Why Dashboards?

Education Dashboards are a relatively new concept, and we're here to help. Below are several common questions that one may have about dashboards:

What is a dashboard?

We all know what a dashboard is in a car. That's the location of dials, gauges, and warning lights that enable us to monitor all of the information about our cars while driving. For schools and school districts, a web-based dashboard is the place where staff, parents, students and members of the community can go to monitor information about important goals identified by administration and/or local Boards of Education. These online tools provide easy access to information through an interactive and graphical interface using the internet. Back to the top.

Why do school districts need an education dashboard?

Now, more than ever, schools and school districts are finding the need to provide real time access to data and information about district goals. Whether the data is being accessed by staff, parents, students, or members of the community, the data and information available through web-based dashboards can be an important tool in communicating goals and the extent to which those goals are being met. Too often, school districts rely on more traditional reporting methods at school board meetings or through annual, state-wide reporting. The trouble is, many individuals do not attend school board meetings, and state-wide reporting methods are just not that easy to understand. An education dashboard doesn't replace a school district's website, but adds to the information available through the existing web environment.

The data included in education dashboards varies, but generally data is tied to specific goals established by district administration or the local Board of Education. Often, education dashboards include:

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Who builds an education dashboard?

School districts have three options when looking to build an education dashboard. The first is to use available human and technical resources within the district. This depends in large part on the people currently employed and their technical ability to build the dashboard. District's often find that while there may be people who have the ability to complete the work, that often the current workload for those individuals is too high to commit them to the development of the dashboard.

A second option is to find a partner who has both the technical expertise and knowledge of the educational environment who can guide districts through the process of planning and data collection, and can also build the dashboard. There are a limited number of companies or consultants who can do this work. Ideally, the partner should be able to complete the task of building the dashboard, and who can also serve as a “critical friend” to help districts through the process of answering difficult questions and accurately report the current state of affairs.

The third option is to combine the expertise of the consultant and the use of available district resources. Identifying a person in the district who can serve as the champion for the development of the dashboard and also serve as the primary point of contact to the selected partner has advantages. The champion can help to identify locally available data, and can work closely with colleagues to obtain data and discuss the best way in which to depict the data on the dashboard. The champion also serves as the primary point of contact with the selected partner to manage the scope of work identified in the service contract. Back to the top.

How much does an education dashboard cost?

There are many factors that determine the total cost of a dashboard. Some of the factors school districts must consider include how many goals will be monitored through the dashboard, how many data sources will be used for each goal, how often will the dashboard be updated, who will complete the updates, and where will the dashboard be “hosted”. Most school districts can expect to pay between $5,000 and $50,000 for initial development. The annual or monthly costs to host and maintain the dashboard varies. Back to the top.

What are the first steps in creating a dashboard?

The first step in planning for an education dashboard is to look carefully at the list of goals, or priorities, that already exist. For each goal, a district needs to determine what data source will be used to gauge success toward meeting each goal and identify how frequently the data is available. Next, the district should determine what the indicators of success will be in meeting each goal based on the available data. Sometimes, this information is predetermined. If we think about student achievement data, we know that states already have determined the categories of student performance on required state assessments. Usually student performance on state assessments is divided into three or four categories. These categories might be called, exceeding standards, meeting standards, below standards, or academic warning. In other states, the categories are called proficient, basic, and below basic. Additionally, states also report the number or percent of students in a school or district that fall into each category and generally set the annual target for schools and districts to meet in reading, mathematics, science, writing, etc.

The next step is to begin to gather all of the data available relative to each goal. The data should demonstrate not only current performance, but also should include historical data which can provide context for anyone viewing the dashboard. The visual tools used to represent the data should be easy for users to understand, and show both current levels of performance toward meeting goals and trend data for three to five years to demonstrate the degree to which the district has been improving. Barrington Community Unit School District #220, in Illinois has a very comprehensive and user-friendly dashboard. Back to the top.

Ready to get started?

SchoolView Dashboards can help any size school district meet their goal of developing an education dashboard. SchoolView Dashboards specializes in creating custom, web-based dashboards for school districts. Our interactive, education dashboards are developed with school districts, not for school districts. We provide support in every step of the development process – from reviewing goals to publishing to the web. SchoolView Dashboards will work with you to develop a plan to build, review, and go live with a dashboard that works for you! If you're ready to take a proactive role in the driver's seat of your district, contact us today!Back to the top.