LM Aug.2018

“The IASA/ECRA Strategic Dashboard allows school districts to be more creative and scientific with regards to data indicators. Schools are no longer confined to metrics that derive from state mandated data,” said Gatta. “Schools can now leverage any local data available to define more meaningful metrics that best measure the outcomes that are important to their communities.” It’s not one size fits all for the IASA/ECRA dashboard either, Gatta added. “The dashboard is designed to be a highly flexible tool that districts can freely modify to tell their story,” he said. “The state report card is only part of the story—unless the missing parts are told. Absent the rest of the story, the incomplete story told via the state report cards becomes the full story. The idea is to provide communities the full story of their school districts.” Ideally, districts should be ready to launch their local dashboard no later than October 31st when the Illinois State Board of Education launches the Illinois School Report Card by individual school districts. Telling the local school district story was originally part of the initial Vision 20/20 discussions back in 2013 when the public-policy platform was adopted. “When the Vision 20/20 framework was first conceived, a fundamental tenet was that we were going to make sure districts were telling the whole story with the outcomes that matter the most,” said Clark. “Information and outcomes are shifting all the time, but the most important factor is promoting what matters most to you in your district and sharing that story. What shapes the definition of success is more aligned to the actual work you are engaged in.”

Gatta also reports that telling a district’s story is just one part of the process. Letting students tell their story through their own learner profiles is also critically important. ECRA also provides an add-on fee-based component to the free dashboard should districts want to include that special feature in their dashboard. The IASA/ECRA dashboard training is being held as part of a full one-day package with IASA’s professional development academy, “ESSA: School Accountability Under Illinois Plan—AA #1917” because both tie together in helping districts tell their story. (Please see scheduling, page 30.) The ESSA academy is designed for superintendents and administrative teams, including teacher leaders, to work together to understand the Quality Framework for Illinois school districts and to be able to apply each school’s ISBE Summative School Designation Score to a Continuous School Improvement Plan for improvement and growth. The 6.0 hour academy (3 hours in person) will provide attendees with resources they can use in presenting an ESSA overview to their constituents. The Academy course curriculum will demonstrate how participants can “tell their story” as it relates to what is happening in their building/district and how those things tie into ESSA. That same day, administrators can also attend the ECRA Dashboard training to learn more about marketing and branding the district’s vision for stakeholders. To learn more how to register for the remaining ESSA Academies and IASA/ECRA dashboard training sessions, click here . For more information on the dashboard go to www.theecragroup.com .

To roll out IASA and ECRA’s new Strategic Dashboard and our new administrators’ academy “ESSA: School Accountability Under Illinois’ Plan—AA #1917,” we are offering two classes as part of a full one-day package in every IASA Region during August and September 2018. You may attend the Strategic Dashboard seminar, the ESSA Academy or both, and you may attend on different days, at your convenience. See scheduling calendar on page 30 of this issue of Leadership Matters. For more details and to register, please click here .

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