OCPS rolls out interactive Power BI accountability report for principals and district leaders

OCPS leaders on Tuesday demonstrated a new interactive accountability report designed to give principals and district staff faster access to assessment, subgroup and schedule data so teams can identify students who need interventions or enrichment.

The Research, Measurement and Strategy Office said the tool—built with Microsoft Power Platform and Power BI—lets users move from overview charts of achievement in English language arts, math, science and social studies down to lists of individual students and nonpublic schedule and assessment detail. Ben Allen, director in the office, told the board the report was launched for district and school users on Dec. 5, 2024, and that the dataset shown in the demonstration was updated Dec. 19, 2024.

District leaders said the report is intended to reduce the time school teams spend assembling spreadsheets so they can focus on instruction and supports. “This lets principals find hidden insight into what they might not have otherwise seen,” Allen said. He and Heather Kreider, principal on assignment in the Research office, described step‑by‑step training that was offered in December and January to executive leaders, principal leaders and pilot principals and assistant principals.

Why it matters: principals and cabinet members said the report should free teachers from repetitive data formatting and help school teams act faster on early indicators of students who need support. In questions from board members, staff described plans to expand access methodically to teacher groups, guidance counselors and other specialists so the system remains stable as more users are added.

How the tool works: administrators can filter by cadre, school, teacher, course code, ESSA subgroup, English‑language‑learner status and other inclusion rules used in state school‑grade calculations. Demonstrators showed how clicking a bar for a specific achievement level filters the view and then “drill through” opens a redacted student list; another drill leads to an individual student screen that shows assessment outcomes, schedule and accountability‑component inclusion notes.

Privacy and access: presenters repeatedly emphasized that the presentation used redacted screenshots because the report contains identifiable student data and is not public. Charter school principals and their schools’ data are included. Board members asked whether parents would have direct access; district staff said no—parents continue to receive individual student data through existing state reports and teacher conferences, and staff suggested teachers or principals could share student‑level information with a parent as part of conferences.

Rollout and usage: the team said the tool will see only minor, non‑disruptive changes through the 2024–25 school year to avoid mid‑year changes while users learn it. The Research office reported 735 unique viewers in the most recent 30‑day window (ending Feb. 11), 6,692 openings and more than 22,000 page views, which staff said indicates repeat use and page drilling. The district will continue a phased rollout to teacher groups and monitor system capacity as more users are added.

Board reaction and next steps: Board members praised the in‑house development and asked the district to measure how much teacher time the tool saves. Superintendent María Vasquez said staff will continue enhancements based on feedback and work on training and capacity for a larger rollout. The Research office said it will collect feedback through a link on the report and consider updates over the summer of 2025.

Ending: staff offered to provide individual board members with the list of district‑required tests and a follow‑up on which nonstate, district assessments are in common use at schools. The district also agreed to return with plans for phased teacher access and additional training resources.