2021 Hottest EdTech Award Winner

Prestigious award recognizes outstanding education technology solutions for K-12 school districts

EL DORADO HILLS—School Innovations & Achievement [now SchoolStatus], makers of the multi-tiered attendance management software and service program The Achievement Initiative, today announced that CIO Review Magazine, a leading publication in technology and edtech, has selected The Achievement Initiative as one of the 10 Hottest K-12 Solution Providers of 2021.

The Achievement Initiative is a data-driven multi-tiered system of supports to track, manage and improve student attendance. When school districts could not locate thousands of students during pandemic closures, The Achievement Initiative was connecting its district partners with their families—crossing the digital divide with traditional mail communications and improving student attendance amid a growing national attendance crisis. Schools on their program were able to find missing students, especially among at-risk populations most severely impacted by closures, and share much-needed information about critical school- and community-based resources.

Architected as a scalable and customizable platform, The Achievement Initiative was able to provide immediate support in locating missing students, speed in adapting its tracking capacities to meet new attendance norms, and agility in reporting for early interventions and timely responses. 

While chronic absences skyrocketed across the country, K-12 school districts with The Achievement Initiative program saw a far smaller increase. 

“Fortunately, we have spent the last 15 years perfecting how to implement a plan that gets results,” said Jeff Williams, CEO of School Innovations & Achievement [now SchoolStatus]. In a 2020-21 data report for 330,000 students requested by the California Department of Education, SI&A found that their district partners saw an uptick in absences that was far below the dramatic 220 percent rate of increase projected for non-partner districts across the country.

“Absences translate into lost learning time,” continued Williams, who cited SI&A’s mantra: Achievement is inextricably linked to attendance. “Educators are scrambling to combat the lost learning due to the pandemic. We helped soften the blow during the closures and we are ready to help more districts rebuild attendance habits as we recover.” 
“Our program and service are unique, and more importantly, effective,” Williams said. With yet another industry award recognizing its positive impact on student outcomes, Williams contends that The Achievement Initiative is one of the 10 Hottest K-12 Solution Providers in 2021, and should be part of every district’s strategy to get students back in class in the coming school year.