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Empowering school leaders with data-driven insights
Key
Highlights
Highlights
Flexible design options enable development of new instruments to meet client needs
Self-scoring assessments deliver instant insights
Powerful reports allow easy drill-down to actionable segments
The Story
The challenge
To enable growth, SchoolRIGHT needed a scalable solution to serve school clients
When John Shelhamer decided to move on from his company, Development Testing Services, he wanted to leave his impactful school survey and financial aid business in capable hands. In 2018, his friend Clint Holden picked up where he’d left off and began a new era for the organization as SchoolRIGHT, LLC.
Today, SchoolRIGHT, LLC provides proprietary surveys to predominantly faith-based school clients, both domestically and internationally. “The need,” Holden shared, “is real.”
“Schools should use data to inform their decision-making, yet many don’t. In particular, we heard schools crying out for more and better ways to assess their situations and understand what the data was revealing. They were either using other tools that were much too complex, much too weak, creating them in-house, doing nothing at all, or using a tool that wasn’t really understanding of their unique niche.”
As an organization run by former school administrators and personnel, SchoolRIGHT had the expertise. What they needed, though, was the right tool to meet clients’ needs and grow their capacity.
“Before I took over,” explained Holden, “I learned that the software being used was offline, and I thought – no way, this is 2018! This has to change,”
In addition to concerns about cumbersome software update processes and customer service challenges, Holden knew that the business would not succeed if he wasn’t able to find a scalable SaaS solution to meet the needs of the company and its clients.
With just 4-5 months to spare before SchoolRIGHT’s official launch date, Holden set out to find a better solution. After plenty of research, trials, and demos, he thought he’d found a good fit.
“I had signed up with another company, shame on me,” laughed Holden, “and I was ready to roll with them. I’d even started trying out the software, but I didn’t really know what I was doing.”
With experience in educational leadership but without deep expertise in survey software, Holden soon realized that he’d need more than simply a platform.
The solution
With the clock ticking, Holden kept searching. “When I saw Sogo pop up, I thought, I’m going to try that – and I got a demo, and it looked great!, including the solid online reviews and price point!”
Sure enough, the pieces started coming together, and requests started coming in from school districts that had worked with the company under its previous name.
“I still remember my first survey. I was petrified, but I thought okay – we're going to try and pull this thing together... and we did!”
Added Holden, “And it’s been a great journey! We’ve gotten stronger and stronger, and the more involved I get the better I know what I’m doing. Having smart people like the Sogo team who can help us out – that’s made the difference.”
As a research and consulting firm, SchoolRIGHT works with districts to help them see the benefits of ongoing feedback collection with the help of an external partner who can bring consistent questions and analysis through a reliable platform that makes it easy to highlight important insights.
“Seeing and learning from results over time helps schools recognize that it’s not just a decision of IF they should survey but understanding WHY they should survey,” shared Holden.
The flexibility of the Sogolytics platform has had a positive impact on SchoolRIGHT’s offerings, as well.
“In addition to the tools we’ve designed to assist schools in their accreditation process and annual evaluations from their stakeholders and staff, we also offer tools for leadership development, instructional methods for faculty, teacher self-discovery inventory, student feedback, Head of School 360 feedback, and self-assessments for School Boards,” highlighted Holden.
Despite being relatively new to the world of surveys, Holden has been pleasantly surprised by the intuitive nature of the Sogolytics platform.
“Everything is so fast, and right at my fingertips. I’m continually learning best practices and processes.”
The power of the platform and its intuitive flows have helped SchoolRIGHT evolve its offerings, including designing new instruments, like a Meta-Leadership tool to help schools assess staff strengths and needs to inform the hiring and staff development process.
Support from the Sogolytics team has also helped SchoolRIGHT to streamline improvements to existing survey tools and processes. “Our Parent & Employee survey instrument required a thoughtful design review and refined branching process,” Holden shared. “With the help of our account manager, Paige, we pulled it together remarkably well.”
With the backing of a great platform and a helpful account manager, Holden expressed his confidence: “Now, I’m absolutely convinced that whatever we need to do, we can get it done.”
The result
Today, shared Holden, “We use Sogolytics in so many ways! We have helped schools over and over become better at identifying and responding to areas of neglect.”
The power of Sogolytics reports have made a huge difference for SchoolRIGHT clients. “We were hearing people look at the results, and remarking ‘This is great, but can we figure out how people are feeling at different levels, such as Elementary, Middle, or High School?’” remembered Holden.
Filters, segmentation, and numerous other reporting options in Sogolytics make it possible.
“Now, we’re hearing 'We love how we can burrow down to learn so much more about attitudes and opinions of participants.’ Now, our clients can see how perceptions vary by group, and not just where the scores are, but what items are driving those scores.”
Sogolytics’ assessment features, including score categorization and custom results pages, make it easy to deliver deeper data, even in real time. Noting the value of instant results, especially for self-assessments, Holden mentioned, “I love that, because it’s like ‘boom’– you've got your response right now!”
With the additional insights, SchoolRIGHT is able to provide further value to their clients. “Most don’t know the kind of information a good survey can deliver, and this isn’t something they can figure out on their own. Nor do they have the time!”
Being able to pull data into Excel or PowerPoint to quickly highlight results and customize as needed enables the team to deliver useful reports for their clients.
“The worst thing that a school can ever do is conduct a survey and then get a bunch of data back and do nothing about it. Being able to help them understand the data and know what to do with it, is what we are all about.”
On the consulting front, Holden has enjoyed bringing his expertise to bear in the analysis and follow-up. “It's been a blast to watch the schools we’ve been working with for years improve over and over again,” said Holden.
As SchoolRIGHT’s client network grows, they regularly receive positive feedback about the quality of their studies and the impact of their results. This feedback comes from their clients, the PhD researchers they partner with, and even from the boards and associations their clients seek approval from.
When conducting a series of accreditation surveys, for example, the SchoolRIGHT team learned from the accrediting organization that a competitor was selling a basic survey template that schools could use on their own for $100.
“But what they told us,” said Holden, “was that our tool was just so much better. We like to say, ‘We’re not just some monkey’. I mean, what we do is really different and making a difference.”
As a takeaway, Holden borrowed feedback he’d received from a SchoolRIGHT client. “He shared ‘I can’t imagine working with anyone else.’ And really, that’s the feedback I have for Sogolytics. If anyone I know was ever looking for a survey product, I would say, ‘I can’t imagine working with anyone but Sogolytics.’ So, as long as I’m in this business, Sogo will continue to be our partner. They help us do surveys really well!”
I can’t imagine working with anyone but Sogolytics. So, as long as
I’m in this business, Sogo will continue to be my strong suit in doing surveys well.
About SchoolRIGHT
In 1994, Development Testing Services was founded by John Shelhamer. His survey and financial aid verification services have positively impacted hundreds of schools worldwide. Eventually, they partnered with SchoolRIGHT to bring additional expertise and tools to assist school leadership.
In January of 2018, Development Testing Services was sold to SchoolRIGHT, LLC. Under the direction of Clint Holden, a new era began. Clint holds a Master's Degree in School Administration, and he has served schools in Colorado, Wisconsin, Florida, and Ohio. Clint and his team are uniquely qualified to assist independent schools in their needs because they understand the ins and outs of school operations, including their challenges and their questions.
Today, SchoolRIGHT is blessed to serve a wide variety of K-12 schools worldwide. Their long-time focus and understanding of Christian schools have made them a go-to favorite for leaders who need a partner that believes in their mission and worldview.
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