In an effort to better describe our role in the district, the Research & Data Management team is adopting a new name: Assessment, Data, & Evaluation.
We will maintain our purpose of providing a systems approach to critical district functions that support data based decision making. Our centralized team allows DMPS to harness, link, access, analyze, and act upon all major categories of district data and strategically meet the data needs of all departments. Keep reading for additional changes our team is making to better serve the district.
We will maintain our purpose of providing a systems approach to critical district functions that support data based decision making. Our centralized team allows DMPS to harness, link, access, analyze, and act upon all major categories of district data and strategically meet the data needs of all departments. Keep reading for additional changes our team is making to better serve the district.
Vision for Data Usage
To guide our work in better managing and utilizing data, we have developed a vision for data usage. This vision will assist our team in better supporting schools and departments in the district.
In the past, our team has spent most of our time in the data collection and data analysis sections of the inquiry cycle. As we move forward, we are making an effort to provide more support to departments around planning and evaluation.
School Data Coach Pilot
To support data literacy at the school level, we will be piloting school data coaches in the 2017-18 school year. Data coaches will work to enhance data literacy among school leaders by participating in and supporting the building leadership team as they review progress and challenges in reaching school improvement goals. They will focus on using data in the planning and evaluation stages of school improvement planning (see graphic above!). We will work with the Office of Schools to identify schools to pilot the data coach position in June. Data Governance
Our data governance efforts for the 2017-18 will focus on increasing data accessibility and usage at the school level, utilizing the data coaches as a feedback loop in determining our level of service to schools. The district-level data governance team will continue to meet on a quarterly basis to identify and work through district-level data issues. |
Aligning Data Monitoring from the School Board to the Classroom
Our team has been working closely with an equity work group in the development of a district-level student Equity Plan. Based off of that plan, we have a core set of key performance indicators (KPIs) that will be used at the school board, district, and school level. More details on the Equity Plan will be shared at Leadership Institute (June 7-9), including a first version of the School Performance and Equity Profile. The School Performance and Equity Profile is a comprehensive data profile to help schools focus on strengths and areas for targeted improvement and is based on the key performance indicators identified in the district's Equity Plan.
The profile guides schools in setting priorities for improvement with specific groups of students uses color-coded tiers based on the school’s levels of performance in three categories—learning, thriving, and belonging. These three categories are the core areas of focus for the district's student equity work.
The School Performance and Equity Profile is a big step in aligning work among all areas in the district, which will move us toward our goal of making DMPS the model for urban education in the United States. Staff Changes
Gene Denny is stepping away from Tableau to support the technical implementation of Canvas--which will serve as a large piece of our student data system enterprise as we move forward with online learning. Lee Pearson is stepping in as the main Tableau report writer. For the past two years, Lee has supported Learning Services data needs. Jamie Punke is replacing Mike Szymczuk as our 0.5 FTE Heartland AEA Assessment Consultant. Mike is retiring at the end of June. Jamie is a former school psychologist for Heartland AEA. Cindy Slinger and Kim Martorano will the fulfilling the role of data coach in two schools each for our pilot. They will spend about 25 percent of their time in that role. |
UPCOMING DATES
July 1: 2017-18 becomes the active school year in Infinite Campus
July 15: Infinite Campus rights request form closed until 8/17 July 17: Online student registration opens |
August 16: Infinite Campus security reset
August 17: Infinite Campus rights request form activated |
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