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INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana State Board of Education (SBOE) unanimously approved a set of indicators to measure how schools are preparing students, starting in early grades and continuing through high school, to achieve lifelong success. The indicators, developed in collaboration with a broad set of stakeholders across the state, will be incorporated into the Indiana Graduates Prepared to Succeed (Indiana GPS) dashboard.
“Students are so much more than a single test score,” said Dr. Katie Jenner, Indiana Secretary of Education. “To provide a more holistic view of school performance, the creation of the Indiana Graduates Prepared to Succeed (GPS) dashboard will offer a robust, transparent and nimble system that showcases outcomes that matter most to student success throughout their educational journey. Our team looks forward to continuing to actively engage with people across Indiana to capture the best indicators that create a pathway for growth and prosperity for our students.”
Each indicator provides a means for measuring school performance, and is aligned with the previously-announced Indiana GPS characteristics. These indicators signal students’ performance across all grade levels, and include metrics such as kindergarten readiness, the number of students who are progressing toward proficiency in literacy by the end of grade three, English/language arts and math proficiency, graduation pathway completion and career exploration.
Some of the most innovative indicators will need to be developed through a multi-year research and development process, which will include continued engagement with educators, students, families, industry leaders and community partners.
State Rep. Bob Behning (R-Indianapolis), chair of the House Education Committee said in a statement, “Establishing a database with clear, easy-to-understand performance indicators will make it simpler for families to quickly see how schools are performing, better determine if schools are the right academic fit for their student, and gain more insight as to a school’s strengths and weaknesses. I appreciate the work the Indiana Department of Education and State Board of Education put into this important step in the process, and I look forward to seeing the final product.”
The Indiana GPS dashboard is part of Indiana’s broader initiative to re-envision how the state defines and measures success for students and schools. Today’s actions by the SBOE follow House Enrolled Act 1514, which directs the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) and SBOE to develop a school performance dashboard that promotes transparency and multiple student measures, including longitudinal measures.
Leading up to today’s SBOE meeting, IDOE worked alongside educators, families and community leaders to define the characteristics of a successful Hoosier graduate and to draft indicators aligned to each of those characteristics for public feedback. IDOE will now continue to refine the indicators and begin to build the public dashboard, keeping stakeholder engagement at the heart of the process.
More information on Indiana GPS is available here.
