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District previews new strategic dashboard to make school metrics more accessible to public
Summary
District staff previewed a web-based strategic dashboard that will go live the day after the Sept. 25 meeting; the dashboard aggregates student outcome and financial indicators and links to state data sources for transparency.
Washington Unified staff gave the school board a preview Sept. 25 of a new strategic dashboard the district plans to publish online to make student outcomes, financials and progress toward strategic goals easier for the public to find and understand.
Executive Director of Communications Guros Hisianas walked trustees through the prototype and said the dashboard would go live the day after the board presentation and would include tiles for student groups, financial stewardship, strategic-plan goals and school bonds. Each tile includes a data source and a “last modified” date, Hisianas said, and data can be expanded to show subgroup breakdowns when available.
“We really wanted to take an opportunity to develop a method and a platform for taking the vision that you and the board have outlined…and really make it digestible for the average person in our community,” Hisianas said.
Board members asked about data cadence and sources. Staff said much of the public-facing data will come from the California State dashboard and DataQuest; other tiles (for example, i-Ready diagnostic results and extracurricular participation) will use district-collected data and be updated at different cadences. Staff added that published state test results (CAST) are typically a year behind until the state releases final results and that the dashboard will include links to source dashboards and district pages with more detail.
Trustees suggested additional links to the district’s facilities and bond pages and asked that the dashboard explicitly label which metrics are high school–only (for example, many career and technical education numbers) and which are districtwide. Staff said they would add clearer labeling and hyperlinks and planned to return with an update after the dashboard has been live and feeding regularly.
Ending: The board praised the dashboard’s clarity and asked staff to add hyperlinks to source pages and to plan for a sustainable data-update process; the dashboard was scheduled to go live the following day.
