Our Blog
Welcome to Spiral Universe's blog. Check back frequently to stay updated about our latest news and upcoming events.
1月 19, 2010
The Race Is On For Race To The Top Funding
by Brian Kant
The deadline for states to apply for Race to the Top funding is today, but if your state has not submitted an application yet for a slice of the $4 billion federal program to reform schools, it is not too late. The second and final round for applications will end in June.
Looking ahead, President Obama has already begun discussion of expanding the program by $1.35 billion in next year’s budget. If the program is a success, there is also a talk of expanding eligibility beyond states to include individual districts as well.
The aim of Race to the Top is straightforward: improving education by pushing effective reform strategies. States are in direct competition for funds and must present the most innovative ideas in their application. The more states can demonstrate concrete dedication to reform, the more likely they are to get a larger piece of the pie.
Our system can be a useful tool in reaching the objectives outlined by the program: adopting proven standards and assessments which prepare students for success in college and the workplace, building data systems that measure student success and inform schools how they can improve their practices, and turning around low-performing schools.
For example, Spiral Universe is helping the Arizona Charter School Association (ACSA) carry out these goals, improving and augmenting their Race to the Top bid. Charter schools in Arizona are consistently ranked as some of the best in the nation. They embrace a data-driven decision-making model based on Arizona’s standardized AIMS tests. Dubbed the Arizona Growth Model, this statistical tool provides detailed, in-depth analysis of individual students growth which can be combined to provide data for the entire school. The Arizona Growth Model highlights effective schools that achieve the best academic growth rates in students over time. This information helps parents, schools, and policymakers identify schools that exceed academic standards and schools that may need reform.
The ACSA faced a technical problem of administering tests to 100,000 students spread across 500 charter schools and providing immediate analysis and feedback in a way that is efficient and beneficial for all stakeholders. Spiral Universe presented a solution. Working in partnership with the ASCA, Spiral Universe built and online assessment module capable of creating and managing assessments within a school, a district, or a state.
As competition for Race to the Top funds heats up, states and districts must make every effort to employ technology that illustrates their willingness to embrace data-driven reform. As a web-based assessment tool, Spiral Universe represents a turn-key solution that benefits any bid for Race to the Top funding.
1月 8, 2010
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - Sustainable Software Development
by Dave Blickstein, Director of Technology
Software development has changed dramatically during my 35 years in the field. I want to draw your attention to one new paradigm that plays a key role in Spiral's strategy.
Let's say that you wanted to add new features to your software that had been previously implemented by other companies. In the old days, there were many barriers in trying to reuse code from others. You might have been writing in different programming languages, or targeting different platforms. Even if you solved all the technical challenges, maybe no one wanted to share their code with you. And if you had the right skills to recreate the same features on your own, it would take significantly more time, and obviously cost much more money.
Now we are the midst of a true "software convergence." Over the years these barriers have been gradually eroded by the development of standards, protocols, network services, and open source licensing. Now software developers can focus on their core competencies, and yet offer a product that is "best in class" by using the building blocks provided by their partners or open source communities.
Spiral's partnership with Ext JS is a good example, profiled recently in the "Implementation Spotlight" on the Ext JS blog. Their Ext GWT component library allowed us to produce complex yet user-friendly software in much less time than if we had built each component ourselves from scratch. Better yet, whenever Ext JS, Google, Sun Microsystems, or our other technology partners enhance their products, our users benefit from improved performance in Spiral.
Our imminent migration to Ext GWT 2.1 will be another step in making the Spiral user experience better. And all we have to do is... well... we don't have to do anything. That's the point.
12月 24, 2009
Spiral Developer Recognized in Russian Programming Contest
by Andrei Volgin, president
Today a group of distinguished young students had their talents recognized at a special reception in Voronezh, including Alexander Osmanov, our rising star developer. Alex placed second in the all-Russian programming Olympiad. An award in the Russian programming competition is no small feat, as the country prides itself on its prowess in math, science, and software engineering.
At Spiral, we constantly scout the world for the best talent. Alex, we are proud of having you on our team. Congratulations and many more victories!
11月 22, 2009
Spiral against the flu
by Andrei Volgin, president
Spiral can be instrumental in fighting epidemic outbreaks, such as the swine flu. I had to travel all the way to Cairo, Egypt, to hear this interesting observation from our local partners. Recently, schools in Cairo were closed for several weeks to prevent further spread of the disease. With no online connection to their schools, students could neither receive nor complete their assignments. In many cases, parents had to drive to schools to pick up packets for their kids. The prices for private tutoring soared.
Most students in Egypt do not have computers or Internet access at home, so having a system like Spiral at their schools is not much help when a school is closed. Yet, Internet penetration is quickly expanding worldwide, and some schools in the region are considering migrating to a web-based information system in part as a precaution against a possible pandemic, and of course for the other benefits delivered by such a system. I wonder how many schools in the U.S. have looked at web-based information systems from this angle. On our part, we decided to speed up the rollout of an emergency notification service that will be integrated with the rest of the system. Let's hope we never have any pandemics - if our system is used for snow day alerts only, it is also quite useful.
No snow in Egypt. They worry about sand storms....
8月 19, 2009
We have moved!
by Andrei Volgin, President
Geographically, our new office is less than a mile away from the previous one. In terms of convenience and style, however, it was a huge step up.
As the painters were finishing the walls, a manager from a neighboring firm came up to inquire if we were building a space for a daycare center. "Sure," we replied, "but our kids mostly speak Java." In many respects, software developers are like kids: sensitive, naive, and always wishing to make the world better. We needed an office space to match.
Who said that the office should be boring "corporate beige"? How about Green Apple and Marmalade instead? When dreaming up our new home we applied the same principles that we use to design our application: bright, open, and user-friendly. We built a space that invites a team effort; a space that feels cheerful even after long hours of code debugging; a space which conveys our belief that everything should be beautiful. Many companies cut corners when building out their offices, but we believe that beautiful does not have to be expensive. We spent much less than other companies report, and yet created a space which is very comfortable and pleasing to the eye.
We invite all of our customers to stop by. We like to talk to our customers - it is the best way to address their concerns, to discuss improvements, and to dream up new features. Now we have a space where dreaming is a part of the job.
Our open layout invites team work and social interaction.
The company lounge. Reuben, our CEO, made me look at literally hundreds of rug designs before we chose this one. And I thought I was the perfectionist!
Every corner of the new office speaks volumes about our obsession with style. Even the mugs come in matching colors.
We said a decisive no to boring conference room furniture!
A team-building exercise in a nearby restaurant. Too bad our colleagues from Voronezh, Sofia, Moscow, Dublin and Buenos Aires could not join us as we celebrated our move.
