Student Information Systems | News

New York State BOCES Add ClassLink for Managing Records

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 02/13/12

Two New York State BOCES have added cloud-based student management software from ClassLink to their roster of services. A BOCES is a board of cooperative educational services that delivers software and services to multiple school districts in a particular region. Both Ulster and Delaware-Chenango-Madison-Otsego BOCES signed up with ClassLink in December for access to ClassMate.

ClassMate is the company's student administration and curriculum management software specifically for use in career and technical, adult, alternative, and special education. The program also records and monitors attendance, does state and federal reporting, streamlines discipline referrals, and streamlines other administrative tasks.

Several years ago ClassLink signed a contract with New York State that enables schools, districts, and BOCES to order its products under special pricing. That contract was updated in 2011 to accommodate cloud-based services. Since then, multiple BOCES in the state have added the programs to their catalog of services, including Tompkins-Seneca-Tioga in February 2011, Rockland in June 2011, and Otsego-Northern Catskills in August 2011.

The company said its software now manages the data for a third of the total BOCES-managed enrollment in the state.

"Our work with ClassMate has been one of the most transformative processes I've ever experienced," said Gene Silverman, executive director of Regional Schools and Instructional Programming for Nassau BOCES. "It was a profound game changer for our BOCES that is continuing today. We now have a very thoughtful process between teachers, administrators, and staff that is entirely focused on students' needs and the outcomes we want. ClassMate has shifted the thinking of our group of educators."