Smart Choice Technologies

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Don't Gamble with Opportunity Student Selection with a Fair & Honest Lottery

http://www.smartchoicetech.com Mallory@smartchoicetech.com

Off ice: 337-269-0299 | Cel l : 337-349-2586 Description: Once a tool for desegregation, Magnet school programs have evolved to become a prestigious platform for academic opportunity and excellence. Unfortunately, the growing success of Magnet schools means many students are left hoping they make the cut during the lottery process. Employing a reliable lottery system provides a selection process that is fair and honest. Today, more than ever, selecting an effective lottery system is essential to any successful magnet program and the success of its students. Explore what the Smart Choice™ System has to offer to create an efficient and secure online application and lottery process for your school or school district.

Development of a magnet program is a lot of hard work and typically orchestrated by a small staff. A lot happens behind the scenes, but the first step for the public is the application process. A fluid process is imperative in making a great first impression during the application period. Conducting an effective recruiting and application process is essential for a successful magnet program and while new programs or schools may not have an influx of applicants the first year, they are all trying to create the best program possible. Plan Ahead With increased interest in your program, more students will apply which means more applications than seats available. This scenario requires a lottery so it’s important to plan for growth by using tools made for student application management and selection. By using resources geared towards magnet program enrollment, the process becomes hassle-free and allows for scalability of your programs. The by-products of using such resources are the financial savings and the efficiency of the staff. No matter how small or new your program, the end goal is to create a top choice for students within your selection eligibility requirements. Creating an environment that allows for quick, easy submission and management of applications with the option to run a lottery allows your program to naturally evolve without requiring more personnel.

Smart Choice Technologies

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By using an online application and lottery management tool from the start, you reduce the risk of reluctant parents and staff when adopting a new technology and process. Providing online applications is a must in today’s society. Providing online submission of application is as necessary as having a website for your school, parents, applicants and the community expect it. Because Magnet Schools are known for providing an innovative educational experience providing a single option for submitting application on paper makes some parents question the school’s credibility and goes against the innovative nature provided to our students everyday in the classroom. Equal Access When offering an online application, many question the equality of access for submitt ing applications. The level of access provided to applicants is up to your school or school district and the rules and regulations set forth. Regardless, after the program has been marketed, it’s important to provide multiple ways for students to apply. Some programs offer paper and online forms, while others accept applications only online. Choose the best way to manage the applications and then overcome the obstacles that keep applications from coming in. Make kiosks throughout the school or school district is one idea for accessibility. Or, hold a recruitment fair providing program details, admission information and computers for applying while creating a great rapport with applicants and their families. The United States has more wireless connections than it does people. Creating a way for applicants to submit and manage applications on the go is progressive, efficient and fair. Give the highest level of access among applicants by offering the option to submit and manage applications from a mobile phone or tablet. Reduce Human Error With a surge of applications coming in, managing the enrollment process can be a huge job for schools and districts. Thousands of multi-page paper applications, proof of residency forms and numerous other required documents can easily require a large team to administer. Not only does this process cause a huge amount of extra work piled onto administrators and educators, it also places the odds of a student being selected at risk due to human error. Manually processing applications is time consuming and tedious, but with so many students on waiting lists throughout the country, creating a fair and honest selection process from application to lottery is key. Going back to providing an option for online application submission lowers the possibility of error related to manual data entry on

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applications. With an online application in place you can rest easy knowing the liability for application errors is placed on the applicant instead of administrator. Tracking eligibility, receipt of important documents and communications with parents are necessary for the enrollment process. Finding ways to automate the process nurtures the integrity of the program by keeping educators in their classroom focused on curriculum instead of candidates. Administrators can focus on growing the program instead of perfecting the application process. Not only will creating this efficient framework boost your internal processes, but your applicants will also be satisfied with a process that allows them to do most actions on their own without having to make a visit to the school or call in to get information about their application. Getting Teachers Back to Educating Because the processing and management of the application and enrollment process is so complex, many educators get pulled into this role because of the lack of resources available. This takes teachers away from their true calling but it also deprives students of their full attention in the classroom. Utilizing an application and lottery management system that allows your educators and administrators to get back to what they were meant to do, educate our future generations benefits all parties involved. I have seen that with an effective application and lottery management tool in place, one administrator was needed for every 10,000 students within the district! The Right Tool for the Job You wouldn’t try to loosen a Phi l ips screw with a f lathead screwdriver , would you? We all know that getting something done quickly and efficiently is completely dependant upon the set of tools available for the job. With most programs utilizing a hefty list of priorities, why would you try to complete a task as complex as a lottery without the right tools. Creating or managing a successful selection process is just like any other job, requiring the use of a number of resources throughout the year, from an effective and usable application process to a fair and trustworthy lottery system, all of these tools are needed to fulfill your program’s needs.

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Flexible Flexibility should be considered when selecting a lottery system to accommodate your program’s specific selection criteria and priorities no matter how simple or complex. One size does not fit all when it comes to a lottery system so make sure the selection tool you deploy can be customized and setup to adhere to your program or district’s specific selection criteria. This is the only way to ensure applicants are getting a fair chance at a seat in your program. No two programs are alike and with that diversity comes the challenge of making an application and lottery solution work when it’s not made for you. When putting a selection component in place, it’s good to start with a system that can allow for standard priorities like sibling and pathway or feeder school preferences. But it’s even better if you can easily adjust for more specific priorities like grade and testing requirements and socioeconomic ratios. Criteria managed in a methodical manner are the only way to guarantee your process in selecting students in a fair and honest way. A flexible lottery system will also allow your selection criteria to change as your program matures. Secure & Trustworthy Keeping a student’s application and personal information secure is usually a top priority along with monitoring personnel access to avoid tampering. Keep your program’s integrity in tact by safeguarding student and lottery data by providing unique logins for internal staff. Limit staff access as much as possible and be prepared to mitigate any issues by providing an audit of your process and the hands in it. The growing success of Magnet schools means many students are left hoping they make the cut during the lottery process. For some students acceptance into a credible magnet program is completely life changing. For many, the process of a lottery is foreign and easily creates skeptical parents. If a trusted lottery system is used, it allows your school or district to become disconnected from the process and puts the child’s chances in the hands of a formula that was made and customized with your specific selection criteria in mind. Don’t gamble with this opportunity that many kids only have one shot at by using a system that isn’t trusted. There is no reason for manual selection process. Make the smart choice for your application and lottery management tool. Make sure it is efficient, fair and honest. By choosing the best tool, you directly affect the outcome and success of your program."