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Dear Valued School Leaders, We are happy to announce SCHOOL MATTERS the first quarterly newsletter of Gray Matters. As our network of schools grows, we are looking for more than one way to stay in touch with you and keep you updated about Gray Matters. We hope that this newsletter, along with our new Facebook page, blog and events will help bring school leaders together and facilitate information sharing. We are very excited to share that now we are set-up as Gray Matters India (GMI) starting from January 2014. GMI has been started with a renewed focus to bring best practices in assessments, data analytics and evidence-based decision making to schools through our partnership with Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), Michael & Susan Dell Foundation (MSDF) and Gray Matters Capital (GMC). Assessments are a “Must Have” for schools in most of the countries which have turned to progressive educational practices whereas it is still a “Nice to Have” option for schools in India. Yes, we are facing an uphill task to educate school

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leaders on the importance of assessments, monitoring and evidence-based action in schools. But we at GMI are committed to making assessments actionable to schools. We will continue to work hard to empower you through school assessments and we will continue to improve our offering to make it more relevant to schools. This would be possible only with your commitment to improve quality of education and we are excited to partner with you. Through future newsletters we hope that you will be able share your knowledge and experience. It might be a simple tip that you want to share with others or a thought that you might want to write about. We want to provide a platform for you to express yourself. If you are interested in writing an article for the newsletter, please contact us at contact@graymatters.in.

Thank you for joining us in our mission to improve school quality.

Best Regards,

Pradeep Sharma

CEO, Gray Matters India

Issue 1 | September 2014

Welcome to Our First Newsletter

Join our Facebook Page!

Like us at: facebook.com/graymattersindia

We’ll be posting articles, future events, and workshops. Connect with other progressive school leaders and join the conversation!!

Schools Rated this Quarter:

The Quarterly Newsletter

+ Saraswatha Academy

Pupil’s Pragathi High School

Bharati Vidyaniketan

Sree NSV Innovative School

Origin School

Montridge International School

New Century Public School

SEED School Hydershahkote

Ushodaya High School

St. Mary’s High School

Sanghamitra School

Oxford Grammer School

Rising Sun High School

Montessori High School

Krishnaveni Talent School

Pudami Nagaram School

Lotus Lap- Kamala Nagar

Malidevi Surana Vidyalaya

Good Earth

SCHOOL MATTERS

GRAYMATTERS

2 Gray Matters India | contact@graymatters.in | +91 4049495050 | www.graymatters.in

School Matters: The Gray Matters Newsletter Issue 1 | September 2014

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On July 19th, Gray Matters and the Google Educator Group (GEG) teamed up to introduce school leaders and teachers to innovative ways of using Google Apps inside and outside the classroom. The workshop was a half-day interactive session where school leaders were able walk through several Google App tools such as Google Drive and Google Forms.

A month after the workshop, we asked school leaders how they applied their new knowledge.

For some school leaders, many of the apps we covered were familiar, but after the workshop they felt they had a much better understanding of the products. Google Drive—used as a way to share documents—was often cited as being used more often after the workshop. One school leader stated, “I was already using a little bit of sharing documents, but after the workshop I had a much better understanding and I used sharing much more often.”

Mr. Sridhar, director of Krishnaveni Talent School, has started using Google Drive for both personal use and to run the school. Before he said he “used to use Gmail, but never went beyond

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that”. He said that he now uploads all lesson plans onto Google Drive and he can access them anywhere.

Gray Matters ensured that school leaders were able to take the experience back to their teachers by working with GEG – Lotus Lap successfully conducted the Google workshop in their own schools.

Several schools were also excited to use their Google skills on their new school computers, coming in later this year. This workshop was a perfect opportunity to prepare themselves for their upcoming school investments.

Overall, the workshop was a success, with over 25 school leaders and teachers learning and using important tools to improve their school.

As technology becomes more ingrained in our lives as well as our education, we want educators to use technology to improve their craft; not replace it!

Keep a look out for more workshops like this in the future. Our next workshop will be on the CCE and how the new regulations will affect your school.

Google Workshop @ Gray Matters Office

School leader insights:

“After the workshop I

had a much better

understanding and I

used [Google Drive]

sharing much more

often”

3 Gray Matters India | contact@graymatters.in | +91 4049495050 | www.graymatters.in

School Matters: The Gray Matters Newsletter Issue 1 | September 2014

Techno Tips 5 lessons we learned about best practices in EdTech

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Every six months or so, a new educational technology device promises to revolutionize the classroom. First it was the smart-classroom, now interpreted by parents as being analogous with high-quality schooling. Then, several high-end schools began requiring tablets for all of their students. Now, companies are trying to create a digital curriculum that can be personalized for every student. For many school leaders, especially those from low-cost private schools, this new frontier can be treacherous as they contend against pressures coming from parents who want to see their child using the newest technology, intense competition from other schools, and a limited budget.

At Gray Matters, we’ve seen a lot of different and innovative uses of technology in India and recently organized a Google Apps workshop for school leaders. So, we’ve put together (Continued on next page)

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a short list of some of the lessons we’ve learned through both our primary and secondary research. Though not exhaustive, this list draws from practices both in India and all over the world.

1. Technology is a great way to connect with people all over the world In Brazil, students learning English are practicing their speaking skills using video chat to converse with American retirees. Many Brazilian students will never have the opportunity to talk with native English speakers and many American retirees are often in want of human companionship. This innovative program connects these two groups together in a solution that meet both of their unaddressed needs. Though yet to take hold in India, the use of relatively simple

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technology (all you need is video chat) would make it easy to implement. This is a perfect example of how being connected to the wider world can lead to innovative solutions.

2. Technology can help you keep track of everything From schools using finger printing devices to make sure teacher’s are held accountable for showing up to class to the use of big data to keep tabs on student progress, it’s clear that knowing where you stand now is necessary to help you improve in the future. This is a philosophy that Gray Matter’s holds deeply. Technology is a powerful tool that can help schools measure their impact in every dimension. Even a simple understanding of Excel can dramatically reduce the time it takes to track things like teacher attendance or test scores.

4 Gray Matters India | contact@graymatters.in | +91 4049495050 | www.graymatters.in

School Matters: The Gray Matters Newsletter Issue 1 | September 2014

- sodales.

Upcoming Events CCE Workshop for School Leaders (September 26) Details: Learn about the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) and what it means for your school. Email contact@graymatters.in for more information

ACER Strategic Leadership Program (October 6-8) Details: Based on local and international evidence about effective leadership and School Improvement, this 3-day program is designed to provide you with an understanding of how the National School Improvement Tool (NSIT) can leverage effective school leadership and school improvement within your own contexts and is alignment with existing processes and priorities. Email contact@graymatters.in for more information Best Practices Research Publication (Out late September) Look out for our newest publication on best practices in improving teacher quality.

Calling all School Leaders: Do you have something to say or a

story to share about education?

We’re looking for a school leader

to contribute an article to our next

newsletter. Send your 300-500

word article to

contact@graymatters.in and it

might appear in the next Gray

Matters Newsletter.

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3. Don’t be fooled by appearances Many schools see technology as a way to convey the quality of their school, and buy it without actually knowing how to use it. Many of India’s smart-class providers learned this the hard way as they realized that many of their products were left unused. It’s important to invest in technology for the right reasons. Critically think about not only what will this product do for me, but what will I have to do to ensure that it works. Most importantly, make sure you follow up with all involved parties (teachers, students, etc.) to make sure they understand how to use it.

4. Old or simple technology can be just as effective if used in innovative ways In many affordable private schools, we found school leaders using SMS text messages as a powerful communication tool with parents. Not only did they send school-wide texts to advertise events and holidays, they had teachers text parents their child’s homework assignment, ensuring a clear channel for communication between parent, teacher, student, and school leader. Text and email are just as powerful as the newest tablet or the latest smart phone app and a lot more pervasive.

5. Remember the human element It’s easy to get swept away by the shiny gadgets and gizmos, but remember that technology is first and foremost built to help humans. Make sure the technology you use helps build upon quality human interaction, not subtract from it.

About Us Gray Matters is a social enterprise focused on improving the quality of education in schools through school assessments, educational analytics and evidence-based school improvement advisory services. Initiated by a U.S.-based social enterprise fund in 2009, Gray Matters has worked with 650+ schools, 300,000 students, 10,000 teachers & 100,000 parents in the past four years across Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai & Bangalore. Gray Matters has strategic partnerships with institutions of global repute such as Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), Michael and Susan Dell Foundation (MSDF), Centre for Civil Society (CCS), Teacher Training Foundation (TTF) and several education solution providers.

GRAYMATTERS