How did RaaWee streamline attendance intervention for Garland ISD?
PROFILE | Garland ISD, TX
Total students
55,848
Total schools
71
Student Information System
What challenges did Garland ISD face using Skyward for truancy interventions before RaaWee?
Leading with a vision to support students most in need, Garland ISD Superintendent Dr. Ricardo López presides over the 2nd-largest school district in Dallas County, 15th-largest in Texas and 77th largest in America. Included among his 7,185 staff is Attendance Administrator James Iorio, a team member of the Student Services Department.
“Before RaaWee, there was not an easy system with access to multiple data points,” says Iorio. “We love the intervention documentation that is located in the Student File area. This year, we added the LOC [Loss of Credit] action board to our processes and procedures,” Iorio says. “RaaWee has really streamlined the entire attendance intervention process and the data is easy to access.”
To better align with top leadership as well as state and local laws, the department was looking to improve their methods and processes. Specifically, “We were trying to better organize all campus levels to ensure that processes/procedures were in line with state and local truancy intervention expectations,” says Iorio.
School management software has its uses, but the benefits of a specialized attendance system were invaluable. “Before RaaWee, we used Skyward [a K-12 Student Information System] to implement truancy interventions. It was difficult to ensure campus compliance with interventions before RaaWee.”
What were Garland ISD's keys to success with RaaWee?
What ‘keys’ to success did using RaaWee reveal to administrators at Garland ISD? “Providing on-going professional development throughout the year—and having a good system to train new hires,” says Iorio.
“Since RaaWee is a highly organized program, it informs all campus stakeholders of specific student/campus interventions,” Iorio adds.
Does Iorio have any words of wisdom for others in his shoes, to overcome barriers to implementing a great new system? “My advice would be that any new program is a ‘process’. Develop a collaborative system of training and support,” he says. And how about any final words of encouragement or inspiration regarding working with the team at RaaWee? “Saleem [Qazi, CEO of RaaWee] and Saad [Ali Shaikh, Senior Developer] are an integral part of our district’s success with RaaWee. They are supportive and collaborative when issues arise and troubleshooting is needed.”
Turn your Attendance Strategies into Action!
Garland Independent School District (ISD) significantly streamlined its chronic absenteeism and truancy intervention processes by implementing RaaWee ATTENDANCE+™. Before RaaWee, the district struggled with ensuring campus compliance and lacked an easy system for accessing multiple data points for interventions. According to James Iorio, Attendance Administrator, RaaWee centralized intervention documentation, made data easily accessible, and facilitated the integration of new procedures like a Loss of Credit (LOC) action board.
