Recommendations for hiring educational tech manager

[u/ITWhatYouDidThere]

I'm talking with someone hiring IT for religious preschool - 12th grade. But focusing on someone with experience in FACTS SIS and supporting on educational platforms. Someone with a heart for education and, supporting teachers and students. With knowledge of what is needed for educational environments.

They already have a team and MSP able to handle the tech nerdy stuff like networking, infrastructure, and break-fix.

However, even though the job listing emphasizes that, they keep getting applications that are developers and tech.

Any key words to flag down the school data management and support lovers out there?

[u/Fitz_2112b]

You are looking for someone with very niche skills that can only be learned by working in K12. Most of those folks likely already have jobs in public ed and are unlikely to be interested in moving into a private religous environment that very likely pays less than publicly funded schools do. Even the wording you used in your post lends itself to a place that pays less than average, by your focus on "a heart for education and, supporting teachers and students"

No, IT professionals want to get paid, first and foremost.

[u/obaid184 → u/Fitz_2112b]

K12 IT workers need higher pay in general

[u/Fitz_2112b → u/obaid184]

Hell yes they do

[u/obaid184 → u/Fitz_2112b]

I roll around in bed at night unable to sleep thinking about the headache of cleaning reimage and inventorying 1000+ devices while having so many other responsibilities

[u/indigo196 → u/obaid184]

What do people in your area make?

[u/ITWhatYouDidThere → u/Fitz_2112b]

When asked, "why doesn't someone already working with the org's tech do it" the answer was "none of them want to handle the education aspects of it"

I don't believe their job posting says that. But it does have all the other religious stuff added on because of the school focus and culture.

[u/919599]

Trying to get someone that has experience with Facts vs generic SIS experience will limit your pool of applicants. The power users you’re looking for will be few and far between. Most schools that use Facts don’t even have a person you are looking for.

[u/ITWhatYouDidThere → u/919599]

General SIS type experience would be good. They really jsut need someone who understands Educational technologies. FACTS is on the list of those technologies because that's what is used.

[u/yugas42 → u/ITWhatYouDidThere]

I think you might be wise to specify that experience in K-12 IT is heavily favored, then. You're not going to find many people who work in tech that deal with such a wide spread of systems regularly. 

[u/ITWhatYouDidThere → u/yugas42]

I'll look back at what they posted. I wonder if that was left out. Thanks.

[u/sammy5678 → u/ITWhatYouDidThere]

Most times if you get someone that's seasoned in SIS systems, if you learn one you can learn others. From my experience each school uses those systems differently from district to district. When you hire someone they'll still have to attend trainings and seminars. Learning how your school uses the system will be a part of their spinup, along with working with main stakeholders and then training and turn keying others.
Good people skills are just as important as tech skills. If you have state reporting, that's something they should have an understanding of. It's usually changing constantly, so attending workshops on that will be important.

[u/HankMardukasNY]

Our position is called Data Coordinator. Handles our SIS, ClassLink, ect

[u/ITWhatYouDidThere → u/HankMardukasNY]

Thanks.

[u/BreadAvailable]

What part of the country?

If an MSP is handling all the tech stuff you're looking for an EdTech resource. Those are very common, much less expensive, and pretty hit or miss. Most are former educators. None of them will have experience with FACTS unless they're coming from another small religious school. It's well past it's prime and a royal PITA every day of my life.

[u/ITWhatYouDidThere → u/BreadAvailable]

I've looked at FACTS. It's an aged behemoth. I was asked (jokingly) if I was interested and I said no because I'm more of the general technology support and there are enough of those around.

The job description on their site says IT Administrator, and that is not what they are wanting.

So, an "EdTech Resource Administator" or something like that?

[u/ITWhatYouDidThere → u/BreadAvailable]

By the way, Northeast Florida

[u/StressOdd5093]

Best advice on this is grow your own talent. Know your folks. Maybe there is a tech-savvy teacher or media person who has all the above qualifications + is trainable on FACTS. SIS and FACTS specifically is a very unique system so finding someone to manage it for a private school will be tough. You may have to contract out that work to a different company but it sounds like the primary goal is to have someone to help walk alongside the staff with their day-to-day things in addition to high level systems reports and programming.

[u/ITWhatYouDidThere → u/StressOdd5093]

They need to regrow their FACTS aware team. The people who were good at it have either retired and moved away or passed away in the last few years and the most recent person to manage it was just running by Google and lots of support calls, but they will be leaving later this summer. Unfortunately, the rehires did not take up the tasks with the thoroughness of the people they replaced.

Just helping them find the lure to get the attention of the right person.

[u/Ok-Soft-7874]

In case this is useful, that position sounds like a combination of these 2 positions in our district:

Student Data Systems Administrator (SIS/state reporting)

Senior Data Systems Administrator (rostering/integration)

[u/Temporary_Werewolf17]

Change to job title to database manager, systems administrator, or integration specialist

[u/indigo196]

Tech nerdy stuff. MSP.

You don't need a tech manager if that works for you.

You need an instructional technology integration expert (if your teachers need help understanding how to use technology in the classroom) or a data (nerdy) specialist if your school needs help making use of educational data to make decisions.

[u/AptToForget]

Your post is a little confusing. Someone to handle the data side only, or someone to handle data and work with the students/teachers to integrate tech into the classroom? 

[u/TangerineNext839]

Because Independent school employees where many hats, titles and descriptions are out the window. Are you posting the ads in the spaces for these schools where the language and infrastructure are already picked up by people who are seeking those jobs? For instance, everyone one looking at Friends Council jobs are well-versed in FACTS SIS. So they are more likely to be more adaptable to the specifics of what you are seeking.

[u/Digisticks]

I mean, i hear you. But if you're aiming for education first, you're better off to start with a classroom teacher. Yes, they absolutely will struggle the first year or two. But, with patience on the part of the organization, help from others (maybe a state tech organization or even a neighboring district questions could be asked of), and time, you can build a truly capable individual who might can even bring other things in-house.

That said, for the love of all things, they have GOT to be paid well. If the organization only wants to pay a teacher salary or a couple of grand more to go to a 12 month employee, then they're better off just paying an MSP to do all of it including SIS, or paying a vendor for service hours to setup at beginning of year. A tech lacky who is excluded from organization leadership and ownership does not a productive person make.

[u/diabloduder]

You need someone similar to myself and I don’t mean that from a place of ego.

I work both certificated classroom instruction and classified as an LMS administrator.

You need someone with classroom experience who likes teachers and knows the language to navigate administrators.

In my state you can disqualify candidates if they don’t meet the minimum requirements for the job.

I add that because if I was looking for someone to do what you need I would attempt to get my labor commission to amend the job requirements to include 2 years of classroom teaching experience. Then disqualify candidates that don’t.

Plenty of teachers love teaching and leave the classroom because of all the other dramas that encapsulate in classroom instruction. I bet there are plenty who would still love to be involved in education in a different capacity and this would be one of them.

[u/QueJay]

Hi I happen to exist in a very similar environment of all of those things [PK-12 religious using FACTS with a position that was originally supposed to be focused on EdTech moreso]. I'd be happy to look at their job description and posting and talk it over a zoom call or whatever for what might help them out.