Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

"Delaware Report Card" aims to make school data user-friendly

The Delaware Department of Education has launched a new web tool for parents to dive into school data.

 

The Delaware Report Card presents the data mostly as interactive charts.

Lindsay Lewis, education associate with the technology operations workgroup at the Department of Education, says the Report Card is meant to be a more user-friendly version of the Departments’ old School Profiles website.

“We’ve heard nationally that when parents, when stakeholders are looking for educational data they don’t have a lot of time. There is a ton of requirements both federally and through the state and just best practices for sharing data. It’s overwhelming if we share all that at once,” she said.

 

Lewis notes the Report Card presents a “snapshot” of the state, a school districts or a school. That snapshot offers enrollment and dropout information, as well as math and english language performance data. “A parent or a stakeholder that has five seconds is walking away with a bit of educational information that they could ponder on. Or if they choose to to click the more information button they have the opportunity to see just a little bit more of that data,” said Lewis.

The new tool also has detailed information about class size, English language learners and school spending. Officials say new data not available through School Profiles— like persistently dangerous schools and preschool enrollment— will be added to the new tool as soon as possible.

 

Lewis also expects a ‘compare schools’ function to be developed after all the data is added.

 

The new data categories and the user-friendliness of the web tool are part of the state’s compliance with federal requirements through the Every Student Succeeds Act.

 

The state Department of Education originally planned to launch the Delaware Report Card in December, but pushed it back to address feedback from district and charter leaders.

 

Officials are calling this the “first phase” of the Delaware Report Card — and are still seeking feedback on it.

 

Sophia Schmidt is a Delaware native. She comes to Delaware Public Media from NPR’s Weekend Edition in Washington, DC, where she produced arts, politics, science and culture interviews. She previously wrote about education and environment for The Berkshire Eagle in Pittsfield, MA. She graduated from Williams College, where she studied environmental policy and biology, and covered environmental events and local renewable energy for the college paper.