Student Success Systems

Student success systems are an evidence-based approach that schools and districts use to support students’ wellbeing, academic progress, and college and career readiness. These systems leverage data to identify patterns in student progress and needs, prioritize the supports and interventions that will have the greatest impact, and continually improve practices until success is achieved for every student.

Courtesy of The GRAD Partnership

The Student Success Systems Playbook supports school teams, district staff, technical assistance intermediaries, and technology solution providers to design coherent, integrated systems so all students graduate on time from high school, prepared to flourish in their next steps with future-ready skills.

Educators make critical decisions about student success everyday: from identifying learners in need of support to implementing targeted interventions. Yet too often, the data systems meant to power this work fall short, leaving educators to navigate fragmented platforms, manual processes, and tools that don’t align with their daily workflows.

We’re working directly with districts and vendors to bridge the gap between what educators need and what technology delivers. By showcasing innovative district-led solutions and facilitating co-design with edtech vendors, we’re helping create data systems that truly serve students and the educators and leaders who support them.

Learning from Innovation: We highlight schools and districts that have developed creative solutions to common data challenges, preventing others from reinventing the wheel while identifying patterns that can inform broader improvements.

Facilitating Co-Design: We bring together districts, state-level orgs, and edtech vendors to collaboratively develop configuration solutions that make existing platforms more effective for student success work.

Scaling Solutions: We partner with training organizations to transform successful innovations into actionable playbooks that districts can adapt to their unique contexts.

Case Studies

These case studies highlight how districts and edtech providers are working together to co-design and develop more responsive, scalable student success solutions.

District-Led Innovation Showcase

Effective data systems are the backbone of thriving student success initiatives. They enable practitioners to identify pressing student needs, implement targeted interventions for individuals and groups of students, and track key outcomes over time.

Yet many school districts find themselves struggling to implement data systems that truly enhance their student success work; they are looking for user-friendly technology that simplifies data entry and reporting so educators can focus on the human-centered aspects that matter most. While the edtech market offers a range of tools – from student information systems to analytics platforms and intervention trackers – practitioners often find these tools don’t align with their specific needs, daily workflows, and the nuanced processes that define their school communities.

In response to these pain points, many innovative school districts have developed what we call District-Led Innovations (DLIs) — custom data solutions designed to address specific gaps or better align data systems with local student success priorities. These DLIs range from simple spreadsheet-based trackers used at individual schools to sophisticated district-wide platforms integrating multiple data sources.

We’re eager to highlight innovative work happening nationwide and connect educators with vendors driving meaningful change. Share your story, learn from others, or join this critical work.