LinkIt!: Demystifying Data Analytics in Education

Joshua Powe, Industry Veteran

Over the last decade, the education space has been undergoing a tech-driven transformation to modernize education for tech-savvy students. By deploying advanced technologies such as learning management systems (LMS), mobile and cloud-based learning, and even AR/VR-based educational solutions, the K-12 landscape has become significantly more sophisticated for teachers and students alike. Despite the increase in technological implementations, many schools and districts are struggling to realize the expected benefits from their technology infrastructure. Joshua Powe, an industry veteran, recognized early on that siloed technology platforms within an educational institution reduce the return on investment in data for admins, teachers, and ultimately students. “Without a way to bring down the barriers that separate the different systems tracking the wide range of data sets streaming through a district, administrators will continue to fail in bringing about a significant improvement in student outcomes,” says Powe. With a vision to shift the existing data management strategy to a more unified approach that enables educators to gain a holistic view of students’ information, he started LinkIt!.

Founded in 2010, LinkIt! is on a mission to create the most effective and easy-to-use data analytics solutions for schools and K-12 service providers striving toward improving academic outcomes. Currently, the company offers a comprehensive portfolio of products and services that are specially designed to aid administrators and teachers in boosting the visibility, scalability, and efficiency of data analytics, reporting, and warehousing. The centerpiece of the company’s suite is its data capture and performance analytics platform, LinkIt!, which facilitates the consolidation of a student’s academic, behavioral, social, and demographic data to drive the development of effective instructional planning, interventional strategies, student grouping, and resource management. Further discussing the company’s offerings, Ryan Winter, president at LinkIt! elaborates, “Our LinkIt! Navigator solution goes beyond the traditional data dashboard to analyze datasets and identify patterns, which are paramount in the development of longitudinal reports, eligibility rosters and predictive analytics.” At the same time, the LinkIt! platform can also aid administrators in understanding the college readiness of their student population, thereby supporting institutions in their efforts to augment the infrastructure in place to boost the academic outcomes..

Apart from these capabilities, LinkIt! prides itself on its ability to perform high-quality data warehousing, which, unlike first-generation EdTech solutions, allows administrators, teachers, and even students to access the data in a user-friendly manner. “Historically, the idea of capturing data was enough, but today, educational institutions have to extract meaningful insights out of their datasets if they want to effectively enhance their student outcomes,” adds Powe.

Ryan Winter, President

And to support its clients through this transition, LinkIt! offers functionality that enables schools to drive progressive change with respect to their practices and build a data-centric culture. On the other hand, the company places emphasis on data privacy and security compliance by leveraging AWS for all their cloud-based activities, thereby offering its clients the flexibility and scalability required to create an efficient data ecosystem regardless of their location. LinkIt! also provides real-time data references without risking non-compliance by collaborating with education district partners to establish and maintain the safest and most efficient data access policies.

Historically, the idea of capturing data was enough, but today, educational institutions have to extract meaningful insights out of their datasets if they want to effectively enhance their student outcomes

With such unmatched core competencies, LinkIt! has ignited several client success stories since its inception. In one instance, the company assisted Mainland Regional High School, Atlantic City, significantly enhanced the academic outcomes of its student body. Initially, teachers in core academic areas lacked the reliable formative assessments aligned to state standards, hindering their ability to measure performance and progress. With LinkIt!’s benchmarking feature, the school administrators were able to measure individual progress with real-time data points on skills and standards. As a result, teachers gained critical insights that drove the development of newer and more personalized instruction strategies. “With our portfolio, Mainland redefined success and recognized that when it comes to building capacity around using data, there is no specific finish line, but a progressive journey for each stakeholder in improved student achievement,” states Winter.

Moving forward, LinkIt! plans to continue enhancing the sophistication and efficiency of bringing disparate datasets together to assist administrators and teachers in improving their ability to perform better data visualizations and positively impact student outcomes. In pursuit of this, the company is developing next-gen integration capabilities to streamline data transfer between disparate systems, including the LMS platforms that many K-12 districts are implementing for the first time in response to widespread school closures resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic. To conclude, Powe reiterates the ethos of his company, “We will continue to resolve the disconnect between data and processes through our portfolio and help our clients gain a significant return on the time and resources they invested in data capture and usage.”

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Company
LinkIt

Headquarters
New York, NY

Management
Joshua Powe, Industry Veteran and Ryan Winter, President

Description
Founded in 2010, LinkIt! is on a mission to create the most effective and easy-to-use data analytics solutions for schools and K-12 service providers striving toward improving academic outcomes. Currently, the company offers a comprehensive portfolio of products and services that are specially designed to aid administrators and teachers in boosting the visibility, scalability, and efficiency of data analytics, reporting, and warehousing. The centerpiece of the company’s suite is its data capture and performance analytics platform, LinkIt!, which facilitates the consolidation of a student’s academic, behavioral, social, and demographic data to drive the development of effective instructional planning, interventional strategies, student grouping, and resource management