tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post6074711156594475548..comments2024-01-08T03:21:35.616-05:00Comments on DeKalb County School Watch: eSIS Beefs - Let's hear 'em!Cerebrationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11161868015604029471noreply@blogger.comBlogger214125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-77661304596184396212010-07-05T18:15:45.279-04:002010-07-05T18:15:45.279-04:00eSIS would benefit me if teachers could enter grad...eSIS would benefit me if teachers could enter grades for the week ending and assignments for the upcoming week. That will give me an opportunity to effectively monitor my child's performance and take corrective action when necessary. As a parent, that's all I need from eSIS and teachers!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-84127274904228283352010-05-27T21:19:31.523-04:002010-05-27T21:19:31.523-04:00FYI... what we had worked fine and better than eSI...FYI... what we had worked fine and better than eSIS ...(they have to come up with something to spend the money on or give it back to the taxpayers as well as get a smaller budget for next years). <br /><b>USE it or LOSE it</b>.<br />P.S. <br />$4.1m was the price of eSIS only. This price tag does not include the consulting $$$ per hour paid to eSIS (for making their programs work). That is, we're paying eSIS to wirte the programs that we were sold. The proof is that we've had a few different versions of the program to this date, Recall??? And still can't get it right... <br />Ms. Tyson, Mr. Hunter you sold us a bill of goods so to justify your existence.<br /><b>Who are the winners? Ms. Tyson (salary $165,035.69) and Mr. Hunter (salary $114,627.65)who got promotions.</b>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-10385555837390793512010-05-13T12:38:32.768-04:002010-05-13T12:38:32.768-04:00On other options:
One of the comments suggests th...<b>On other options:</b><br /><br />One of the <a href="http://dekalbschoolwatch.blogspot.com/2009/08/esis-beefs-lets-hear-em.html?commentPage=1&showComment=1260208431924#c5382856095882867222" rel="nofollow">comments</a> suggests that the district ought to create their own system or utilize one of the available free systems (e.g. OpenSIS)<br /><br />There are obvious advantages to both. However, I would not be inclined to choose either. Free software makes you pay in other ways – lack of functionality or support, for example. Just trying to navigate the OpenSIS demo gave me a headache. I can't imagine it with hundreds of thousands of student records.<br /><br />In-house solutions have the advantage of being customized to the district's needs, but the costs of development are shouldered entirely by the district. With licensed software, those costs can be shared with other districts. Also, districts that do in-house development tend to have extremely large IT staffs, and once they're in, they will find something to keep them there drawing their salary. The costs will be better hidden, but the district will ultimately pay more. And I'd mention again, as good as they are at their jobs, they are probably builders, not architects.<br /><br />The best thing that the district could do is terminate the arrangement with aal Solutions as soon as possible and find a more reasonably priced, more responsible vendor (in the US maybe?) that can provide or build an extensible web-based solution that meets teachers' needs.<br /><br />I wish that they would return to the IBM i platform with software written in a native language instead of Java. The platform is better for data maintenance (perfect for what the district needs), and much more stable (lower down time) than its competitors. Java is extremely resource intensive and is at least partly to blame for performance issues.<br /><br />Of course, I know these are just dreams.<br /><br />Teachers: you've been saddled with an extra burden. I wish you solace. Thanks for all you do.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-26712861454965141992010-05-13T12:38:32.769-04:002010-05-13T12:38:32.769-04:00On the functionality:
What is the district gettin...<b>On the functionality:</b><br /><br />What is the district getting out of this software? Have student scores or the graduation/enrolling-in-higher-education rate improved? Is there better communication between teachers and parents and have parents become more involved in their students' eduction? Do administrators now have access to important data that helps them run the district efficiently? Are they using it?<br /><br />I'll choose to be an optimist and assume that the answer to some of these is at least partially yes. Modern software can be a great tool if it's designed well and used correctly, and if that has happened, at least something positive has come from the eSIS implementation.<br /><br />However, a question remains. Is it improving the teaching experience or making it easier to maintain student data?<br /><br />From the rest of your comments, I would judge that it is not. I suspect that most teachers did not get into the profession for the love of working with an unwieldy attendance tracking system or grade book. I know a teacher (with admittedly large music classes) who tells me that she spends at least a couple of hours each week entering attendance. That's a lot of time that she'd rather be spending with students.<br /><br />There are features in the system that she doesn't use, either because she doesn't know how or she doesn't even know what they are. She'd like to be able to figure them out on her own, but she doesn't even know where to look.<br /><br />From what I've seen of the eSIS applications, the user interface is not intuitive, which is probably the reason that teachers are complaining about a lack of training. Extensive training on the system is another (probably undocumented) cost to the district that could have been averted if the system had a user-friendly design.<br /><br />The problem is that most computer programmers are builders, not architects. Sure, they have the right tools to assemble the system... even some ability to mimic or build on what's been done before. But the vision for the final form and function of the applications and navigation? A deep understanding of the available hardware and software and how to use them efficiently? Not their strong suits.<br /><br />The end result is that the district pays for the Guggenheim Museum and ends up with a sod hut.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-1191065579385370162010-05-13T12:36:51.244-04:002010-05-13T12:36:51.244-04:00On the cost:
The price of $4.1 million has been t...<b>On the cost:</b><br /><br />The price of $4.1 million has been thrown around here, and I want to understand what the district is getting for their money. If <a href="http://dekalbschoolwatch.blogspot.com/2010/04/how-much-have-non-teaching-salary.html?showComment=1271108870993#c8226365203031064486" rel="nofollow">this comment</a> has the correct figures, then we're really talking about a 5 year license agreement for about $813 thousand per year. A stomach-turning amount, but perhaps lacking the shock value of $4.1 million.<br /><br />Nevertheless, with over 100,000 students, the school district is the 27th largest in the country (<a href="http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/districtsearch/district_list.asp?Search=1&details=1&InstName=&DistrictID=&Address=&City=&State=&Zip=&Miles=&County=&PhoneAreaCode=&Phone=&DistrictType=1&DistrictType=2&DistrictType=3&DistrictType=4&DistrictType=5&DistrictType=6&DistrictType=7&NumOfStudents=100000&NumOfStudentsRange=more&NumOfSchools=&NumOfSchoolsRange=more" rel="nofollow">source</a>). You'd think that the size alone would give them considerable bargaining power. Even for a top-tier enterprise-class student information system, I wouldn't pay more than $2-$3 per student per year.<br /><br />It makes me think that either aal Solutions has no idea how to keep costs in check, or someone is being made fabulously wealthy. Good policy would be to share the costs of building and maintaining the system across all of their clients.<br /><br />After the 5 years are up, does the district owe another $4.1 million for the next 5 years? As it is, I hope that they have a whole super team of full-time employees dedicated exclusively to this installation.<br /><br />The same comment contains a reference to a summary of the included services by Tony Hunter:<br /><br />"Services which are included in the price include project management, database configuration, student data conversion and migration, application installation, implementation, testing, training and product support. The vendor also provides customized reporting tailored to the needs of state and federal requirements, district administrators, principals and registers."<br /><br />From this, can I safely assume that the initial hardware costs are not included in these figures? (I'll say nothing about the overhead cost that the district incurs trying to maintain a system with such a large hardware footprint.)<br /><br />I'm glad that current budget crises and this proactive blog have put these kind of expenditures under a magnifying glass. I think administrators really messed this one up.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-21639361062092765562010-05-13T12:34:52.327-04:002010-05-13T12:34:52.327-04:00It seems, from the first 200 or so comments, that ...It seems, from the first 200 or so comments, that the eSIS implementation was a disaster, but the thread had tapered off in recent months. Now that the end of the school year is near, I'm interested to know how things have worked out.<br /><br />I also have a few thoughts. I'll break them out over the next three posts.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-59157533159029139562010-04-21T19:49:30.248-04:002010-04-21T19:49:30.248-04:00I thought this new version of Esis was going to be...I thought this new version of Esis was going to be so much better (this is what teachers were told) and I have been trying to log into it to post my grades tonight and cannot get it to pop up. I have had it with the inefficiencies of DeKalb. Maybe the central office people and others making the decisions to buy this worthless program have lots of time on their hands, but I do not. Glad to be leaving this mess and I can't wait until May 24!!!!! This is ridiculous.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-5126845818305256322010-04-17T20:25:45.332-04:002010-04-17T20:25:45.332-04:00Isn't Ramona Tyson now our interim superintend...Isn't Ramona Tyson now our interim superintendent? Oh boy....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-4510502289561734562010-03-30T11:18:48.501-04:002010-03-30T11:18:48.501-04:00Anon 4:31
This link http://www.dekalb.k12.ga.us/~...Anon 4:31<br /><br />This link http://www.dekalb.k12.ga.us/~it/esista/index_taforms.html has written directions for ESIS Forms.M Ghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03055591929413425231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-11488593147214544852010-03-30T10:52:48.595-04:002010-03-30T10:52:48.595-04:00From the Feb 8 Board Minutes -
SchoolNet Present...From the Feb 8 Board Minutes - <br /><br /><i>SchoolNet Presentation<br />Ms. Ramona Tyson, Deputy Chief Superintendent, Business Operations and Finance, presented brief update on the status of the rollout of SchoolNet. She noted that SchoolNet is a web-based portal which allows access to student information\records to administrators, principals, assistant principals, counselors, teachers and parents. She noted that the instructional data management system upgraded from 9.0 to 10.5 on January 28, 2010, which provides new features and functionality to meet the data driven educational needs. Ms. Tyson footnoted that this upgrade was at no additional cost to the District. She also noted that training on the new modules would begin February 2010, and the target audience is principals, assistant principals, counselors, coaches and instructional\administrative central office staff. Ms. Tyson provided members of the Board with a handout, which will be a part of the official meeting file.<br /><br />Mr. Cunningham asked if the Board will grant accessed to various modules. Ms. Tyson answered yes. Ms. Copelin-Wood asked if the Board will be asked to provide feedback to determine the type and level of access that Board Members would need. Ms. Tyson again responded yes.<br /></i>Cerebrationhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11161868015604029471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-38658879288000012872010-03-29T16:31:17.786-04:002010-03-29T16:31:17.786-04:00There is a new version of Esis. I had an Ellumina...There is a new version of Esis. I had an Elluminate session on it, where I was talked at and did not get a handout for me to look back at and use, so that I can use Elluminate without any issues. Why is it so difficult for the board to give us handouts or powerpoint slides that we could print out, so that we can use these programs properly? I am not afraid of computers in any way shape, or form, but I do not have any more time to was on Esis and it's many issues. Enough is enough. <br /><br />I won't even go into the way the Elluminate sessions are not good examples of best practices of teaching, as that is another issue.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-87187947790466739272010-03-18T20:52:06.663-04:002010-03-18T20:52:06.663-04:00Ms. Tyson and Mr. Hunter messed up. They're n...Ms. Tyson and Mr. Hunter messed up. They're now trying to clean up. That's what MIS does - put it out there and then if someone complains, address the problem. Works every time.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-88772933385406400492010-03-08T20:33:02.491-05:002010-03-08T20:33:02.491-05:00Right before this posting period we now have a bra...Right before this posting period we now have a brand new more complicated (and in my experience, slower) version of Esis that the county has switched to mid-semester. Did the county just think it needed to torture its teachers just a little more? As if we haven't suffered enough.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-27090952219906572802010-02-16T20:44:28.823-05:002010-02-16T20:44:28.823-05:00I don't understand why they didn't just le...I don't understand why they didn't just let us use the original system in the beginning. Does anyone remember how we were using the new system at the beginning of the year then we changed to the one we have been using? The whole thing is a mess. It makes being a new teacher very difficult. If they thought they had new teacher retention problems they will definitely have one now with the eSIS problems on top of the budget issues and Lewis getting paid. This is not a good situation for the children involved to say the least. <br />Not to mention my network has been down for a week now. I have a wireless connection in a trailer that I have to constantly plug and unplug just to get a signal.<br />ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS!!!!!!CAN'TSTANDIT!!!noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-91121053887091046412010-02-09T18:37:11.608-05:002010-02-09T18:37:11.608-05:00Why did DeKalb buy eSis?
The online gradebook &qu...Why did DeKalb buy eSis?<br /><br />The online gradebook "SmartWeb" system did everything that the Middle and High School teachers wanted. And "Making the Grade" software did everything the Elementary teachers wanted.<br /><br />So why did DeKalb spend millions on eSis?<br /><br />eSis was supposed to provide the data that "upper management" (a.k.a. Central Office coordinators) needed to crunch. <br /><br />The instructional coordinators wanted an online system that took assessment (testing) data from the AS400 (mainframe that holds the database for all students) in a format that they would be able to manipulate in order to generate reports. That's what they do for a living.<br /><br />Unfortunately, Ramona Tyson (at that time MIS Executive Director) and Tony Hunter (MIS Director) did not understand that DeKalb did not have MIS personnel with the expertise needed to mesh the database from the AS400 with the eSis system - even though they were told from the get go by the programmers how difficult it would be to write programs that would integrate the data from DeKalb's mainframe into the eSis system. <br /><br />Who are the losers in this situation? The students as their teachers wrestle with this system that doesn't meet the needs of the students and costs taxpayers millions.<br /><br />Who are the winners? Ms. Tyson (salary $165,035.69) and Mr. Hunter (salary $114,627.65)who got promotions.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-87863635656501678692010-02-07T23:38:20.709-05:002010-02-07T23:38:20.709-05:00We should give eSIS a chance. Other school system ...We should give eSIS a chance. Other school system experience technical difficulities also. Microsoft, and other software companies have technical issues in the beginning. If we have these same problems a year from now, then we should ask for a refund. They could have done a better job of managing risk. The existing system worked fine. They could have rolled out eSIS in phases instead of all at once. A full management review would help also. Why did they pick eSIS instead of another system?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-48933758672418524612010-02-06T17:37:26.607-05:002010-02-06T17:37:26.607-05:00Have over an hour trying to post my grades for the...Have over an hour trying to post my grades for the grade report that goes home this week and no luck. One grade from each class keeps disappearing as I try to save the grades. I am unable to fix the error, and have wasted my time yet again with this stupid program!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-90909665446814429092010-02-06T13:19:10.125-05:002010-02-06T13:19:10.125-05:00My AP informed me on Friday that every teacher in ...My AP informed me on Friday that every teacher in the DCSS must have new training on Esis. It will begin this week and end in March. This is not a good time to be asked to learn a new aspect of Esis. The training takes 90 mins. You must either do it before or after school or during your planning period, everyone does not have a 90 block planning period so that means many of us will be doing it before or after school. I know that training is important, but we have not mastered Esis and now we have to learn a different way to do it. I do not feel that MIS is hearing the frustration of the people in the schools. This includes the administration. We are all frustrated with it. Instead of hearing our concerns, they just push on ahead. Customer Service was suppose to extend to the peopls in the school system.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-8603855274875519902010-02-05T11:58:55.291-05:002010-02-05T11:58:55.291-05:00How about that new eSis training?How about that new eSis training?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-69780478104196336262010-02-04T23:27:47.985-05:002010-02-04T23:27:47.985-05:00Actually, it's MIS (Management Information Sys...Actually, it's MIS (Management Information Systems). Cobb and Fulton have outsourced many of the functions of their MIS department to save money. If we followed their actions, we could re-employ those dollars in the classrooms to provide technology for our students and we would get better customer service. <br /><br />It's one of the great ironies of DeKalb that we spend millions of dollars for the MIS department, and have little technology for students. Those millions of dollars for technical personnel mean that we don't have much left over for the equipment they are supposed to maintain. Good deal for them - bad deal for our students.<br /><br />MIS gave us eSis. Just ask my daughter's teacher how she likes eSis. While we're at it, why don't you ask any teacher how satisfied they are with MIS and the level of technology they and their students have in DeKalb?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-39976084095011855392010-02-04T20:57:02.756-05:002010-02-04T20:57:02.756-05:00The department's name is MIS (Management Infor...The department's name is MIS (Management Information Systems). Cobb and Fulton outsourced many of their MIS functions. We should look at this. We could reemploy these dollars to ensure our students have technical PArity with other systems (our kids have so much less technology access compared to even the rural systems) and in addition our teachers and students would have better response to technical problems. My daughter's lucky we have a home computer.<br />Ask any of your children's teachers if they are happy with the MIS dept. in DeKalb. MIS personnel costs (literally millions a year) sucks up so many student funding dollars we have very little left for the actual equipment students and teachers could use. Kind of ironic isn't it?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-39699633027828144972010-02-04T20:55:12.528-05:002010-02-04T20:55:12.528-05:00If there are teachers out there reading tonight......If there are teachers out there reading tonight.... I would like to know how long it is taken you to post grades...<br /><br />I have been here for 2 hours to post 6 classes. The sad thing is all I have to do is post. I had already worked this week getting the grades corrected so all I have to do tonight is hit the enter the key.<br /><br />My husband is a programmer by nature and thinks this program totally sucks and he knows how to make sure the program he owns works correctly.One Fed Up Insiderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14523706925943880604noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-14206204098298125312010-02-04T20:50:22.382-05:002010-02-04T20:50:22.382-05:00The department's name is MIS (Management Infor...The department's name is MIS (Management Information Systems). Cobb and Fulton outsourced many of their MIS functions. We should look at this. We could reemploy these dollars to ensure our students have technical PArity with other systems (our kids have so much less technology access compared to even the rural systems) and in addition our teachers and students would have better response to technical problems. My daughter's lucky we have a home computer.<br />Ask any of your children's teachers if they are happy with the MIS dept. in DeKalb. MIS personnel costs (literally millions a year) sucks up so many student funding dollars we have very little left for the actual equipment students and teachers could use. Kind of ironic isn't it?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-8714337952326483982010-01-31T23:12:02.080-05:002010-01-31T23:12:02.080-05:00The culture of the SIS department is one of the &q...The culture of the SIS department is one of the <b>"free launch program"</b>. Only a few employees are working and the rest are just waiting on their checks and retirement. Some of the management staff is constantly boasting about retirement with no respect for their employees or the work that that's being produced which negatively effects our school children. <br /><br /><b>POLITICS AHEAD OF EFFICIENCY - STUPIDITY AHEAD OF SIMPLICITY</b><br /><br />If you really looked closely at the SIS department you will find that the culture is very negative and hostile to anyone with common sense or an education. The turnover rate is probably very low because managers have created a safe haven to support their <b>"free lunch program"</b> which includes themselves and their employees. There's suppose to be a hiring freeze for the SIS department, however the "free loaders" are free to continue to collect a check while just sitting around and watching the clock all day.<br /> <br /><b>THE DUMB JUSTIFIES THE LAZY </b><br /><br />Last year I was told that there was an awards ceremony where one of the SIS department's free loading managers that's in charge of eSIS gave some very embarrassing awards to her employees. Some of these awards made fun of how bad an employee some of her workers were, however she did noting to reprimand or fire her bad workers, she just laugh and signed their paychecks each and every month. This is why eSIS and the SIS department is so pitiful.<br /><br /><b>THIRD WORLD COUNTRY MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE</b><br /><br />I went online recently and starting counting all the managers in the SIS department and found a flow chart that revealed that the SIS department is organized top down. The top down approach to management is the reason why nothing is getting done. In other words there's no team spirit because first, these managers are not contributing to the workload or even care of there employees are performing. <br /><br />I would like to see a list of all the projects successfully completed today by the SIS department as well as the names, salaries education of the full time staff working on these projects. <br /><br /><b>WALL STREET MANAGEMENT PRACTICES</b><br /><br />I was told recently by one of my friends that work in the SIS department that there are way too many employees with no degrees and no skills with salaries that are up to or over $90,0000 per year. This is why we are not able to get enough teachers and educated professionals in our school system because the SIS department is giving away <b>free launches</b> to the greedy.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-11972043910267007832010-01-22T21:12:54.263-05:002010-01-22T21:12:54.263-05:00And eSIS just ate my grades...They were posted cor...And eSIS just ate my grades...They were posted correctly - the yellow "update successful" box came up. I logged out. This am, no grades - no assignments, no nothing. All that time wasted. Paper and pencil and phone calls to parents would be easier and faster.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com