Three Challenges to a School-Year Start and How to Overcome Them

The start of a new school year brings with it new opportunities to expand and reach students. Yet, every year brings with it challenges, too, obstacles that all EdTech companies must be able to overcome including new limitations, compliance and regulation questions, and the hiring process.

As an EdTech company, everything hinges on how well your product gets implemented or how well you handle any obstacles that challenge your application. It’s weighing on your mind. Let’s focus on three very big factors that can directly impact your ability to provide the right environment: rostering, staffing, and training in schools.

#1: Rostering

Rostering is a critical component in the process of launching for the new school year. This process of data migration of student information to utilize with your educational product must go well, but plenty of challenges are present.?

If rostering doesn't go well, a subsequent launch delay creates numerous downstream problems with product adoption, training, and overall utilization, amongst other challenges. It can also cause costs to skyrocket well beyond control. The problem is that no two processes (or schools) are the same, and getting the process right is so important that it can create turmoil for any organization.?

To optimize outcomes, you’ll need to ensure:

• Accurate data is always available
• All student information is safeguarded and within compliance requirements
• The process is efficient without a lot of slowdowns?

Engaging a third-party resource to offload the whole or part of the rostering process might be the most time- and cost-efficient solution. A consulting firm with extensive rostering experience like Framework can alleviate this heavy haul by providing a customized suite of services to complement or supplement your company’s rostering process. Such a partner can streamline its execution, setting you up for successful implementation without delay.

#2: Staffing

This is one of the hardest times for teachers. A study reported by USA Today found that 86% of public schools struggle with hiring teachers and that 9 out of 10 of them find it challenging to hire enough teachers before the start of the school year. As an EdTech company, you can see the same correlation with onboarding a team to work within your organization to support your development and success.

Staffing to meet your workforce needs, especially as your organization grows, cannot be a secondary focus within your business. What can you do?

• Take a comprehensive view of what is happening. Why is staff leaving, what could have been done to keep them, and what is best for the program?
• Utilize technology at the highest level. Reducing the workload of your team by automating tasks can help to make the job a bit more effective while also helping to reduce workload.
• Reduce hiring manager workload. Another strategy is to partner with an outside organization to handle the staffing goals (long and short-term). This allows you to free up valuable talent to handle better relationships and team development.

#3: Training

All educators appreciate the value of ongoing learning and training. Facilitating that can be a challenge for an EdTech company. The rapid pace of technology changes can put today's teachers behind the game. For your launch to go well, though, teachers need to be effectively trained.

The problem is that teacher time is limited. Staff, whether administrative or supplemental, also needs training. Yet, budgets are often constrained in this area. Finding a balance is challenging but critical for organizations that need to ensure their team has fresh skills.

Hiring an external resource can help you train teachers and other staff to get them ready to use your solution. The goal is not just to have it in place, but to make sure teachers and other educational professionals are maximizing its use. Moreover, well-trained staff leads to higher utilization of the product, customer satisfaction, and annual renewal rates. That makes the product more useful for the school, teachers, and students themselves.

Solving Your Biggest School Year Problems Is Easier Than You Think

Heading into the school year, there is a great deal of expectation and promise. This year, focus on building a robust training and educational path for your team by incorporating new strategies that alleviate frustrations, reduce time commitments, and ultimately reduce workloads.?

There is quite a bit to do, but Framework can guide you. Our EdTEch consultancy firm can create customizable solutions to help you overcome rostering, staffing, and training challenges, meeting your needs before the start of and throughout the school year so you can enjoy the fruits of a successful implementation. Learn more at https://frameworkconsulting.com/consult.