leave your district vulnerable to data breaches and hackers, creating a compliance nightmare for your district.
Many teachers face barriers that make using EdTech tools challenging, burdensome, and overwhelming rather than rewarding. This can lead to inconsistent implementation of digital tools and an unwillingness to give them the chance they deserve. Equipping teachers and administrators with the right training and proper support reduces their resistance to change — this buy-in is crucial to making your transition successful.
Before committing to any EdTech platform, hold a staff meeting to let your team know a transition is in the works. Let them know that their concerns and opinions matter, and ask them for their input on which features they’d like to see included in your technology stack. Reassure them they'll have access to the necessary support before, during, and after the transition.
You should also ask your staff about any challenges they currently face. This could be anything from scheduling and grading to not having enough time in a day and feeling overwhelmed. explain how transitioning to a digital platform can help them overcome those challenges and make their lives easier. Consider these challenges when deciding on your EdTech solutions.
Not all digital tools are created equal, after all.
Let teachers and faculty know what's in it for them. Why should they support digital transformation? Some possible benefits to bring up include:
Determine who will most likely lead the charge when adopting new technology. Those are your change champions. They're the ones who will review any software demos you request, and they're the ones who'll get colleagues excited about making the jump.
Administrators, teachers, and students can waste a lot of time dealing with slow computers, unreliable networks, and finicky printers. Upgrade your devices and invest in a proper lifecycle management strategy. Consider using integrated platforms that allow teachers and administrators to dedicate extra time to creating learning opportunities and experiences for their students.
Finally, it's time to make the move to the cloud. After making the switch, you'll likely see immediate benefits. For one, you'll save a ton of money on physical supplies, as written paperwork is replaced by automated forms and printed textbooks are replaced by digital experiences.
Moving to the cloud can also reduce your reliance on costly hardware, such as on-site servers, which often create significant maintenance and electrical costs. Plus, you'll also reduce your district or institution's carbon footprint. Depending on your location, this could mean access to carbon credits that give you even more room in your budget.
At Sparkrock, we understand the challenges technology poses both inside and outside the classroom.
That's why Sparkrock 365, our cloud-based ERP software, is specifically designed for educational institutions. It's a comprehensive one-stop shop for reducing costs, streamlining operations, and improving efficiencies — more importantly, its customizable nature means your institution can tailor the platform to its needs.
Our platform isn't simply a student information system, either. It's fully integrated, consolidating key functionalities such as employee management, accounts receivable, payroll administration, and fund accounting. It also serves as a centralized repository for student and employee data, with advanced reporting capabilities to give valuable insights into everything from student performance to budgeting.
All this is tied together by an intuitive user interface and security powered by Microsoft Dynamics 365 by a vendor dedicated to helping you overcome your digital transformation challenges. Thinking of taking the next step in transforming your school district? Schedule a demo and we'll show you how to get started
Education continues to enter uncharted territory, largely due to the rapid deployment of digital learning solutions. School districts must align their educational technology solutions with the needs of students. Teachers, meanwhile, need to re-evaluate how they connect with and relate to students.
There's a lot to be gained from modern learning technologies. At the same time, digital transformation creates many challenges for educators.
As more and more districts transition to digital learning, it's important to address the pain points teachers encounter while navigating new technologies.
In this post, we’ll unpack 6 key digital learning challenges K-12 is facing today, plus how to overcome them.
Digital learning is about more than a Zoom call or a student portal. If done well, it can not only improve student outcomes but also make life easier for the teacher. Students can learn in their own way and at their own pace, taking advantage of both in-classroom and personalized, individual learning.
Virtual learning is also a great way for students to learn time management and gain valuable skills related to emerging technology like artificial intelligence.
It’s not uncommon for teachers to struggle to adapt to new digital solutions. Learning the basics of a digital platform when one's uncertain who to ask for help stresses out teachers and may impact student participation. An overwhelmed educator won’t be able to deliver the best possible learning experience.
One of the easiest ways to properly support overwhelmed employees is to create change champions within your school. Find team members with a solid track record of adopting new technology and put them in a position to help those struggling.
Turn your tech-savvy early adopters into authoritative voices that promote adoption and provide support. This directly solves the problem of teachers feeling overwhelmed and even contributes to creating a sense of community.
Not all technology is created equal. In many cases, your teachers may prefer to use solutions not authorized by your district. Not only can this fragment your user base, but it also creates headaches for your IT team, who must now navigate a tangled technology stack.
And that's not even getting into the potential security risks associated with unapproved third-party software, which may not be developed to the same standards as purpose-built EdTech tools.
Provide teachers and students with a unified experience that’s based on standardized technological solutions and combines effective training. This can be further supported by giving teachers access to a robust content library they can contribute to and grow together. Finally, always provide a way for teachers and students to offer feedback.
A common mistake school districts make is maintaining a fleet of devices that vary in age, make, and model to save money. As these devices age, they can end up increasing overhead as they begin to fail more frequently. Older devices may also lack the necessary functionality to support remote and digital learning.
School districts should strive to accommodate digital learning by creating a steady and reliable device refresh cycle. Replace old technology with new standardized systems so districts can maximize productivity and reduce the expense of repairs and maintenance. Alternatively, consider adopting a Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) deployment model.
Students and teachers can use devices with which they're familiar, and you'll spend less on both lifecycle management and maintenance — you can even maintain a small fleet of devices for anyone who'd prefer to use something deployed by the district.
One of the big drawbacks of digital learning is that it's easy to ignore an assignment or even an entire class. It's as much a problem of focus as it is an issue of self-discipline. Making matters worse, life can become complicated without clear separation between school and home life.
Provide parents and students with a detailed syllabus so they know what to expect from the class and check off work as it's completed. Calendars with set reminders can help communicate due dates, while personalized lesson plans can assist with focus and engagement. Ensure you also emphasize to students that they should take time for themselves and establish a clear boundary between school and home — if they spend all their time on schoolwork, that's a problem.
Many students have difficulty communicating and engaging with their teachers via digital learning. Keeping students focused is challenging when the teacher's not right there in the room. Not only that, certain classes like science or chemistry can be difficult to understand without physical interaction.
There's also the social side to think about. Remote learning can make it more challenging for students to make friends. They might also miss out on group work, which can be incredibly valuable for engagement and retention.
You might not be able to replicate the classroom experience completely, but you certainly emulate it. Encourage students to speak up and introduce themselves during class time. Create an online group where students can interact and discuss non-school-related subjects.
Hold forums where students can have intellectual discussions and offer their opinions. Be sure to set ground rules so discussions don’t get out of hand. Encourage students to work together on projects to re-create the social interaction they would get in a standard classroom setting — and provide them with tools to do so.
Learning has always been about the relationship between teacher and student to some extent. Digital learning hasn't changed that, but it does require teachers to find new ways to engage. Unfortunately, given how many distractions students might face when learning online, keeping students motivated and excited is significantly more challenging.
There are a few ways that teachers can make use of digital learning to keep students engaged.
First, personalize your course plan. Since face-to-face contact is minimal, creating a personalized plan that captures students' attention is more important than ever. This can mean various things, such as allowing students to mark up digital readings or creating a robust reporting system.
If you can't develop the plan, consider looking into adaptive learning, which uses AI to adjust content dynamically.
You'll also want to create a consistent schedule. When students are in the classroom, sticking to a schedule is easy. Find ways to enforce that schedule with digital learning, too — many students will benefit from the additional structure.
Lastly, track student engagement. How often are students logging in to your systems? How do they engage with them both during class and outside? Monitoring how engaged each student is over time can help you identify when someone is struggling, at which point you can proactively reach out.
The K-12 technology landscape has evolved a lot over the past few years, and it will continue evolving.
There will always be new challenges to overcome. With the right digital learning solution and enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform, you can position your district for success now and in the future. Sparkrock 365 can provide both. Book a demo today to learn how.
Education is no stranger to change, especially when it comes to the many approaches to grading and assessments.
School districts are embracing modern teaching methods and new technologies. Remote and hybrid learning environments are becoming the norm. And most notably, schools are changing how they assess students and measure learning progress by embracing formative assessments.
There's a good reason for that. Formative assessments can improve student outcomes by promoting enhanced learning, experimentation, and ownership. Today, we're going to explore a few of the main benefits of formative assessments — but first, let's talk about how they differ from how we used to do things.
Formative assessments monitor student learning and progress throughout the learning process. They provide educators with helpful feedback, allowing them to determine a student’s progress. They also provide students with feedback to help them achieve better outcomes.
Summative assessments evaluate student learning after a class unit. They compare students' knowledge and abilities to a specified standard or benchmark. A summative assessment gives teachers and students some idea of how much knowledge the student has retained.
Formative assessments evaluate how well a student learns while summative assessments are more concerned with how much a student has learned.
If designed correctly, formative assessments can help educators to identify and address the strengths and weaknesses of their students. They can then provide timely, effective, and proactive feedback to position each student for success. Formative assessments can also be combined with artificial intelligence for even greater personalization, a process known as formative adaptive learning.
Keeping a close eye on student progress helps ensure that students move towards defined learning goals. Teachers can then intervene and address issues before students get too far off-track. Data gathered from these assessments also helps teachers make more sound, informed decisions regarding their approach to class material.
Data from formative assessments can also give a clearer picture of each student's needs, leading to a more rigorous learning environment that challenges students to help them grow and succeed.
Analysis of formative assessment data allows educators to examine and adjust their instructional methods to consistently produce the desired results with their students through a personalized learning experience. This is especially helpful with larger class sizes since what works for some students won’t work for others.
Formative assessments allow teachers to use focused and highly targeted feedback to help their students improve and ensure that knowledge gaps are filled effectively. It also helps create a more reciprocal learning process between educators and students.
Student engagement is a critical element of any effective classroom activity. Formative assessments facilitate this engagement, connecting learning objectives to real-world situations and problems while feeding each student's natural curiosity.
Students need to be able to monitor and take responsibility for meeting their educational goals, which allows them to become self-regulated learners. Formative assessments provide an opportunity for students to do exactly that. They can review and correct their work independently, building independence and becoming more autonomous thinkers.
It's not just teachers who can clearly understand each student's strengths and weaknesses. Formative assessments provide students with the same information. They can then use that feedback to progress toward their educational goals, clearly showing which areas need improvement.
A formative assessment gives students more ownership over their learning. By working with students to set their own goals and providing them with an ongoing idea of their progress, they're more motivated and engaged. This can dramatically improve both performance and outcomes.
Teachers can utilize several types of formative assessments to get a better sense of the weaknesses and strengths of their students. Some of the most commonly used assessments include:
This assessment involves having students respond to three separate questions or statements to help them think about what they’ve learned in new, meaningful ways. These include;
Polls can be an excellent assessment that allows students to respond quickly while assessing their accuracy. They can be especially helpful for students who don't like talking in front of the class. They're also well-suited to a digital learning environment.
This can be a great end-of-the-day assessment that helps students reflect on what they’ve learned by answering a question in the form of a short essay. Topics for these papers could include:
These assessments can be a great way to expand the scope of an educational unit and help solidify the information that students learn. Some examples of these projects include:
Asking strategic, higher-order questions about a topic (like “why” and “how”) provides students with a chance to think more in-depth about a topic and also gives teachers a better way to discern the extent of their students’ understanding.
With the right technology, formative assessments can be a game-changer for students.
Here's where Sparkrock comes in. We not only offer purpose-built enterprise resource planning (ERP) software but also maintain a comprehensive student management and HRP solution. Secure, intuitive, and fully integrated, both tools are built specifically to address the needs and challenges of school districts.
Book a demo, and we'll show you.
Is your school district using a student management system? If not, it should be.
Also known as a student information system, student record system, or student information management system, a student management system gives your district the capacity to better organize and manage student data. This results in a better learning experience for both students and teachers. And that, in turn, means better student outcomes.
Forward-thinking school districts are already well aware of this fact. There's a reason the EdTech market is projected to reach $132.4 billion USD by 2032 — up from $18.5 billion in 2023. Modern technology and effective learning go hand-in-hand.
With that in mind, let's go over a few key benefits of deploying a student management system.
Student management systems establish a single source of truth about each student in a school district, storing and tracking workload, personal information, grades, attendance, health information, and more. They also streamline the administrative work typically performed by teachers behind the scenes and track all data generated by a student as they learn. Finally, student management systems can also be used to monitor performance at the district level.
A student information system simplifies information tracking and improves both communication and administration by making student data readily accessible to all stakeholders in a student's educational journey. It also streamlines back-office processes by collecting and orchestrating information that includes:
A student management system may also help a district manage administrative tasks such as:
While there's some overlap, student management systems are distinct from school management systems. A school management system also includes information about faculty and administrative staff. It basically serves as a functional intersection between SIS and HRP.
Some of the most significant benefits of student management systems include:
With the right software, you spend less time maintaining records, managing paperwork, and doing cumbersome administrative tasks. This means you can dedicate more time and energy to the school.
More importantly, it means teachers can spend less time shoring up the foundation of the learning experience and more time in the classroom with their students. They can not only keep track of each student's progress, but also take immediate action to course-correct or provide assistance the moment they see a student beginning to struggle.
A student's learning experience doesn't stop when they leave the classroom. It also includes extracurricular activities and their home life. A student management system keeps all this information in one place, making it a great deal easier for teachers to keep track of each individual student.
More importantly, it facilitates communication between teachers and parents, allowing the latter to take a more active role in their child's education. The student, meanwhile, is given more ownership over their learning journey, making it easier to ask questions or seek help.
No more lost hours chasing down multiple copies of the same student record. With a student management system, everything is in one place — grades, attendance, activities, performance, and more. In addition to fewer administrative headaches, this means a smoother transition between classes and grades as every teacher has access to the same student records.
This can also lead to better transparency and accountability, since everyone involved in a student's education has access to a well-organized collection of data about that student.
Traditionally, school administrators manage timetables and schedules. However, dedicated school administration software provided through a student management platform allows much of this process to be automated. This results in better time management and timetable management.
Between physical files, records, forms, and announcements, schools used to go through immense volumes of paper and ink. With a student management system, this is no longer necessary. Nearly everything can now be digitized, making the school more sustainable and cost-effective while also establishing an easily-reviewed digital audit trail.
Student management software can be accessed from anywhere at any time, provided you've the proper authorization. All you need is a smartphone, tablet, or PC to connect. This facilitates better information sharing while also giving students and teachers more freedom with regard to how they engage with learning.
Although K-12 schools typically experience the best outcomes, any educational institution or center of learning can benefit, including:
Many SIS vendors have a general background in education. Not all vendors will have the right background for your needs. In addition to asking the right questions when evaluating a vendor, you should also make sure you understand two things: What data the solution should collect, and what features are non-negotiable.
In terms of data, a student management solution should provide consistent information about a student's schedule, including information about field trips, extracurricular activities, and absences. You'll also want to make sure it collects general information about each student's age, demographics, and contact information, as well as health data. Last but certainly not least, the system should track performance details such as grades and transcripts.
As far as must-have features go, a student information system needs:
We live in a time of hybrid learning, digital transformation, and rapid technological evolution. Choosing the right student management system has never been more important. You need a platform developed by a vendor that understands the unique challenges of your school district — a solution developed with your unique needs in mind.
That's where we come in. Our software not only makes it easier to manage student information, but also simplifies purchasing, reporting, budgeting, scheduling, and employee management.
Don't just take our word for it, though — contact us for a demo, and let us show you firsthand.
Traditional teaching methods have lost their luster. We've known for years that rote memorization isn't the best way to learn. We've also known for years that everyone has a slightly different learning style.
The most successful educational institutions acknowledge this. Teachers and professors alike are now exploring and embracing a specialized range of modern teaching methods to enhance the quality of their learning environments. Sparkrock is proud to provide them with the tools they need to make their efforts successful — and to help both K-12 school districts and higher learning institutions embrace a new approach to education.
In this blog, we'll talk about what that approach entails and explore a few of the new teaching styles we enable through our enterprise resource planning software.
Modern teaching is basically an umbrella term for any educational tactic focused on helping students learn and grow. Whereas traditional learning requires students to recite information memorized from a syllabus to pass rigid exams, modern learning takes a more constructivist approach. This means that students are actively involved in learning to build and apply actual knowledge and skills.
Modern teaching methods are necessary because they help meet the educational needs of students in the contemporary era. It also focuses specifically on expanding their fundamental knowledge about the world and building critical thinking skills. Rather than making students memorize things they'll have little use for after graduation, modern teaching methods prepare them for the challenges they'll face in both learning and the workplace.
Because modern teaching methods are dedicated to supporting the growth of a student's intellectual capacity and skills, they feature several unique characteristics compared to traditional education:
There are many modern teaching methods that educators can utilize within the classroom. We've listed some of the most influential and popular below.
Collaborative learning is a modern teaching method that promotes peer-to-peer interaction and teamwork to find solutions and effectively address complex problems. Not only does this help students improve their cooperation, but it also exposes them to different ideas and diverse opinions. Additionally, it allows students to address misunderstandings and clarify misconceptions to reach more meaningful conclusions about the issues they encounter.
Spaced learning involves teachers repeating course material multiple times with 10-minute spaces (or breaks) in-between the lessons until students comprehend the topic in its entirety. These spaces are typically used as a chance for students to perform physical activities or practice mindfulness techniques, which help refresh their minds and prepare them for the next session of the same lesson. The spaced learning method helps increase students’ information retention while reducing their “forgetting curve.”
The flipped classroom technique of modern teaching involves having students study new material or content at home by themselves and then practice the material at school- essentially reversing the typical school-homework paradigm. This method allows students more time to grasp topics while ensuring they get the help they need in the classroom to have their questions answered.
Self-learning helps encourage students to follow their curiosity when learning new topics to help increase their motivation and reduce the amount of information they’re likely to forget. With this modern teaching method, educators should allow students to bring new ideas to the table to learn about and explore.
Gamified learning is arguably one of the most effective modern teaching methods around — which is probably why it's used everywhere from kindergartens to corporate learning and development initiatives. By adopting elements from video games, educators can make their material considerably more engaging. Participants are still learning, but they're also having fun, meaning they're also more likely to remember what they've learned.
Also known as the VAK teaching method, VAK teaching involves educating students through three of their primary sensory mediums to help them learn and retain critical information. This teaching method can be very beneficial since people typically learn through these three methods. While this technique is much more common in programs targeting younger students, it can still be applied elsewhere — such as through a VR training simulation.
Crossover learning augments formal learning settings like classrooms with informal environments such as museums, seminars, and other after-school destinations. The idea for students to absorb new information while applying what they've learned in the classroom. It's a very hands-on approach to teaching, and it's all the more effective for it.
Modern teaching methods provide students with a wide range of advantages when utilized correctl. Some of the most important advantages that these methods can provide include;
Education is evolving — and technology like Sparkrock is at the forefront of that evolution. Through the power of integration, Sparkrock helps educational institutions streamline administration, improve financial management, and enhance communication and collaboration. More importantly, it empowers educators to engage more directly with their students, apply new assessment methods, and ultimately give those students everything they need to excel.
Want to learn more about how to create a modern, integrated experience within your school district or institution? Connect with our team, and we'll show you.