A preamble to the post!
Which feels more parent-friendly?
School and District Report Cards have been *required* since No Child Left Behind, but access to the information in them has been inconsistent, hard to find, and, for most of us (that is, those who do not speak "DESE"), hard to understand.
This:
In accordance with the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), all states and districts receiving federal Title I funds must prepare and disseminate annual report cards. Report cards are critical tools for promoting accountability for schools, districts, and states by publicizing data about student performance and program effectiveness for parents, policymakers, and other stakeholders. Report cards help parents/guardians and the general public see where schools and districts are succeeding and where there is still work to do. [Intro to the 2016 Massachusetts State Report Card]
Or this:
Families and communities are critical partners to a school’s success. Just as a student’s report card shows how they are performing, the school report card shows how a school is performing in multiple areas. It shows the school’s strengths and the challenges that need to be addressed to ensure the school is meeting the needs of all students. [Draft Intro on 2018 Massachusetts Report Card Prototype]
Second one. By a mile. I didn't copy down what was read to us the other night, but think it may have been edited further so that it is shorter now, too.
In accordance with the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), all states and districts receiving federal Title I funds must prepare and disseminate annual report cards. Report cards are critical tools for promoting accountability for schools, districts, and states by publicizing data about student performance and program effectiveness for parents, policymakers, and other stakeholders. Report cards help parents/guardians and the general public see where schools and districts are succeeding and where there is still work to do. [Intro to the 2016 Massachusetts State Report Card]
Or this:
Families and communities are critical partners to a school’s success. Just as a student’s report card shows how they are performing, the school report card shows how a school is performing in multiple areas. It shows the school’s strengths and the challenges that need to be addressed to ensure the school is meeting the needs of all students. [Draft Intro on 2018 Massachusetts Report Card Prototype]
Second one. By a mile. I didn't copy down what was read to us the other night, but think it may have been edited further so that it is shorter now, too.
School and District Report Cards have been *required* since No Child Left Behind, but access to the information in them has been inconsistent, hard to find, and, for most of us (that is, those who do not speak "DESE"), hard to understand.
Public reporting efforts have been geared toward compliance with state and federal laws, rather than being intentionally designed to meet people's needs. As a consequence, most of the data have been unseen and unused, thus limiting their ability to promote and support improvement for students and systems.
With the reauthorization of ESEA (from No Child Left Behind) to Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), states are once again mandating school and district reporting. This time, states are determined to communicate better -- and differently -- with parents and other stakeholders (see notes at end of this post).
States are required to annually report on "education indicators" at the state, district, and school levels, including data used in accountability systems (which are still very much under construction in MA), assessment, educator qualifications, and other measures of school quality. Report cards could answer questions and inform actions, such as:
- How are our schools doing (compared to others in the state, nationally)?
- What are the bright spots?
- Where are the gaps?
Since 2007, Massachusetts has prepared school and district report cards that contain all federally required elements, and has made them available via the Department's School and District Profiles website. (The site is in transition. This is the "general information" page for the state's profile; it mirrors the format of school and district report cards. Soon there will be a dedicated page for School and District Report Cards).
Beginning with the 2018-2019 report card, states must also include the per-pupil expenditures for the preceding year of federal, state, and local funds, including actual personnel and non-personnel, disaggregated by source of funds, for the state as a whole and for each public school district and public school in the state. (Oh hey! While we're at it, might we also want to see Net School Spending there? Hmmm?)
This past Monday's special meeting was an opportunity for the Board to hear an update about and see a demo of a new school and district report card that the Department will publish later this month.
In an effort to develop "parent-friendly" report cards, we learned that, wisely, the Department partnered with Learning Heroes beginning in Fall 2017. Present with Russell Johnston, Senior Associate Commissioner, and Rob Curtin, Associate Commissioner, were Bibb Hubbard, Founder and President, and Erica Gray, Strategic Advisor, from Learning Heroes.
Learning Heroes was founded 4 years ago as a resource for parents. They have conducted impressive research in 25 states for the purpose of improving communication to parents via school and district report cards. In so doing, they have partnered with more than 25 national organizations, among them National Parent Teacher Association (PTA), Flamboyan Foundation, National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE), Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), and Common Sense Media.
To understand what parents/guardians/families want to know and see in these reports, their partnerships enabled Learning Heroes to engage:
Since we are talking about sharing data better with everyone, we should also have a clear understanding of how student data is being used and protected. And, because data doesn't always speak for itself, families deserve training and support to understand what they can do to help their children once they have this information.
Done well, parents/guardians/families and all stakeholders could inspire action in local communities and provide a conduit for shared successes with the public-at-large. With so many working from the same set of information, they could also form a baseline for authentic conversations with stakeholders. If we do, our communities, our schools, and, most importantly, our students will benefit.
- - -
Header image credit: Screenshot, http://profiles.doe.mass.edu
NOTES:
Beginning with the 2018-2019 report card, states must also include the per-pupil expenditures for the preceding year of federal, state, and local funds, including actual personnel and non-personnel, disaggregated by source of funds, for the state as a whole and for each public school district and public school in the state. (Oh hey! While we're at it, might we also want to see Net School Spending there? Hmmm?)
This past Monday's special meeting was an opportunity for the Board to hear an update about and see a demo of a new school and district report card that the Department will publish later this month.
Learning Heroes was founded 4 years ago as a resource for parents. They have conducted impressive research in 25 states for the purpose of improving communication to parents via school and district report cards. In so doing, they have partnered with more than 25 national organizations, among them National Parent Teacher Association (PTA), Flamboyan Foundation, National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE), Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), and Common Sense Media.
To understand what parents/guardians/families want to know and see in these reports, their partnerships enabled Learning Heroes to engage:
- 100+ focus groups
- In Depth Interviews (IDIs)
- 10 national surveys
- Dozens of ethnography sessions
- Dozens of tests of their tools
- Focus on low-income parents/guardians and parents/guardians of color
The Massachusetts prototype was further built on information Learning Heroes gleaned from focus groups with Massachusetts parent groups, including Massachusetts PTA, Massachusetts Parents United, and Phenomenal Moms.
I was struck by the opportunity these report cards present for the state to put information into the hands of parents and families and other stakeholders. We have an opportunity to tell better stories, as a result. By sharing this data, we can go behind the numbers and statistics because that's where the stories are. Stories about our schools, students, and teachers, and the experiences they are having. It's an opportunity to (dare I say it!) decide how we want to feel about our schools as we tell stories that highlight and celebrate success and even identify areas for improvement.
National research revealed:
- Parents have high expectations of public schools
- They can have an over-inflated view of their child's progress, believing their child as at or above grade level in reading and math
Disaggregated data, presented flatly in text and table form, has had unintended consequences. Many times it has been perceived as discriminatory or inadvertently shaming of students who are falling short because families ultimately view the data through a personal lens. Families of color whose children are not in special education, for example, may have wondered why they were seeing data on children of color in special education. The same holds true on homelessness, English learners, foster care, and military. A clear summative rating is very important because it lets one know how a school is performing as a whole for all children.
Research of Massachusetts parents showed:
- They are more likely to see their child at grade level
- Parents are more likely to question their child's achievement when presented with data
- When parents are shown that their child is not at or above grade level, they want to know what they can do to help their child improve or to get more involved
Parents primarily care about their own child and it makes sense that the data would focus on how their action will directly impact their child's progress. Context and information about why the policy or practice matters personally to the school and their child are key and should be included.
Parents are problem-solvers. By sharing information, schools and communities can match students with additional supports they need, including, high-quality afterschool and summer programs, college mentors, summer job programs. Doing so helps students thrive.
Different people need different data to meet their information needs, including school committee members, superintendents, principals, and teachers. As someone who sat on a school committee, I see them benefiting from clearly communicated data about their schools and districts. Having access to the same information creates opportunities for telling dynamic stories.
Different people need different data to meet their information needs, including school committee members, superintendents, principals, and teachers. As someone who sat on a school committee, I see them benefiting from clearly communicated data about their schools and districts. Having access to the same information creates opportunities for telling dynamic stories.
DESE walked us through a demo of the new site. It was uncluttered, with lots of white space, good visual information, and noticeably fewer blocks of text and data tables. There were clear directions to "click" for more information or detail about the data.
As the Parent Representative on the Board, not an education expert or corporate CEO, what I saw I understood to be something of a game-changer. Rarely have report cards of this type treated parents as the customer. It remains to be seen just how personal the information will be or how clear the context will be for doable action steps. It strikes me that, up to now, too few families and other stakeholders have been unable to find the information they were looking for.
Too many times, school information comes at parents and families in a language we don't understand. I mean this both literally and figuratively. I'll admit that understanding "Edu-speak" has been a kind of badge of honor for me, but it is truly a barrier. It matters that MA's new report cards will be written in everyday language and offered in English, plus nine others.As the Parent Representative on the Board, not an education expert or corporate CEO, what I saw I understood to be something of a game-changer. Rarely have report cards of this type treated parents as the customer. It remains to be seen just how personal the information will be or how clear the context will be for doable action steps. It strikes me that, up to now, too few families and other stakeholders have been unable to find the information they were looking for.
Since we are talking about sharing data better with everyone, we should also have a clear understanding of how student data is being used and protected. And, because data doesn't always speak for itself, families deserve training and support to understand what they can do to help their children once they have this information.
Done well, parents/guardians/families and all stakeholders could inspire action in local communities and provide a conduit for shared successes with the public-at-large. With so many working from the same set of information, they could also form a baseline for authentic conversations with stakeholders. If we do, our communities, our schools, and, most importantly, our students will benefit.
- - -
Header image credit: Screenshot, http://profiles.doe.mass.edu
NOTES:
- For perspective, take a look at West Virginia's approach
- Or Tennessee's
- Nashville's Parent Data Chats
- Louisiana created a one-pager to promote their report card to schools, families, pediatricians, realtors, and other stakeholders
- National School Boards Association (NSBA) and Data Quality Campaign (DQC) partnered to create this one-pager
- CCSSO just released this resource: Communicating Performance | A Best Practice Resource for Encouraging Use of State and School Report Cards
- Also just published, check out this article from National Association of Secondary School Principals: Parental Engagement | More Important than Ever?