Forsyth’s Technology Services team sought a way to use data visualization to help staff identify and support struggling students.
Forsyth County is one of the fastest-growing counties in the United States, and the Forsyth County School District (Forsyth) is the seventh-largest district in the state of Georgia. With the surrounding area known as Georgia’s technology corridor, Forsyth County prides itself on its technological innovation and high performance. The North Metro Atlanta–based school district has 40 schools and centers, over 8,000 full-time and part-time employees, and more than 51,000 students.
With so many students and employees, Forsyth County School District needed an easy and seamless way to identify the group of students needing support and attention. While Forsyth has an impressive graduation rate of 94 percent, leadership remains concerned with the remaining 6 percent of students not graduating, and continually strives to find solutions for reaching a 100 percent graduation rate.
Previously, all student data was analyzed manually, specifically by school leadership teams. Effectively wrangling the vast amount of available data required a copious amount of time and in-depth background knowledge. Forsyth County Schools also had siloed student data, making it cumbersome and tedious to access and utilize the information in a timely manner. Since data was being analyzed manually, Forsyth was struggling to use and understand all its data in a way that actively benefited students.
“You’re going to see our graduation rate go up because of those students that we’re able to find and get help—and Power BI enabled us to do that.”
3Cloud worked with Forsyth County Schools in three phases to incorporate Power BI into its systems. Our team consolidated their data from disparate sources to create a unified data model, and established the underlying Azure architecture prior to enabling the Forsyth team with Power BI. The integrated data architecture was enabled by Azure SQL Database, Azure Data Factory, and Azure Analysis Services. Next, 3Cloud built a variety of reports and dashboards to highlight student metrics at all levels of the school district (district, school, classroom, and individual), as well as introduced standardized survey responses about students and their learning environments. These reports utilized historical information and success metrics to predict trends and behaviors. The dashboard-style reports are accessible and easy to use and more importantly, allowed staff members to quickly pinpoint students who may need extra help in order to graduate.
Forsyth County Schools estimates that the implementation of Power BI has saved the district over $300,000 in staff resources and time. More importantly, using Power BI, the staff at Forsyth County Schools can quickly and effectively pinpoint struggling students and get them the help they need to graduate. The district is aiming to move the 94 percent graduation rate to 100 percent.
According to Tim Fleming, Director of Technology Services at Forsyth County Schools, “We’re finding the students who maybe have fallen through the cracks over the years. We’re presently working with the students to make sure they’re going to graduate, and I guarantee you’re going to see our graduation rate go up because of those students that we’re able to find and get help—and Power BI enabled us to do that.”
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