This year brought a lot of changes to ADE IT. Our team has worked hard to be more customer-focused and to improve the systems most important to the day-to-day business of education.
We were able to complete a $1.0M SAIS infrastructure update in October. But what does that mean to you, our customers? For the first time in 10 years, SAIS was available at the start of the school year (July 11, 2011), and the 40-day aggregation for FY 12 was completed on schedule. Our team has also processed more than 600 requests/bug fixes in the first 10 months of 2011. These accomplishments are only small steps toward realizing our goal of having SAIS become an accountability tool everyone can rely on.
In 2011 our team kicked off a number of long-range modernization initiatives that will bring the best technology has to offer to educate Arizona’s children. In early 2012, ADE IT will unveil new data visualizations that will deliver important, information to parents, teachers and administrators. But this easy-to-use, interactive tool is just the beginning. Our team is working on an identity management system that will give users a single sign-on for ADE applications, an upgrade to enable more efficient processing of payments, a wholesale review and upgrade of our technology architecture (the technology blueprints on which we operate as an agency), and Race to The Top grant work including the Student-Teacher-Course Connection Program.
One of our biggest efforts in 2012 is developing our AELAS business case. Our team will not develop systems that are not cost-effective or that do not meet the needs of our customers. Our motto is to build systems for educators built by educators. Our team is out gathering business requirements now (targeting small, medium and large schools from both urban and rural areas of the state). Your requirements, coupled with new statewide data standards, will be the basis for any efforts ADE IT undertakes in the coming year.
Let me know how I and my team is doing by linking to me directly at mark.masterson@azed.gov, 602-542-3542, Twitter or LinkedIn. I look forward to leading my team to another year of knock your socks off service!
Mark T. Masterson, CIO, Arizona Department of Education
We are here to help. Contact us today!
ADE Support Center – Phone: 602-542-7378
Toll Free: 1-866-577-9636
Email: ADESupport@azed.gov
