Dive Brief:
- School administrators in North Carolina are now using K-12 Insight's cloud-based platform "Let's Talk," which is offered on the state Department of Public Instruction's website as a communications portal for parents and the public.
- The Let's Talk portal is now keeping track of Freedom of Information Act and public records requests, and also helps manage social media interactions.
- North Carolina State Superintendent June Atkinson told eSchoolNews that the department considers customer service important, and that the platform is helping it accomplish those tasks more efficiently.
Dive Insight:
Other states have also turned to online portals to help parents and the general public access information related to schools and districts. In Kansas, for example, a new standalone website lets the public browse the state’s 286 school districts, along with 24 other private and specialized public school systems, so that they can compare and contrast several evaluative factors and points of information.
That includes individual school or district’s percentages of high school graduates enrolling in two- or four-year post-secondary institutions and technical colleges; graduation, dropout, and attendance rates; teacher licensing information; student demographics; state test scores; ACT scores; NAEP scores; and more.
And in Washington state's Kent district, new kiosks are being constructed in low-income communities with a two-fold purpose: to both inform parents about school news, info, and events while also offering free WiFi connectivity to those homes that are currently lacking.
