CPSI Awarded the Massachusetts ESE Contract for 'Streamlining Data Management and Reporting Using SIF'

COLUMBIA, Ill., March 30 /PRNewswire/ -- CPSI is pleased to announce their partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education as their vendor for "Streamlining Data Management and Reporting using SIF" project.  The state data collection and validation system is based on CPSI's solution, xDStudio for State Enterprises, and includes the xDUA, xDStore, xDValidator, and xDZIS.  This solution provides for the collection of appropriate data from the nearly-400 school districts in Massachusetts, places the data into an Operational Data Store, and performs extensive and automated data validation on the collected data.  Once the data passes validation, it can then be moved to the state's data warehouse.

The award was made final on February 22, 2010.  CPSI's xDStudio for State Enterprises solution is a SIF-based data system that allows for a real time (or nearly real time in some situations) collection of data.  Data collection rules and collections will be centrally managed without any burden on the districts.  In addition, data will be validated and cleansed using the CPSI xDValidator toolset for Data Validation, allowing for better district level reporting.  In essence, the ESE will be receiving "All the Data – All the Time", ensuring timely decisions based on real facts.

CPSI's subcontractor for project management activities is IBM.  IBM's Education Practice is built around core competency areas, which provide the necessary capabilities and characteristics that are instrumental to a successful education solution project.  CPSI is pleased to be working with IBM once again.  The two companies developed a partnership several years ago to deploy another of CPSI's products, Visual CASEL, which IBM used as a replacement for their ICLAS product.

The CPSI solution, collectively called the xDStudio State Enterprise, is the new technology standard in data collection, data warehousing, analysis, and reporting for State Departments of Education and School Districts.  The Massachusetts ESE SIF project will provide:

• A standardized data model for data collection and reporting based on the XML data standard
• ETL functions that can generate XML for SIF, PESC, IMS, SCORM, or any other XML data model (xDUA)
• Creates both operational and transactional Data Stores that support dynamic schema additions and modifications, as well as custom object XML schemas (xDStore)
• Builds and manages reporting Data Marts
• Extensive out-of-the-box data validation solution that provides standard rules and allows additional custom rules via an easy-to-use interface – no coding is necessary (xDValidator)
• SIF Certified Zone Integration Server providing a robust SIF communication process (xDZIS)

The complete xDStudio State Enterprise also includes (not part of the Massachusetts ESE project currently):

• Unique Student ID provisioning to ensure that students are tracked throughout their school career (xDUID)
• Longitudinal Data Warehouse system build from the data gathered and stored in the Data Stores (xDVault); the dynamic data repository can be updated in real time or via a predetermined schedule
• Complete information access via data mining tools that can access a variety of databases, spreadsheet and text files (xDTools and xDAdHoc)
• Enterprise-level dashboards that can plug into existing Microsoft SharePoint or DNN portals

"CPSI is pleased about building a great working relationship and partnership with the Massachusetts ESE, just as we have done with the Oklahoma SDE," says Aziz Elia, Chief Software Architect and CEO of CPSI.  "We are excited about deploying these new technologies for the ESE that take advantage of a standardized data model.  Our toolset is unlike any other used in K-12.  For the second time in the US, with our Oklahoma deployment being the first, a state enterprise will be privy to real time data for reporting.  This will allow the state and the districts to catch students that are falling behind sooner, and can even be used to predict outcomes and problems before they happen."

Michelle Elia, President of CPSI, adds that "our extensive experience in this type of implementation will ensure the success of the SIF data collection project in Massachusetts.  While other states still use file uploads and do not have current and real time data, Massachusetts will realize what 'All the Data – All the Time' can do for their reporting and analysis of the data collected.  It truly opens the door for properly addressing the children's educational experience."

About CPSI

CPSI is the leading K-12 data and network integrator in the country and the leading provider of SIF solutions in the US and Canada.  We are also the most experienced Active Directory deployment team in the world for K-12 organizations.  CPSI has been servicing the world of education since 1989 and we have hundreds of school district clients in nearly every state and province in the US and Canada, ultimately providing for the integration of data for nearly four million students and staff.  We have also deployed an entire SIF-based LDS in Oklahoma and a financial collection in Maine.  CPSI is constantly developing new and innovative technologies and solutions that meet the ever-expanding needs of schools and states.  CPSI is committed to K-12 districts, schools, and the organizations that support them.  For more information, please visit http://www.cpsiltd.com.

About the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (ESE) oversees the education of approximately one million students in 391 school districts ("LEAs", which includes Charter Schools).  ESE is responsible for collecting student, teacher, school, and district information from all public school districts multiple times per year.  For more information, please visit http://www.doe.mass.edu.

About IBM

IBM, incorporated in the State of New York in 1911, is a widely held, publicly traded company listed on the New York Stock Exchange.  Originally called the Computing Tabulating Recording Company, manufacturing products ranging from commercial scale and industrial time recording equipment to tabulators and punched cards, it was renamed International Business Machines (IBM) in 1924.  IBM is #14 on the Fortune 500 list, reported 2008 revenues of $103.6 billion and employs approximately 398,400 people in 170 countries.  For more information, please visit our website at http://www.ibm.com.

SIF and Schools Interoperability Framework are trademarks of the Schools Interoperability Framework Association.

    
    
    Contact: 
    Michelle D. Elia, President 
    CPSI, Ltd. 
    235 Southwoods Center 
    Columbia, IL  62236 
    Phone:  800-659-8240 
    http://www.cpsiltd.com 
    [email protected]

SOURCE CPSI, Ltd.