COLUMBUS – Still recovering from a scandal involving falsified attendance data, Ohio’s largest school district is rolling out a product is hopes will improve transparency.
The Columbus City Schools’ Digital Dashboard will offer parents, employers and taxpayers, among others, “near-time” data on student attendance, enrollment, academic achievement, and even the number of cafeteria meals served each school day, said Dr. Dan Good, superintendent and CEO.
“It’s like a daily report to all of our stakeholders – all who live here, work here, vote here, and care about the education of our city’s children,” he said “No hiding. The numbers reveal both the progress we’ve made as a District and the educational challenges we continue to confront as a community.”
Accessed through the District’s website, the Digital Dashboard — CCSD2 – provides current total number of students enrolled, broken down by grade and demographics, and the amount of growth in enrollment from the previous school year with most of the information updated every 24-hours, Good said.
A time selector on the Dashboard allows users to review data over a variable date range, and several data points provide insight on how the numbers have improved year-to-year.
The Digital Dashboard also shows:
Daily attendance rates and enrollment in specialized programs such as Gifted and Talented, Special Education and English as a Second Language
The number of students earning college credit while still in high school through the state’s College Credit Plus program.
The district’s achievements in grade-level reading with a running percentage of students who are “Reading Ready for Fourth Grade” based on the requirements of Ohio’s Third Grade Reading Guarantee.
Documentation of the number of breakfasts and lunches served daily.
Good says future phases will include insights into financial data and additional academic information.
Anyone with questions or feedback about categories or labels can email them to dashboard@columbus.k12.oh.us.
Users can find the Dashboard on the new Columbus City Schools Mobile App, which launched earlier this year. To download the app, simply search “Columbus City Schools” in your mobile phone’s app store.