Leadership Matters December 2013

Communicate your story through data visualizaƟon  By Eric Smith and Steve Miller

The financial and strategic data that a school district collects and reports to the state board of education on an annual basis is no longer just a collection of spreadsheets that meet a compliance requirement. Those same disparate data sets are now part of a process geared toward helping school district leaders paint a much clearer picture of their district’s story through the use of interactive data visualization. We’ve all heard the saying that ‘ A picture is worth a thousand words .’ But for school administrators that are communicating with a diverse group of stakeholders, the stories that data visualizations can convey are worth far more. The nuances of school finance are often difficult even for seasoned board members to understand; imagine the layperson attempting to grasp the intricacies of the

changed significantly. Are new resources being directed to areas that best support the district’s core missions? Are resources being redeployed to better meet the goals set by the board? By looking at this new picture of your budget, districts are able to “command their data.” Through a joint partnership with IASA, IASB, IASBO and Forecast5 Analytics, Illinois school administrators now have access to these USA Today -style visuals that combine financial, enrollment, salary, salary survey, EAV, live birth data, transportation data, health insurance data and student achievement data into a multi-dimensional format, allowing each district to clearly tell their

unique situation to the community and other key stakeholders. The product that makes all of this possible is 5Sight™-- a Business Intelligence platform built by Forecast5 that is providing school districts a brand new look not only of their own data, but the data of every district in the state. Through the use of data visualization and a powerful query engine, districts are able to apply custom filters for a view of their data that has never before been possible. This

district plan in one sitting. To be effective, a presentation to convey the position of your district must be more than a recitation of numbers. Balancing the varying levels of fiscal acumen within your audience can be a challenge. By using graphs and visuals you can prevent the

layperson from being overwhelmed by tables of numbers, but you need to provide enough detail to satisfy the CPA-types on your board or in the audience. Beyond the function of communicating your story, data visualization is also a key tool in demonstrating the successes of your district. Graphics that show an increased service level where it was previously lacking, test scores on the rise, or cost control in a key area of the budget are all examples of stories that need to be shared with your community. The impact of these stories is much stronger when a telling visual is displayed for everyone to see. For example, look at the budget through a new lens using a multi-dimensional visual that allows you to accelerate the budgeting process and identify the “needle movers.” This new way of looking at a budget depicted by colors, shapes, and sizes of line items allows you to quickly identify what has

approach is allowing school district administrators to spend time analyzing rather than gathering relevant data. In the current climate, transparency isn’t just a buzzword…it is the reality. School districts, their boards and their administrators are expected to share much greater levels of information with each other and their constituents. Look at your next presentation to your community and other key stakeholders as an opportunity to satisfy this demand and tell your district’s story in high definition. For more information about Forecast5, contact National Sales Director Scott Smith at ssmith@forecast5analytics.com or call (630) 955- 7601. Visit the company’s website at http:// www.forecast5analytics.com or follow @Forecast5 on Twitter.

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