October 2002 — Industry Perspective
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New E-Technologies Simplify NCLB Requirements
Web-Based Solutions
Utilizing new technologies that integrate data proves to be the most efficient means of approaching a comprehensive assessment, planning, implementation and review of improvement efforts. There is an emerging set of business and education solutions' providers developing technologies using existing data architectures to provide a newfound wealth of information. These Web services and business intelligence models can save schools hundreds of thousands of dollars in planning for improvement. In addition, this one-stop shopping for information provides a single access point for users, making information access more efficient and pervasive in K-12 education. Integrating Web-based solutions embedded in a browser also flattens the learning curve and reduces the professional development costs throughout implementation.
New e-technologies utilize XML Web services that allow communication and collaboration to come from multiple people, places and applications. Convenient for the end user, Web services offer a platform for application integration from various sources that communicate with one another regardless of where they are stored or how they were created. XML Web services work with standard Web protocols (HTTP and TCP/IP); therefore, all information in existing Web infrastructures can be fully utilized.
Data-driven decision making will be one area in which these new and emerging technologies provide access to previously inaccessible data and information. And for some time now, a variety of data desegregation tools have been used by schools and districts. However, by incorporating XML and Web services, users will now be able to integrate data and information into a standard suite of tools. This will provide information in views that customarily would not have been seen by the user in the past. Even data that exist only in legacy or antiquated systems can be seamlessly integrated with contemporary data systems, providing a new level of application extensibility. This allows for the data-driven decision-making process to be embedded into the school or district culture, instead of just being an afterthought.
In addition, the importance of scientific research has taken on a new level of importance both at the state and federal levels. Using the components integrated into the Web services tool set, research can now be delivered in an accurate and compelling fashion. Users will be able to search sites that have been identified by their school, district, state or federal representatives as educationally relevant without having to step into the abyss of the World Wide Web. In turn, this will allow teachers, administrators, parents and students to examine only those sites that provide the content and information aligned to their inquiry. This feature will save time and money, but more importantly, it will provide users the information they were expecting without having to rifle through unwanted pages. It will also provide an avenue for the novice research analyst to align goals and objectives to sound educational research without first trying to find out where all of the information is located.
