Competition is a powerful elixir.
SF-based LearnSprout says more than 3,300 schools have signed up for its Dashboard service, slated to be released in April, which will use the LearnSprout Connect API to pull data from schools' student information systems (SIS) and provide visual reports on student performance and engagement.
The ability to see graphic representations of large volumes of student data is something that many administrators find lacking in existing SIS's, says Paul Smith, LearnSprout's marketing guru. "From my experience selling SIS's, I knew this was a problem with a lot of administrators. They'd say, 'What you're calling a report is actually a spreadsheet.'"
The dashboard will initially focus on attendance analytics. In coming months, the company plans to pull other data already in SIS's (grades, disciplinary action) that can help educators identify and engage at-risk students earlier on.
The dashboard will be available free for schools. The company instead charges vendors who wish to integrate their services with schools using LearnSprout's API. Smith also shared that the company is currently working with 40 vendors, which include Agilix (Brain Honey), Compass Learning, GoalBook, Junyo, Mastery Connect, MIND Research Institute (ST Math), TeachBoost and more.
Over the past year, LearnSprout and competitor, Clever have been working hard to sign up schools to use their API plumbing to connect applications with SIS and student roster data. The creation of a dashboard will add a new spark to that competition.
