BrightBytes Taps Award-Winning Urban Superintendent to Design Analytics Tools that Address the Real-World Needs of District Leaders
Former Superintendent of Houston Independent School District, Terry Grier, to Advise K-12 Analytics Firm
SAN FRANCISCO, CA. – August 16, 2016 – BrightBytes, the leading K-12 learning analytics firm, announced today that Dr. Terry Grier, former State Superintendent of the Year in both Texas and North Carolina, will serve in a senior advisory capacity for the company with a focus on product strategy and development.
Over a thirty-year career in education, Grier has made a massive contribution at both a local and national level on addressing the issues of educational equity and access. He has served as a superintendent in several of the nation’s leading districts, including Guilford County Schools in North Carolina, San Diego Unified School District, and most recently, Houston Independent School District (HISD) – the 7th largest district in the country.
Under Grier’s tenure at HISD, the district’s graduation rate reached a record high; the district achieved one of the highest rates of Advanced Placement (AP) exam participation among US urban districts; and, significantly closed its achievement gap–– which led to HISD becoming the first district in the nation to receive the prestigious Broad Prize for Urban Education twice. HISD’s PowerUP initiative, which provides laptops for high school students to use at school and at home, is widely considered the premier digital transformation effort in the country. “Terry is one of the most accomplished superintendents in the nation,” said Traci Burgess, CEO of BrightBytes. “Leveraging his tech-savvy, innovative approach to teaching and learning with his experience driving impactful district-level initiatives, will enable us to continue to provide K-12 leaders with the most forward-thinking, data-driven tools that are practical and effective.”
BrightBytes product strategy team is committed to continuously develop tools that combine district-specific data with cutting-edge research and complex analyses. The BrightBytes solutions equip K-12 administrators with fast, actionable insights to improve student learning outcomes.
“Over the years, I’ve witnessed firsthand the impact of education technology both from an administrative and educator perspective,” said Grier, “But educators have only reached the tip of the iceberg to leverage technology effectively. I am excited to assist the innovative team at BrightBytes to ensure K-12 leaders have the best tools possible to make informed, real-time decisions in the classroom, so they can spend their time focusing on what matters the most – student learning.”
BrightBytes’ Clarity platform combines research, data, and user-friendly design into data-driven, timely insights for K-12 administrators to assess the effectiveness of large scale initiatives, including technology implementation and efficiency, dropout prevention, data privacy and security, and leadership development. Today, the BrightBytes tools are used in one in five schools in the U.S.
