Commissioner's Weekly Updates

Just an FYI, for those that haven't heard: ESE has started publishing a Commissioner's Weekly Update, which is delivered by e-mail on Fridays (not currently available on the Web site, as far as I know.)

If you don't currently receive these, and want to subscribe via email, here is the information:
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Subscriber Information: Superintendents, principals, and charter school leaders will receive the update automatically. For others wishing to subscribe, send an email to imailsrv@list1.doe.mass.edu with the following information in the body of the email: subscribe ESEUpdate Your Name. (Example: subscribe ESEUpdate John Smith) To unsubscribe, send an email to the same address with the following information in the body: unsubscribe ESEUpdate Your Name. (Example: unsubscribe ESEUpdate John Smith)

2010 MCAS and AYP Data Review/Release Schedule

A detailed review/release schedule of 2010 MCAS and AYP data is now available from the ESE. For additional information, please see the recent press release from Commissioner Chester.

Now Available: District Data Team Toolkit

It was great to see so many folks at last week's rollout of the District Data Team Toolkit, presented by Andrea Condit from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. I am excited to hear from you about how you envision this valuable set of tools and resources being used in your district.

Among other things, Andrea shared an article entitled "The New Stupid" from the "Data: Now What?" issue of Educational Leadership (December 2008), which you can access here. This article is definitely worth the read as it provides suggestions and precautions to consider when using data for planning and decision-making.

While the District Data Team Toolkit is not yet available online, Andrea did send along the materials via email to those who attended last week's session. I will post the link here when it is up on the DESE Web site. In the meantime, I am happy to forward the materials to you upon request for those who have not yet received them. (laura.tilton@dsacma.org)

District Analysis and Review Tool (DART)

Last week, a new state tool known as "DART" (District Analysis and Review Tool) was introduced to the folks who attended a regional rollout session that was held at READS Collaborative. For those of you who were not able to attend the hands-on session, I'm happy to report that the Excel-based DART tool is now available online for everyone to access on the DESE site at: http://www.doe.mass.edu/sda/dart/

The DART offers a snapshot of district performance, allowing users to easily track select data elements over time, and make comparisons to the state or to "comparable" districts. The data elements include a broad range of district and school interests including demographic, assessment, student support, educator, financial, and achievement gap data. The tool will be updated online as new information becomes available.

School and District Profiles: A Gold Mine of Data!

While the Data Warehouse is a great resource, there is quite a bit of district- and school-level data available through the School and District Profiles area of the DESE Web site. (http://profiles.doe.mass.edu) No login or report running required!

I found this out the hard way a few months ago - after spending hours creating item analysis reports in the Data Warehouse, only to find out that the same information was available in Profiles for anyone to access directly!

Here's how: Use the link above and navigate to your district or school using the pop-up menus. Click the "Assessment" tab, and you will see a list of the available data reports listed on the left.

The "Item by Item Results" pages are VERY similar to R-301 and R-401 (Item Analysis) reports in the Data Warehouse...with no report running required! The URLs for these pages can easily be pasted into an email for distribution to staff (unlike the Data Warehouse, since there is no teacher level access at this time.)

Lots of other general data available there as well!

District Data Team Toolkit Overview

There are still spots available at the District Data Team Toolkit Overview, being held at North River Collaborative in Rockland on Thursday, April 15 from 10:00-11:30. More information and registration is available here:

http://www.doe.mass.edu/conference/?ConferenceID=815