Early Warning Indicator System (EWIS) Pilot

DESE is creating the Early Warning Indicator System (EWIS), a data-driven system designed to identify students kindergarten through high school that are potentially "off-track" for grade-level or developmental age, including those students that are off-track for high school graduation (potential dropouts).

There will be an informational phone conference held on Monday, December 12, and applications are due Friday, December 16. Districts interested in finding out more about participating in the EWIS Data Pilot can read more about the project and fill out an application at http://www.doe.mass.edu/dropout/ (scroll down for the info about the pilot.)

Early Warning Indicator Index (EWII) - New Resources Available

The folks at the ESE have developed the Early Warning Indicator Index to provide "early warning" data to assist local staff in identifying and supporting students in grade 9 who may be at risk of not graduating on time from high school. This data has been piloted over the last few years, but this is the first year it is being provided to all school districts statewide.

Early Warning Indicator Index (EWII) assigns students who were enrolled in eighth grade at the end of the 2009-2010 school year one of five risk levels (Very High Risk, High Risk, Borderline, At Risk, or Low Risk) based on their grade 8 MCAS results, grade 8 attendance rate, age as of September 1, 2010, and number of in- and out-of-school suspensions in the 2009-2010 school year. The EWII can be used by the district as a starting point for identifying and supporting students who may be at risk of not graduating on time from high school.

A variety of resources related to the EWII were placed in the district Accountability 2010 Drop Box in the security portal within the past week, including:

• A guidance/FAQ document with additional details about the EWII
• Detailed rosters for these students (most of whom are likely to be 9th graders in 2010-2011) in Microsoft Excel format
• An additional Excel document containing both a calculator for determining risk levels for students who are not listed on the roster, as well as summary risk level data by district, region, and accountability and assistance level.

Please note that only district personnel with the "Accountability - District" security role (assigned by the district Directory Administrator) may access these data.