Because the second largest district within the nation, it’s no small feat to investigate and perceive the wants of Los Angeles Unified Faculty District’s broad spectrum of educators and college students to greatest serve their distinctive academic necessities.
“In the course of the pandemic, we have been searching for methods to make sure worth on the apps we bought,” says David Kooper, Senior Director of Data Expertise at Los Angeles Unified Faculty District. “We wished to ensure the apps have been being applied with constancy and whether or not our inner divisions ought to proceed to fund numerous apps based mostly on how typically they have been being utilized in the most effective curiosity of the district.”
For this and different efforts, Kooper, Senior Director of Data Expertise at LAUSD, was just lately acknowledged with the Progressive Expertise Director Award on the Tech & Studying Regional Summit in Austin, a part of the Progressive Chief Awards.
Betting On Massive Information
A part of the accountability of discovering new tech options is to find out the most effective bang for the funds buck. Validating the funding by evidence-based outcomes is right.
“Budgets are made by choices,” says Kooper. “Whereas a part of the funds includes fastened prices like staffing, the opposite aspect is discretionary spending. In case you put money into one space that gives you with the info that you simply want, it will doubtlessly prevent cash in one other. It is one factor to purchase a product, it is one other fully totally different factor to determine on the college degree and on the district degree whether or not or not these apps are being utilized.”
One other concern in a district as giant and broad as LAUSD is connecting disparate colleges to gather usable data. Kooper broke down silos by equipping 400+ principals and district/college leaders with visibility into scholar system and app utilization, paired with focused skilled studying to make sure leaders may act on the info. This enabled principals to retire ineffective instruments, maximize investments, and ship extra constant digital studying throughout one of many nation’s largest college methods.
Getting access to a instrument to find out true tech use worth throughout an enormous district utilizing information demonstrated the place cuts may very well be made with out affecting the coed or educator expertise. For this, Kooper relied on perception supplied by Lightspeed Techniques, which proved invaluable.
“You simply have to take a look at it from a large lens to see what the impression is,” Kooper says. “What are you shedding by not investing on this, versus the sum of money that you simply’re spending. It is sensible for many districts. Districts additionally achieve the power to barter or renegotiate contracts utilizing this utilization information. I do not know the way a college district may operate with out wanting on the operational and structural impression inside their information.”
For LAUSD, financial savings reaped by eradicating ineffective instruments and good steerage for future purchases greater than compensated for investing within the tech.
How you can Use Information Perception to Inform Skilled Improvement Plans
Recommendation from Kooper to different districts seeking to replicate LAUSD’s success:
Have a look at the info. Analyze information on the app, college, and district degree to resolve what coaching must happen.
Monitor implementation of not simply paid apps, however unpaid apps. Use perception from information as visibility of how typically rising applied sciences akin to AI or engineering-type apps are getting used at colleges.
Ask questions. Are there limitations to the know-how implementation? Is it on account of a scarcity of coaching? Is it due to a scarcity of course? Is another issue limiting the publicity to a selected app or to a selected know-how?
Extrapolate which means from the info. Ask why would one college be using an app or know-how, whereas it’s being underrepresented at one other college. It provides perception which may result in observe up and focused PD on the college degree.
The Proper Tech Helps in Instances of Want
Southern California faces added challenges on account of excessive climate and pure disasters. When wildfires pressured college closures at Eaton and Palisades, Kooper created school-site teams to trace scholar engagement and entry in actual time.
“We measured utilization information among the many impacted college students to determine who was logging in and who doubtlessly was utilizing key apps we use in our college district for supply of instruction,” he says. “It advised the story of the place individuals have been and their capacity to begin accessing studying instruments. It gave some perception by way of college students getting again to a way of normalcy based mostly on their capacity to log in, entry the curriculum and get the help they wanted. It additionally gave us one extra instrument to take a look at the impression that know-how performs on instruction.”
By surfacing variations in system and software use throughout campuses, Kooper ensured equitable digital studying continued regardless of the disruption — demonstrating how innovation by information use can immediately help college students in moments of disaster.
Larger Builds A Higher Product
Because the second largest district within the nation, LAUSD presents a broad and diversified alternative for focus teams. Kooper constantly drives Okay–12 innovation by piloting rising applied sciences and constructing partnerships that form the way forward for academic know-how.
“We prefer to suppose we cope with companions, not simply distributors,” he says. “All the pieces we do is at scale, with all of the functionalities that make an implementation tougher for a bigger college district. Firms want to grasp beforehand how their methods are going to be impacted by the variety of customers we’ve got.”
That huge array of person expertise is an asset. Kooper brings a collaborative strategy — making certain principals, lecturers, and IT leaders are included in testing and suggestions. This inclusive course of has accelerated adoption, lowered resistance to alter, and given districts confidence that new instruments will translate to higher studying experiences for college students.
“We would like individuals to have the ability to see working with LAUSD as a bonus,” he says. “They could have a canned product that works effectively for 60 or 70% of the individuals. We will assist them create a product that may very well be utilized in methods they might not even be anticipating. The publicity is grander, with a variety of customers, so we are inclined to see issues a little bit bit sooner than folks.”
Past know-how pilots and roll-outs, Kooper’s packages in enterprise intelligence, system administration, software effectiveness, and community safety have supplied nationwide fashions for protected, scalable, and impactful edtech adoption. Care is all the time put into new additions to this system.
“We have now to essentially suppose out of the field and suppose issues by 100% earlier than implementation to keep away from rolling the cube on impression for any person’s expertise,” he says.
In 2025, Kooper led LAUSD’s first districtwide display time evaluation, equipping leaders with information that immediately knowledgeable college board choices and mum or dad engagement. This mix of coverage management, disaster response, and group trust-building highlights how Kooper’s work extends past school rooms to form districtwide tradition.
By sharing clear, clear tendencies, Kooper strengthened belief between colleges, households, and the group, whereas setting a precedent for evidence-based coverage.
Procurement of Digital Options (PoDS)
PoDS is the system LAUSD makes use of to evaluation and approve all digital instruments, apps, and on-line companies earlier than they’re utilized in school rooms or workplaces.
Why is PoDS essential?
- Protects scholar and employees data. Many apps accumulate private information. PoDS ensures distributors deal with this data safely and legally.
- Retains our community safe. One unsafe app may put a whole system in danger. PoDS prevents that.
- Ensures high quality and compliance. PoDS checks that instruments meet District requirements, align with educating targets, and work inside present methods.
- Applies to all merchandise. Free, paid, tutorial, or administrative. Whether it is digital, it goes by PoDS.
- Lightspeed Techniques
- Mind Pop
- Discovery Schooling
- Dreambox
- EdPuzzle
- IXL
- Kami
- Labster
- Nearpod
- Newsela
- Studying Horizon
- Renaissance
- Rosetta Stone
- Seesaw
- Shmoop
- SmartMusic
- Soundtrap
- ST Math
- Zearn
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