MCHENRY, Ill., Sept. 15, 2020 — California's Ed Tech Joint Powers Authority (Ed Tech JPA) has contracted with Follett to provide streamlined procurement of Follett Aspen Student Information System (SIS). Ed Tech JPA provides all California educational agencies with the opportunity to leverage competitively-priced digital technology contracts, while saving time and ensuring that data privacy and public procurement laws are followed.
"A driving force in establishing Ed Tech JPA has been to facilitate the procurement process, allowing IT departments to focus on implementation, and to provide products that benefit students and educators," said Michelle Bennett, contracts specialist for Irvine Unified School District, one of Ed Tech JPA's founding California school districts. "We're excited to partner with Follett and enable more California districts to benefit from the Aspen Student Information System. It's wonderful to see our vision becoming a reality."
Follett Aspen SIS is a centralized platform for hosting and managing student data, safely and securely storing data such as class schedules, school events, student performance, athletic eligibility, and individual health records. A mobile-friendly, one-stop application for teachers, administrators and school community, Aspen also allows educators to closely monitor student progress, implement new curriculum, and conveniently communicate with parents.
In addition, Aspen includes online learning components such as editable class pages, online assignment submission, and Follett Destiny Library Manager content integration. Among the SIS' newest features are Online Registration, Data Analytics, and a Social Emotional Support Center, which allows multiple staff members to view the whole student by accessing robust data.
"As we look to support more California K-12 school districts, Follett is thrilled to be affiliated with Ed Tech JPA since we can work directly with schools and districts to meet their needs and move forward with an expedited purchase and implementation process," said George Gatsis, senior vice president of technology platforms for Follett School Solutions. "The partnership can reduce the typical procurement process from six months to one month or less, saving everyone involved in the process precious time and resources."
Follett Aspen SIS currently serves more than two million students throughout 240 school districts in the U.S. and Canada.
Ed Tech JPA has recently grown to 53 member agencies and now serves more than 743,000 students in California. Follett and other vendors will respond to one Request for Proposal, which multiple school districts will be able to review and utilize.
For more information about Follett Aspen SIS, visit www.follettaspen.com.
About Follett's PreK-12 Business
Follett is the largest provider of educational materials and technology solutions to PreK-12 libraries, classrooms, learning centers and school districts in the United States, and a major supplier to educational institutions worldwide. Follett distributes books, reference materials, digital resources, ebooks and audiovisual materials, as well as pre-owned textbooks. Follett also is one of the leading providers of integrated educational technology for the management of physical and digital assets, the tracking, storing and analyzing of academic data, and digital learning environment tools for the classroom focusing on student achievement.
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About Follett Corporation
Follett Corporation is the world's largest single source of books, entertainment products, digital content and multi-media for libraries, schools and retailers. Headquartered in Westchester, Illinois, Follett provides education technology, services and physical and digital content to millions of students at 70,000 schools and more than 2,850 physical and virtual campus stores in North America. Through Baker & Taylor, Follett's reach also extends to the public library and global retail markets.