School database systems are often ASCII-based and allow information on students to be stored and updated instantaneously. Programs such as Aeries process and track student grades, medical information, IEP status, discipline, state and local testing records, ethnic and race information, parent contacts and other student status information. Additional school, teacher and student schedules are tracked. School database systems track attendance, drop-out data and socioeconomic data as well.
District database systems interface with school systems and then incorporate teacher and other employee data, such as certification status, federal highly qualified teacher status, salary and personnel data. Teacher data is linked to school-site master-schedule data to determine if the right students are being taught by highly qualified and certificated teachers and such things as which students should have access to free and reduced meals and who should receive special services via IDEA or 504 accommodations.
Under the requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, states were required to integrate all school districts databases into one massive site for federal reporting. Thus, information technology has become an essential part of operations. The California educational database system, for example, is called CALPADS. All school site, district teacher and student data is tracked, monitored and used to oversee teacher qualification status and student achievement. Schools receive most of their funding based on enrollment and average daily attendance, which is processed through IT. Gone are the days of tallying numbers and self-reporting. With the advent and sophistication of information technology, every detail can be tracked for compliance, and schools are sanctioned if students aren't taught by the appropriate teachers or students are not receiving prescribed services.
Information technology is more accurate and is instantaneously updated. If data is entered correctly, the numbers portion of reporting can be done instantly and over the Internet. No more paper, pens and stamps. Student tracking also is easier. Students get a statewide identifier number that can move from school to school with them and will eventually move up to the college level, making transcript requests obsolete.
IT systems are time-consuming to maintain and extremely costly. In a district of only 4,000 students, the equivalent of five classroom teachers are needed to man the system, which pulls money directly from classrooms. Likewise, there is no margin for interpretation. Take teacher certification for example: A veteran teacher, who is extremely effective but has a credential processed before 2002 and who did not take the steps necessary to become Federally Highly Qualified can put a school out of compliance and at risk of losing federal funds, including Title I and Title II. This teacher could be properly certified under state laws but not under federal guidelines.