The EdSight dashboard, which combines various data portals under one location, was officially launched around the start of this academic year, according to a Sept. 20 news release. During an Oct. 4 state Board of Education meeting, leaders used the tool to provide updates on chronic absenteeism and post-pandemic learning recovery. Figures for discipline reports with regard to suspension rates and number of bullying incidents were added on Oct. 10, followed by updated statistics of “on-track” high school graduation rates on Oct. 11, and figures regarding arts access on Oct. 16.
“As the leader of a public agency, I believe strongly in using data to inform our decisions, while making that same critical data transparent and available to the public,” Charlene Russell-Tucker, Connecticut commissioner of education, said in a public statement. “I also believe in the power of the collective; if we can all work together intentionally around a common set of metrics, there are infinite possibilities for what our students and schools can achieve.”
According to the news release, users who visit the site for the first time are encouraged to start with the Connecticut Report Cards item, which provides academic metrics for every school building in the state. Users are also advised to click on related links and report notes to access all available public information.
The “Resident Town” portal, for example, contains a display that notes the number of students and the number of towns, along with a multi-colored map of Connecticut that differentiates student enrollment by communities. It also has bar charts illustrating enrollments for selected time periods by race.
The latest item added to the dashboard, “Arts Access,” contains a graph that illustrates the percentage of students in grades 9-12 who completed an arts course increased from 51.9 percent during the 2018-2019 academic year, to 54.5 percent in 2022-2023. From there, the user can access drop downs to narrow in on the same statistic for individual districts and schools.
Connecticut is not the only state touting digital public transparency lately. In California, the Department of Education recently announced that its School Dashboard will be updated later this month to include figures on underperforming schools, English language learner progress indicators, graduation rates, suspension rates and the latest rules for claiming districts of residence. The full dashboard upgrade to reflect the most current data available for 2023 will be completed in December.
