Standard For Success Acquires STAGES Software

Standard For Success has acquired STAGES Software and will now serve nearly 2,000 schools, located in 20 states/provinces throughout the United States and Canada.

Indianapolis, IN (PRWEB) - Indiana-based Standard For Success (SFS), a leading company in providing online, fully customizable employee evaluation software, announces acquisition of STAGES Software.

In today's K-12 marketplace, teacher and staff evaluations are a necessary part of school administration and compliance-but for many, these evaluations can be time-consuming, cumbersome and inconsistent. As staff evaluation requirements have evolved across the U.S., both SFS and STAGES have provided automated solutions to streamline the evaluation process and simplify documentation. Both platforms offer multiple frameworks for evaluation, including the Thoughtful Classroom™ Teacher Effectiveness Framework. Approved by the Michigan Council for Educator Effectiveness, and the states of New York and New Jersey, the Thoughtful Classroom framework is a comprehensive system for observing, evaluating, refining and improving classroom performance.

Dr. Harvey Silver is the lead developer of The Thoughtful Classroom Teacher Effectiveness Framework. As President and Founder of Silver Strong & Associates, Dr. Silver has been working with schools for more than forty years to identify and address the challenges that pose the greatest obstacles to achieving results. According to Dr. Silver, one of the biggest challenges in teacher evaluation is complexity. "We found too many schools struggling with an overwhelming number of rubrics and losing the big picture, which is great instruction. So, we designed The Thoughtful Classroom to be 'simple and deep'-simple enough to provide a big picture of good instruction that's easily understood and deep in that it provides educators with a common language and tools that lead to real change. We have worked closely with both Stages and SFS to help schools take this simple and deep approach, and we are excited about the recent acquisition," said Dr. Silver.

SFS' acquisition of STAGES presents a unique opportunity to synchronize and customize evaluation processes for more than 1,975 schools throughout the United States and Canada and to help those organizations create a culture of continuous learning for educators as well as students.

"Bringing together the best features of STAGES and SFS allows us to continue to grow and expand our software platform to meet the ever-changing needs of our clients. We look forward to serving more schools and welcoming STAGES customers to the SFS family," said Todd Whitlock, co-founder and CEO of Standard For Success. "We believe our strong commitment to customer service not only echoes but builds upon what STAGES customers have come to expect. SFS also offers an opportunity to move beyond compliance and help shift the evaluation process to a growth exercise with our expertise and professional development offerings."

SFS aids school districts in moving beyond compliance by leveraging evaluation data to drive professional development. Evaluation analytics provide insights about teacher development needs that can help districts fuel a culture of learning across every facet of the learning continuum. As a result, more districts are reviewing trends identified when analyzing evaluations to strategically implement integrated professional development.

As part of the acquisition, three members of the STAGES team will join Standard for Success.

These team members, which include two client engagement specialists and one software engineer, will continue offering support for STAGES software through the 2018-2019 school year, working closely to deliver the support STAGES' customers have come to expect, as the team evaluates the future of the platform.

"This acquisition brings together the expertise of two fantastic organizations, and we know our customers are in good hands with SFS," said Dawn Zimmer, President of Zimco, Inc. who had managed all aspects of operations for STAGES Software. "We believe SFS will provide the best solution as schools prepare for future success. SFS' experienced education consultants will work closely with each district, and their dedicated customer support team will assist with set-up, training, and interpretation of evaluation data as needed."

Excellent customer service is a top priority at Standard For Success. The company was recently awarded 2018 People's Choice Stevie® Awards for Favorite Customer Service provider in the public service and education category as part of the 12th Annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. The company also received a Silver Stevie Award for Sales & Customer Service.

"We look forward to continuing to develop an evolving platform each and every school year that meets the needs of our member schools and districts," states Alan Degener, Chief Technology Officer for Standard For Success. "Our flexibility in adapting our platform to the needs of the educators who use the software daily is just one more example of our commitment to being responsive to our customers when and where they need us."

For more information on Standard for Success and its teacher evaluation software, visit StandardForSuccess.com and view the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mwx9Zu8Hb3E.

About Standard For Success
Standard For Success is a powerful online customizable teacher and employee evaluation system, created by educators for educators. The result: the most efficient and effective educator evaluation tool on the market. Our company has worked with professional organizations (endorsed by Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents and Indiana Association of School Principals and partnered with Illinois Principals Association, Illinois Association of School Administrators, and Michigan Elementary and Middle School Principals Association), local administrators, and local bargaining units to provide a total solution product.

Standard For Success provides the maximum in user friendly experience and change management and is supported on various browsers and devices, including a mobile app. The ability of teachers and administrators to upload artifacts encourages collaboration and transparency in the evaluation process.

About STAGES Software
STAGES Software, based in Frankenmuth, Michigan, was developed by Saginaw Valley State University (SVSU) after being awarded a Title II Teacher Quality Grant by the United States Department of Education in 1999. Seeing a need to improve the teacher evaluation process, SVSU wrote the grant with the goal of enhancing teacher performance. The main push was to have the ability of running reports that would allow a school or district to pinpoint an area of focus in regard to professional development. STAGES is now widely used across the United States and Canada.