Indiana education officials will soon launch a new online dashboard that seeks to increase transparency around school performance data.
Members of the Indiana State Board of Education announced Wednesday that the new Indiana Graduates Prepared to Succeed (GPS) will go live this fall, although an exact launch date has yet to be determined.
The site will feature visual representations of various data pertaining to individual schools and school corporations, as well as measurements for school performance statewide.
For grades K-8, that includes indicators like third grade literacy rates, student attendance and percentages of students completing advanced coursework. In high school, data is expected to highlight students’ on-track status for graduation, college and career coursework, and diploma strengths.
Representatives from the Indiana Department of Education said data on the site can be filtered by factors such as students on free or reduced-price meal plans, race or ethnicity.
The state agency developed the site in response to legislation the governor signed last year.
“As we prepare to launch the Indiana GPS dashboard, our focus has been on listening to educators, families, communities and employers on how we can build the best learner-centered, future-focused resource that displays how our students are building the necessary knowledge and skills – in all grades and in all schools,” Katie Jenner, the Indiana Secretary of Education, said Wednesday in a news release. “From the beginning, this work has been based on the principle that students are so much more than just a single test score – and that a student’s entire educational journey shapes their path. Supported by Indiana GPS, we want to empower everyone with the tools and resources they need to prepare our youngest Hoosiers for a lifetime of success.”
Over the coming months, schools will receive a password-protected link to view their pages on the dashboard and validate their data before the dashboard’s public launch.