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Graph of principals' self-reported satisfaction with ARIS over time, from an audit of by Comptroller John Liu.

The Department of Education hasn’t gotten adequate bang for its buck from more than $80 million spent on ARIS, its data warehouse, concluded an audit released by Comptroller John Liu today.

Liu offered a solid clue to the audit’s conclusions last week, when he lambasted the city’s $10-million move to formally reassign its ARIS contract to Wireless Generation, which has managed the system for years.

The audit began in March 2011, shortly after Liu held a series of town hall meetings to solicit public input about what he should investigate. The data warehouse, launched in 2008 by IBM, has attracted no shortage of critics because of its steep price tag and early glitches.

Examining usage data, principals’ responses to a satisfaction survey the city administers, and the results of a survey that it distributed to educators in June, Liu’s office concluded principals’ satisfaction with ARIS has fallen, that many schools substitute other data programs in whole or in part, and that use among school staff has leveled off since the system’s first year, although use by department officials who work with schools has risen.

What’s more, the audit concludes, the city can’t show that ARIS is leading to higher student performance — something that former chancellor Joel Klein signaled would be a result when he rolled out the system in 2008.

“This costly tech program was much-touted by the DOE to help principals and teachers track progress and thereby improve student learning, even as long-time educators questioned its cost and effectiveness,” Liu said in a statement today. “$83 million later, there is little discernible improvement in learning and many principals and teachers have given up on the system.”

DOE officials disputed the audit’s methodology, conclusions, and very premise. (more…)