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Directors Update

PROVIDE LEADERSHIP, ASSISTANCE, AND RESOURCES TO ENHANCE DISTRICTS’ DATA ECOSYSTEMS IN SUPPORT OF LOCAL, REGIONAL, AND STATE PRIORITIES

This month, our team has been hard at work bridging the gap between complex data and meaningful insights for our community. We collaborated closely with instructional staff to refine how Star Assessment data is shared with parents. By transforming technical metrics into a clear, accessible narrative, we are ensuring that families have a transparent and comprehensive understanding of their student’s academic growth.

In the realm of Career and Technical Education (CTE), our group worked with their districts to successfully coordinate the collection and consolidation of data for the 2024-25 CTE Post-Program Report. By merging demographic information, exit data, and senior surveys, we have streamlined the analysis of post-school outcomes while maintaining full New York State Education Department (NYSED) compliance across all district CTE programs. Additionally, we have met the mid-year NYSED deadline for 2025-26 preliminary data, ensuring that all CTE participants and concentrators are accurately reported.

We remain committed to using high-quality data to drive program success and student achievement.

We are very excited to share the following trainings and workshops that our team has coming up in the near future:

Advanced Analytics Base Dashboards User Group: On March 17 we’ll be hosting a hands-on instructional dashboard training and workshop from 9 a.m. to noon. Attendees can expect to gain a comprehensive understanding of available data types and visualization tools.
SchoolLinks Lunch-n-Learn: On Friday, March 27, Aaron Johnson from SchoolLinks will be on-hand to provide a quick overview of the guidance platform, alongside additional guest speakers who will share best practices for how they adapt SchoolLinks to meet New York State initiatives in their school district. The session will run from noon to 2 p.m.
Virtual Regional Data Analysis and Facilitation Spring User Group: On April 28, we will host the Virtual Regional Data Analysis and Facilitation Spring User Group from 9 a.m. to noon. This session is designed to support the development of effective data teams by covering essential topics such as team creation, the structuring of data meetings and agendas, and proven strategies for facilitators. Participants will also have the opportunity to join targeted breakout sessions focused on data tools and protocols, including practical guidance on facilitating data analysis using Advanced Analytics and SchoolTool.

PROVIDE LEADERSHIP, ASSISTANCE, AND RESOURCES TO ENHANCE DISTRICTS’ SECURITY POSTURE IN SUPPORT OF LOCAL, REGIONAL, AND STATE PRIORITIES

At the last DPO monthly meeting, we discussed national artificial intelligence (AI) privacy concerns related to Wearable AI Technologies and AI-Generated images. We also reviewed a recent successful cybersecurity attack against the Polish Energy sector. The research ultimately found that while cyber controls had provided many warning signs of intrusion, no action was taken by the staff managing those controls, ultimately leading to compromise.

PROVIDE LEADERSHIP, ASSISTANCE, AND RESOURCES TO ENHANCE DISTRICTS’ TECHNOLOGY ECOSYSTEMS IN SUPPORT OF LOCAL, REGIONAL, AND STATE PRIORITIES

Planning for the next three-year (2027-2030) Wide Area Network (WAN) service is underway, with the WAN Focus group scheduled to meet on March 6. This group comprises BOCES superintendents, district superintendents, business officials, instructional technology leaders, directors of technology, and technology administrators. The group's purpose is to share information with a representative set of stakeholders across our region regarding the design of our shared network (which serves as the backbone for instruction), business operations, cybersecurity, communications, and state reporting. The focus group will guide the CNYRIC in developing the plan for the next three years by addressing the following questions:

What is working well?
What is becoming a risk?
What needs to change?
What are the requirements for the future?