Buried Treasure: Developing a Management Guide From Mountains of School Data

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January 2005
Mary Beth Celio, James Harvey

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This report provides a practical discussion of what is required to develop a school district “management guide,” along with an actual guide built on evidence-based indicators. It begins with an imaginary discussion at Rebel Valley School District, during which a new superintendent leads his board through the guide.

Indicators are discrete pieces of information, like water temperature or the Dow Jones Average, designed to alert leaders and members of the public about what is going on in large, complex systems. They provide warnings and hints about how well complex systems are functioning. They are, therefore, capable of alerting leaders to potential problems. Although they can help identify problems, they cannot provide solutions.

To be effective, indicators need to be very powerful in terms of the quality of data, the utility of the information they provide, and their ability to communicate something important and meaningful.

The seven indicators of interest in the management system described in this report are:

1. Achievement (reading and mathematics).
2. Elimination of the achievement gap.
3. Student attraction (school ability to attract students).
4. Student engagement with the school.
5. Student retention/completion.
6. Teacher attraction and retention.
7. Funding equity.

The seven school-level indicators discussed in this paper are a solid jumping off point for any district. Although these indicators are well grounded in research and experience, each district will have to decide for itself the extent to which any (or all) of these seven measures fit its particular needs and circumstances.

In many ways, indicator development moves beyond bottom-line assessment systems to encourage new ways of thinking about accountability, while doing the right thing and taking the time to do it right. The work outlined in this report suggests that educators and leaders can find a better way, and then provides a concrete example of how this might be done.