From Question to Decision: A User’s Guide to Nexus

From Questions to Action

Every district faces the same challenge: the space between a question and an answer, what we call the Messy Middle. It’s where definitions need aligning, data needs cleaning, and systems need reconciling before anyone can even start to analyze. Without Nexus, this work happens inside a slow Insight Flywheel, a circular process that loops endlessly through collecting, cleaning, and analyzing data, often taking weeks to produce one insight. With Nexus, that circular flywheel compresses into an Insight Funnel, a streamlined path that uses AI to standardize definitions, automate joins, and surface insights in minutes instead of weeks. The result: faster answers, clearer decisions, and measurable time saved between curiosity and action.

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Idea Exploration Flowchart

From insight to Action. There are a few helpful questions to ask yourself to start the Nexus insight process. They are:

• What stands out in the data?
• Where are the biggest gaps or changes?
• Who is most affected? (grade/subgroup/school)
• Why might this be happening?
• What action could improve this?
• How will we measure success?
• What’s the timeline/Who owns it?

You can use this every time insights through Nexus are needed. It keeps conversations structured, ensures accountability, and creates a chain of evidence that Nexus stores for future learning.

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Nexus Querying Tips

Not every question needs the same kind of interaction. Some insights are instant while others benefit from a short back-and-forth or a bit of extra context. Knowing, roughly, which kind of question you’re asking helps Nexus guide you faster and more accurately toward the right outcome.

• Direct Query:
  One clear question, one clear answer. "How many students were absent yesterday?" Perfect for quick checks, counts, or metrics that clearly exist in your dataset. Nexus retrieves and displays the answer instantly with no clarification needed.
• Back-and-Forth Query:
  A question that needs a short back-and-forth to achieve the desired insights. "What is the average score, per cohort, on the most recent state test?", then continue with, "Now, can you generate a plan to improve scores in the lowest performing cohort?”
• Nexus Needs More Detail:
  When your question is too broad or missing key context, like time frame, grade level, or data window, Nexus will ask for clarification. If you ask, “How are our ELL students performing?” Nexus may respond, “Which assessment window or subject area should I use?”
• Output Specification:
  Sometimes you know exactly what you need, but Nexus needs to understand the format.
  For example, “Create a slide for the board meeting summarizing attendance trends this quarter” might be vague to Nexus. By telling Nexus whether you want a “board-ready summary,” “exportable dataset,” or “quick visual,” you guide it toward the right presentation layer.
• Speculative:
  You’re exploring why something is happening, not just what is happening. For example, “Why might third-grade math proficiency have dropped this spring?” Here, Nexus surfaces possible contributing factors and patterns in related data as a starting point for deeper discussion and hypothesis testing.
• Exploration and Discovery:
  Nexus looks broadly for patterns and flags anything unusual. For example, “Show me anything unusual in attendance or performance this month,” Nexus will scan patterns, highlight anomalies, and point you to areas worth further investigation. This is ideal for uncovering trends you didn’t think to ask about.

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Conversing with Nexus

Every query in Nexus starts as a conversation. The clearer and more intentional your question is, the faster you’ll uncover something useful. Some prompts are simple with a direct question like, “How many 3rd graders were absent yesterday?” returns a single answer or chart. Others unfold through back-and-forth exchanges, such as, “Show attendance by grade,” followed by, “Now highlight Tier 2 students.” These conversational turns help refine focus and context.

At times, Nexus may ask for more detail, things like date range, cohort, or test window, before completing the request. Providing those specifics keeps responses accurate and avoids looping clarification. You can also specify how you want results presented, from a quick chart to a board-ready summary.

You can also use Nexus to generate hypotheses and surface hidden insights. For example, asking, “What factors might be affecting Grade 5 math scores?” encourages Nexus to identify correlations, patterns, or trends that may not be immediately obvious, giving your team a starting point for deeper investigation.

Ultimately, good conversations lead to good insights. The goal isn’t just to ask questions, but to shape them while narrowing, expanding, and refining until the data starts talking back.

For more tips on conversing with Nexus, and how to prompt engineer basic or more advanced prompts, visit our Prompt Engineering Tooltip.

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Growing Smarter Together

Nexus is designed to help teams move faster from questions to insights, uncover patterns that might otherwise go unnoticed, and turn data into clear, actionable decisions. Every conversation, every analysis, and every decision builds on the last, creating a workflow that becomes smarter and more efficient over time.

We’re constantly updating the platform to make it even easier for teams to collaborate, explore data, and act on what matters most. If you have questions, ideas, or want to see how Nexus can support your district’s workflow, simply reach out to our team at support@asknexus.ai and we will ensure you are getting the most out of your data.