Board of Education Report No. 063-15/16 For 10/13/15 Board Meeting
INTEROFFICE CORRESPONDENCE Los Angeles Unified School District Information Technology Division INFORMATIVE DATE: October 13, 2015
TO:
Members, Board of Education Ramon C. Cortines, Superintendent of Schools
FROM:
Diane H. Pappas, CEO of Strategic Planning and Digital Innovation Shahryar Khazei, Chief Information Officer Ruth Perez, Deputy Superintendent of Instruction Linda Del Cueto, Chief of Professional Learning and Leadership Development
SUBJECT:
SCHOOLOGY, INC. ONLINE GRADEBOOK AND LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
The Information Technology Division (ITD) and Division of Instruction are requesting Board of Education approval to enter into an agreement with Schoology, Inc., selected through a formal Request for Proposals process, that will allow the District to begin a two-year pilot of an online gradebook and learning management system (LMS) from Fall 2015 through Spring 2017. The cost of the contract for Phase 1 of the pilot through June 30, 2016 is $598,240. Funding for the pilot is within the current MiSiS budget approved on June 9, 2015 (BOE 497-14/15). What is an online gradebook? What is a learning management system? An online gradebook gives teachers the ability to record and track student performance by entering student assignments and assessments, view the “complete picture” of each student, communicate with students and parents, and share information with colleagues. A learning management system (LMS) is an online software application that allows teachers to collaborate online with students and parents, create lessons and assessments, archive and access documents, lessons, and assessment banks, integrate calendar functionality, and engage students in personalized learning. Why is this necessary? Approval of the Schoology Inc. contract will allow the District to conduct the first year of a pilot of an online gradebook beginning with 10 to 20 schools in Spring 2016 (Phase 1). If Phase 1 is successful, the project team will return to the Board with an update and request to expand the pilot to begin testing LMS functionality and include an additional 15-20 schools in Fall 2016 (Phase 2) and an additional 15-20 schools in Spring 2017 (Phase 3). The LMS will provide teachers with access to modern course management tools such as an online gradebook, content management, discussion tools, safe messaging, and assessment tools. Further, this decision will increase student access to course materials outside the traditional school day and afford teachers the ability to deliver learning resources to students and leverage educational resources available online.
Members, Board of Education Ramon C. Cortines, Superintendent
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Why do we need to do this now? LAUSD, in accordance with the Modified Consent Decree, is committed to implementing a mandated District-wide online gradebook. As part of the MiSiS project, an online gradebook was developed by LAUSD and is currently being used voluntarily by approximately 2,000 teachers across the District. In the Summer of 2014, the Division of Instruction published a mandate to all teachers to use the MiSiS gradebook, but this mandate was put on hold because the MiSiS release for the 2014-2015 school year was severely incomplete and had multiple bugs and functionality gaps that caused major disruption at school sites. As part of the MiSiS recovery effort, the MiSiS team conducted 14 focus groups with elementary and secondary teachers across the District during the spring of 2015 to identify functional gaps in the current MiSiS gradebook and collect requirements from teachers. These focus groups revealed that the MiSiS gradebook was severely deficient and would require millions of dollars in investment to bring the MiSiS gradebook and teacher module up to the minimum requirements needed by teachers. While these focus groups were being conducted, the District was in the process of evaluating a new Learning Management System (LMS) through a formal Request for Proposals process. The MiSiS team learned that the LMS that received the highest score, Schoology, Inc., includes a fully developed gradebook that meets most of the core requirements identified by the MiSiS team during the focus groups. The Schoology, Inc. application provides a single platform that allows teachers to not only record and track student grades but also to collaborate online, create lessons and assessments, archive and access documents, lessons, and assessment banks, integrate calendar functionality, and engage students in personalized learning. The purpose of the Gradebook and LMS pilot is to determine whether Schoology Inc.’s gradebook and LMS are the right tools for tracking student performance and managing digital instructional content for the District, while also ensuring that these applications will integrate with MiSiS and the Parent PASSport. Gathering and analyzing usage data and feedback from participating pilot schools will support development of a District-wide implementation plan through a thoughtful, informed approach. A phased pilot of Schoology Inc.’s gradebook and LMS will allow the MiSiS team to complete the following activities in preparation for District-wide implementation: • • • • • • •
Integration of the Schoology Inc. Gradebook and LMS with MiSiS Gap Analysis and Focus Groups with pilot schools Reports development as needed Training materials development Integration of the Schoology Gradebook and LMS with the Parent PASSport Technical Audit to ensure scalability and stability of the product Go/No-Go Analysis
The District plans to complete a phased pilot beginning with the Gradebook in Spring 2016 at 10-20 schools. The contract cost for Phase 1 of the pilot is $598,240 and funding for the pilot is within the current MiSiS project budget. This pilot is relatively low risk as it allows the District to test a mature,
Members, Board of Education Ramon C. Cortines, Superintendent
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off-the-shelf product that potentially could service all District teachers, who comprise the largest population of MiSiS users. The District will complete a Go/No Go analysis to determine whether to expand the pilot and provide Gradebook training to teachers across the District during the 2016-2017 school year. If the expanded pilot and trainings are successful, the District will make a decision about whether to mandate use of the Gradebook and expand access to the LMS at all schools at the beginning of the 2017-2018 school year. A site-wide license will cost the District approximately $1.7 million per year. What would happen if this were not approved? If the Schoology contract is not approved, the MiSiS team will be forced to seek an alternate solution for providing a District-wide gradebook to fulfill the Modified Consent Decree. This could require an investment of close to $10 million over 2 years for initial development to bring the current MiSiS gradebook and teacher module up to the minimum requirements needed by teachers, or alternatively, the MiSiS team might conduct a new RFP for a stand-alone gradebook with a different vendor. Additionally, if this is not approved, the District will not pilot an LMS, which could be a very valuable tool for strengthening the use of instructional technology in schools to support 21st century learning. What are the terms of the proposed agreement?
The initial contract term is 10/14/15 through 6/30/16 with two incremental options through 6/30/20 to extend to all K-12 schools. The source of funding shall be 100% Bond funds. The estimated not-toexceed amount for the initial contract term will be $598,240. The total contract value not-to-exceed amount is $6,436,012. The District will return to the Board of Education for approval of future contract options. If you have any questions or require additional information, please contact Diane Pappas at (213) 2411807. c:
Michelle King David Holmquist Thelma Melendez de Santa Ana Nicole Elam-Ellis Jefferson Crain George Silva
