INDIANA – The Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) launched its new Indiana Graduates Prepared to Succeed Dashboard (Indiana GPS), which displays a transparent, robust view of school and student performance over multiple measures. The dashboard can be accessed directly here.
“Through the launch of the Indiana Graduates Prepared to Succeed dashboard, Indiana is re-envisioning how we strategically display school and student performance,” said Dr. Katie Jenner, Indiana Secretary of Education. “This dashboard considers a number of indicators of student success, focusing on both knowledge and skill development across all grade levels and making clear connections between a student’s K-12 journey and their post-graduation outcomes. By showcasing this information in one easily accessible location, our educators, families and communities will be empowered to make informed decisions that help drive continuous improvement for students across the K-12 continuum.”
When first accessing the Indiana GPS dashboard, users will scroll through a landing page that tells the story of a student’s journey from Pre-K through high school and beyond, displaying specific knowledge and skill development and why those knowledge and skills matter for future success. From there, users can see statewide-, corporation- and school-level summary pages that display performance over multiple measures.
The development of this dashboard is an iterative process and will continue to be improved over time, with new data and features added. Over the last month, school leaders have had access to an embargoed pre-release of the dashboard, providing an opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback prior to the public launch. As a result of this feedback, several updates have already been made or are underway to ensure the dashboard is as comprehensive and as easy to use as possible. Additional enhancements will continue, as this dashboard is designed to be transparent and nimble.
The data displayed and tracked through the Indiana GPS dashboard centers around five key characteristics which best indicate a student’s preparation for success after high school. These characteristics are:
- Academic mastery;
- Career and postsecondary readiness: credentials and experiences;
- Communication and collaboration;
- Work ethic; and
- Civic, financial and digital literacy.
Last year, the Indiana State Board of Education (SBOE) unanimously approved multiple indicators (available for Pre-K through grade eight here and grades nine through 12 here) to measure each of these characteristics on the dashboard, signaling students’ performance across all grade levels. Some of these indicators were based on data already maintained by IDOE or other state agencies and are the basis for this initial dashboard launch. Looking forward, IDOE will continue to add additional measures to the dashboard, including some new indicators which will require collaborative development, to provide a more comprehensive view of school and student performance.
The development of Indiana GPS follows the enactment of House Enrolled Act 1514, passed in 2021 directing IDOE and the SBOE to develop a school performance dashboard that promotes transparency and multiple student measures, including longitudinal measures. The first iteration of the dashboard is launching one and a half years in advance of the statutorily-required July 1, 2024 date.
Over the last year, IDOE has collaborated with stakeholders statewide on the development of the Indiana GPS characteristics and dashboard.
“Indiana GPS is a one-stop-shop, displaying information and data that matter to individual students and families, as well as the economic success of communities across Indiana,” said Jenner. “By coming together with educators, families, community leaders, and employers, we have built a dashboard that transparently displays where our schools have been and, most importantly, where we are going. As we continue to work together on future iterations of the dashboard, Indiana GPS will continue to be updated so that it best reflects our progress for Indiana’s students.”
