Core Features
Semantic & Keyword Search for School Board Attachments
Discover insights faster with a dual approach to search.
Use semantic search to find documents with concepts rather than exact words, enabling a broader search of attachments without needing the literal keywords. In addition, one can leverage keyword search for precise results, ensuring no critical terms are overlooked. This dual functionality caters to researchers, educators, and policymakers aiming to explore large datasets with efficiency.
Use Case: The screenshot below shows a user searching for interventions to address staffing shortages using ESSER funding. The previewed attachment reviews how the district invested $2,000,000 in 17 staffing positions, comprising of an interpreter, 4 supervisors, 2 campus monitors, 5 technology specialists and more. Click here to download the attachment.
Generate Reports to Examine Trends
Transform data into actionable insights with robust reporting tools.
Identify trends in school board discussions, policy priorities, and district spending over time. Generate 'topical' datasets that highlight the frequency of meeting topics like school safety, equity initiatives, or technology integration, empowering data-driven decisions in your organization.
Use Case: The following chart was generated to estimate how school boards described diversifying their workforce, and showing that 'Educator Diversity' was the most salient description. Not only can this inform outreach, but it also shows the potential seasonality of diversifying educators in districts.
How Will Understanding School Boards Benefit My Organization?
Government Agencies, Think Tanks, Foundations & Non-Profits
Track the pulse of K-12 education by examining board-level discussions across thousands of districts.
Dive into recurring topics such as teacher shortages, curriculum updates, or community engagement, helping you anticipate challenges and prepare solutions. This tool provides an unparalleled perspective on the evolving priorities of public education.
Use Case: High-dosage tutoring is a well-known approach to remediate learning loss from COVID. The following chart represents when school boards tended to discuss tutoring programs, and how they were discussed over time.
EdTech
Unlock new opportunities for your product's adoption and impact.
Use reports and attachments to refine outreach strategies, identify districts ready for innovative tools, and build stronger relationships with decision-makers. By targeting districts based on trends and needs, your technology solutions can drive meaningful improvements in teaching and learning.
Use Case: A financial literacy company will begin their outreach to districts for the next quarter. Searching for 'investments in financial literacy curriculum' yields an attachment from Laredo Independent School District, Texas. The district is investing in a new financial literacy and planning course in their 'School To College' program. It also includes the name of the executive director driving the program within the district, thereby allowing a starting point for outreach for integrating the product in the course. Click here to download the attachment.
K12 Education Research
Empower researchers with tools to bridge theory and practice.
Access comprehensive data that connects school board trends with district level data for both qualitative and quantitative research. For EdD and graduate students, this platform offers a wealth of real-world data to enrich academic work and future educational leadership.
Use Case: A researcher is interested in how districts are managing budgets as post-pandemic enrollment decreases. Searching 'increasing property taxes to offset a drop in enrollment' yields the 2024-2025 Financial Planning presentation in South San Antonio ISD, Texas. In the presentation, it discusses the current deficit now including a $2,000,000 decline in funding due to decreases in enrollment. The rest of the presentation discusses strategies to mitigate the deificint, including but not limited to: consolidating campuses, reducing salaries & benefits of staff, and workforce reductions. The researcher can then contact the district for more information, and search for similar attachments across the country to compile evidence for a publication. Click here to download the attachment.
K12 Districts and School Boards
Support district leaders in studying and applying best practices.
Compare strategies between districts with similar demographics or funding levels, enabling more informed decision-making. From curriculum updates to resource allocation, identify solutions that have succeeded in other districts and adapt them to your local context.
Use Case: A superintendent needs to incorporate the science of reading in their strategic plan for the district. To research how other districts are doing similar work, the superintendent searches 'strategic plans that discuss integrating the science of reading'. That search yields Conventry School District, Connecticut outlining the following in an application for an award from the Connecticut Association of School Boards:
'1.6 Continue to support reading achievement and provide best practice in reading instruction through the development of a K-3 Literacy Plan which focuses on refinements to instruction, curriculum, and assessment and a sequence of topics for professional development informed by the research on the science of reading.'
The superintendent could then build off that language, or contact that district for guidance. Click here to download the attachment