School management has always been — and still is — an extensive undertaking on the part of educational institutions around the world. It requires painstakingly monitoring the academic progress (or otherwise) of all parties involved, towards constant learning. Careful examination of resulting data will ensure optimal operations for any educational organization. Efficient and just management is of paramount importance towards satisfied students, parents or guardians and staff, altogether. School Management Software is here to help, to that end. But all this begs the question: “What is School Management Software?”
Besides the obvious of it being a complex piece of computer software, School Management Software is an administration tool for educational institutions. This classification comes from the fact that this type (or category) of software aims to help educational organizations in their daily routine, by automating administrative tasks. “School management software” is also known as a “School management system” or a “Student information system”. These systems provide functionality from applications and class enrollment to detailed performance monitoring and financials.
Administration management typically includes both faculty and students. Some systems include a feature set to help manage daily operations, such as building maintenance, supplies and inventories. The need for this feature set is largely dependent on the size of an educational institution.
Most School Management Software products evolve around four main pillars. And regardless of any extensive list of features, we can find a basic feature set around these pillars, aiming to accommodate daily routines for nearly every type of educational institution. That’s starting with Program Management, in its broader sense:
This “extended” feature includes a set of more specific features to help in structuring the curriculum, grouping courses and classes, and defining their individual characteristics. It is, typically, the most basic functionality in a School Management Software. It also includes class scheduling for in-person or virtual class meetings.
Student registration and distribution to class groups and enrollment to classes and courses is one of the core features in School Management Software. In the long run, all information stored will be used to monitor and analyze individual progress, until graduation.
Student management includes daily notifications relevant to classes. But that’s usually not the end of it. Students, parents and guardians also need access to essential information, such as timetables, attendance records, gradebooks, financials and payments per student, pending and outstanding payments, as well as installments (where applicable). The Student management and Admissions extended feature incorporates all the specific features essential to provide that information.
School faculty is just as difficult to coordinate and supervise, as students are. With roles, such as teachers, secretaries, administrative assistants and all supporting staff, School Management Software helps efficiently manage all daily academic procedures.
The feature set for Academic Management may include attendance tracking, grading, assessments, financials and payments per teacher, pending and outstanding payments.
Different user roles can view and use different types of information — and at different levels of detail. School Management Software provides the relevant functionality, to simplify user experience for all parties involved.
Role management is primarily a security feature. It’s built to allow access only to information a role is allowed to view or use. That’s, introducing better security for personal information, at the same time.
Online parent and student portals are based on role management, allowing students and parents or guardians view available material and communicate with teachers, coaches or instructors, as needed.
Starting a new school period or academic period, the structure of classes and courses for the period needs to be prepared. Existing teachers, as well as students that are qualified to continue their studies, may be added to the structure for this new school period or academic period, ready to accept notifications regarding their new schedule. New teachers and students can be added as an ongoing process.
The structure also allows for basic financial management, by setting tuition fees for students and payroll information for teachers, coaches or instructors.
Once a new department, course or class is created, new or existing students and teachers are added to the structure. Avoiding overbooking teachers or assigning students to more than one class at a time is one of the most valuable features in managing any educational institution.
Managing students and teachers is quite the puzzle, especially in academic environments. All aspects of daily routine need to be monitored and improved upon. When all educational activities are successful, the result is happy students, parents or guardians, and teachers, coaches or instructors, too! That alone, is a major retention tool for any educational institution.
Monitoring attendance, progress, assessments, grading, graduation status, financial information, health monitoring and class scheduling is a real time-saver. Subtle automation in these features can bring balance in efficiency and improvement.
Monitoring attendance, progress, assessments, financial information, class scheduling and communication with parents and guardians is the best way an educational institution towards optimal performance and streamlined operations. Different levels of reporting for different layers of management, are also available.
Cloud-based School Management Software offers better business continuity, since it‘s independent of local infrastructure. School records and scheduling are handled directly in the Cloud and can be accessed from anywhere, anytime. And that’s a structural element and benefit of Cloud-based School Management Software, that can come in handy at any emergency situation.
Monitor students and teachers, assess their progress and take corrective measures towards a better rate of success. Improving track records is probably the most efficient way an academic organization has, to achieve an increase in registrations, come the next season. To that end, relevant reporting, and notifications can go a long way towards timely actions for improvement.
Highly grained user roles add a multi-variant approach to data security. And all necessary ISO procedures may introduced, to ensure security.
The Cloud also comes with best practices, leveraging advanced security features and compliance with data protection regulations, such as the GDPR.
But the best part is you don’t need expensive servers, software or specialized personnel to make sure it all works as expected. All you need is a simple desktop computer or laptop and a web browser with access to the Internet. And that’s why you can manage your educational institution from anywhere, anytime.
School Management Software can help a host of educational institutions organize their structure, curriculum, syllabus and communications, along with some powerful reporting features to keep tabs on all procedures.
Regardless of the institution being a small private organization or a great renowned University, School Management Software can, among others, prove valuable for:
