As data-based decision making is receiving increased attention in education, more and more school performance feedback systems (SPFSs) are being developed and used worldwide. These systems provide schools with data on their functioning. However, little research is available on the characteristics of the different SPFSs. Therefore, this study…

At thousands of schools and universities, years of economic troubles have led to repeated budget cuts. The reductions typically fall disproportionately on maintenance departments, where cuts are viewed as less critical than those that directly affect classroom instruction. And so nearly every facility manager at an education institution faces a…

Many human resource managers face a dilemma. They would like to spend more time improving the overall work environment for employees. They want to help their executives save on workforce-related expenses, find and hire better talent, and improve existing talent through training and development. Unfortunately, most days, HR managers are stuck doing…

Imagine school district staff inputting school data and sharing it in real time, managing teacher absences and arranging substitutes from the comfort of home, or deploying IT personnel to the right site at the right time to tackle the highest-priority jobs first. The concept of managing applications from anywhere with a network connection, known…

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software does what school leaders have always wanted their computer systems to do: It sees all. By integrating every IT application an organization has--from purchasing and inventory control to payroll--ERPs create a single unified system. Not only does this give IT managers a holistic view to what is happening…

The average school district loses more than $80,000 per year because of lost or damaged IT assets, according to a QED survey cosponsored by Follett Software Company. And many districts--59 percent--still use manual systems to track assets. Enter asset management systems. Software for managing assets, when implemented properly, can save time,…

Data integration is one of the single most challenging tasks any district can face. Fortunately for school districts throughout the country with data scattered in disparate systems, an open specification known as the Schools Interoperability Framework (SIF) is mitigating that challenge. SIF has emerged as a cornerstone of K-12 data warehousing,…

The original goals of youth sport were based on virtues of sportsmanship, fun, and friendship. In order to re-establish these principles and develop generations of youth devoted to the benefits of sport, we must revolutionize the way we administer and manage youth sports. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the usefulness of the Justplay…