What is a modern Student Information System?

Over the last few years, there has been a surge in the EdTech sector. Many software solutions are designed to serve the needs of educational institutes and schools. The majority of these solutions focus on resolving issues within the administrative and internal processes, along with promoting the supporting the schools’ objectives and goals. 

Modern student information systems are software solutions that can help educational institutions and schools improve the experience for both staff members, students, and parents.

Are you looking for an easier way to manage the learning experience with a modern platform? At Edsembli, we have a team of SIS specialists who can find the right solutions for your school!

What Is a Modern Student Information System? 

A modern Student Information System (or SIS) is a web-based platform that can help schools and colleges enter student data for better clarity and easier management. The SIS system allows the school to collect data that can be accessed by parents, students, teachers, and administrators. That information can include testing records, grades, personal student information, attendance, and appraisal performance.

This system allows the school to create data points for multiple areas but keep track of them in one place. With that, everyone keeps track of the students’ performance and progress. You can use SIS within a particular school, or it can help manage multiple institutions on a district-wide basis. These systems can help get a clearer view of how schools are compared based on specific metrics. 

With the ability to standardize data formats, it means a more unified look at data, saving time and money. Data privacy and security can all be protected in this open-access environment. Regarding student records, SIS offers a highly efficient way to organize and store data for easy access whenever needed for the school. SIS is often cloud-based, meaning it can grow with the needs of an institution. The open interfaces and integration provide better ease of use for all administrators, teachers, students, and parents. 

Related: 6 Tips For Effectively Curating Student Data

Why Do You Need a Modern Student Information System

A Student Information System offers a self-service solution to help administrators and students get all of those tasks done in one place. This system can help integrate and simplify the work processes. Think of an SIS as a digital dropbox. It is an excellent option for parents who want to communicate with the school, make tuition payments, or access any information on their child. When you can standardize data, you will have a need and clear readout at a glance, saving time. Security, privacy, and integrity are protected in this open-access environment.

What Are the Features of a Modern Student Information System

A Student Information System offers education institutions the ability to automate tasks and processes. With automation, students will have a clear education path from day one until graduation. SIS can help different schools manage and deliver quality education to their enrolled students. From organizations or administrative tasks, everything becomes more efficient. If you want to learn more about the features, here are a few points to know.

Digital Student Record Management

A modern SIS is a centralized student record system, offering features to help make the lives easier for students, administrators, teachers, and parents. These features can house detailed student profiles with their home phone number, email addresses, and current class lists. Only authorized school officials or users will have access to that personal information. A robust system will capture the students’ attendance, grades, behavior records, and lunch accounts.

Accurate Attendance Management

Another administrative process deals with attendance management. Tracking students’ attendance can be repetitive, but SIS makes the process more efficient and accurate. An SIS can be helpful, especially for schools that are responsible for the safety of younger students. Managing and tracking attendance data is vital to all schools. Administrators can use that information to make adjustments or calculate their tuition fees.

Insight Beyond Observation

The voice of a student provides a level of insight into a school’s programs and systems that observational data simply cannot match. Rather than attempting to determine success through analytics, educators can gather input from people who’ve actually experienced the classroom. This provides a complete picture of what’s going wrong, what’s working, and where improvements can be made.  

Program Management

Program management can help shape the learning path for students in educational organizations. Schools can outline what students are expected to learn, including the represented courses. Administrators will decide which core courses to add to the curriculum by organizing the program’s structure. With that, SIS can help define the curriculum coherently for both teachers and students. 

Achievement & Assessment Management

Parents and students want to know their progress during the school years. Administrators often kept these records in the office, only provided when the student or parent requested. With the Student Information System, everyone can have access to those achievements and assessments. This information can help students and teachers chart the correct course for students who may be lagging behind in the classes. On the other hand, students can also access their records to assess their performance, making an impact on their next level of education.

Related: Why It’s Important to Make Technology a Top-Down Strategy 

Timetable Management

One of the biggest challenges facing school administrators is timetable arrangement. This problem can occur when the students are given the option to choose their subject based on their interests. SIS can create a bell schedule that will allow the student to attend lessons without any timetable clashes. Timetable management will also need to consider the faculty’s availability. That can help most teachers without the need to schedule any additional classes. 

Teacher Portal

While teachers are not involved in core administrative tasks, they are responsible for finding efficient ways to track student data, such as assessments and grades. In the past, teachers used old-school methods like paper-based grade books. With that, the teacher was the one person who would access those records. An SIS allows teachers to perform various tasks. They can access the student’s account, create grade books for their classes, and fill in grades. In addition to that, teachers can track their students’ attendance. 

Student Portal

Traditionally, students only had access to their information with the help of school administrators. While it might not be critical for those younger students, this access is vital for those enrolled in higher education. This information can give the students a sense of autonomy and independence. Older students will be able to familiarize themselves with their educational progress, allowing the school staff to better provide information sharing between students. 

Parent Portal

Parents have been traditionally limited in interacting with administrators, especially concerning tuition payments. Not only did it cause extra workloads for administrators and teachers, but it left parents with infrequent progress updates. A Student Information System will go the extra mile. It gives access to a personalized account where they can get an invoice in their students’ school life. Along with that, parents can view grade books, contact teachers, or review attendance records.

The Benefits of a Student Information System

When education institutions switch from a manual system of managing and storing student information to using a modern Student Information System, there are multiple benefits. Here are a few benefits that come with the decision to use SIS:

• Repetitive processes and tasks are a thing of the past: Administrators can now automate those time-consuming operations, including enrolling students and managing school periods. When they can manage their time and energy, they can be more productive in other tasks.
• Saving time for administrators: With role-based access, administrators will not have to function as mediators. Students, parents, and teachers can receive access to view the data based on their particular roles.
• Students can access information: In the past, information was hard to access for the student. Grade updates, assessments, timetable changes, and other information are easier to find and access. 
• Secured sensitivity information: All data is secured, including contact details, school financials, and student records. All school records are available in a secure, centralized system. Along with that, SIS saves administrators the hassles of storing and managing paper documents. 
• Eliminate mistakes and delays: In a process, there are times when steps are overlooked, such as ineffective handling of essential documents or notifying the right individuals. With utilities and features offered by an SIS, such as autocomplete online forms and scheduling notifications, can reduce any errors in these vital processes. 

Related: How Edsembli Helped School Districts Overcome COVID-19 Data Challenges

Edsembli: A Modern SIS Designed for Modern Education

Selecting the right Student Information System is a big decision for academics, educational institutions, and schools. Many EdTech solutions can help resolve the different aspects of the issues that many schools face. Administrators, teachers, parents, and students will see both immediate and long-term benefits of implementing the modern Student Information System. 

Are you looking for the right EdTech partner to help with your Student Information System? At Edsembli, we provide solutions to help create a full-proof platform for your administrators, teachers, students, and parents.