Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) is working on a number of initiatives to improve the data infrastructure and enhance future decision making.  Initiatives such as the Balanced Scorecard, Student Information System, and Performance Management Grant are all designed to improve either data collection or reporting.  The Division of Information Technology plays an integral role in the support of these initiatives through availability of infrastructure, hardware, software, training, and customer service. 

Last spring, PGCPS began its implementation of Performance Matters, an instructional assessment reporting system, to provide timely data to teachers and instructional leaders.  Performance Matters allows teachers to see their students’ performance on assessments, benchmarks, and grades over several years.  The information can be viewed in various ways such as: student, class, subgroup, school, and district.  Performance Matters will also incorporate quarterly benchmarks; allowing teachers and instructional leaders to compare a student’s performance to a previous year’s test scores.  Scores can be broken down into objectives to show instructional staff where intervention efforts should be concentrated for each student.  Currently, staff are being trained to utilize Performance Matters to make instructional decisions.  By October 2008, over 12,000 staff will be trained.

The Student Information System implementation will replace several aging systems with an integrated system around student data.  In the meantime, implementation of the Elementary Report Card System (ERCS), the Arrivals Module in the School Based Student Information System (SBSIS), the Middle School ID Program, and Positive Attendance at the secondary schools has improved student data reporting, as well as prepare the school system for an integrated online student information system.  These projects have also spawned other projects such as the use of the Student ID card for library check out and lunch payment.  This year, the school system is one of the finalists awarded a Performance Management Grant in the amount of $400,000 to develop an implementation plan for building a performance based culture in the school district. 

The Division of Information Technology continues to explore best practices for aligning technology initiatives and investments with the school district’s strategic goals, initiatives, and objectives.

  Introduction to Student Information System (SIS)