Overview

 

The suite of data dashboards is designed to provide a comprehensive view of critically important student performance milestones that help communities monitor and evaluate the health and vibrancy of school systems. These KPIs reflect student academic performance, attendance, discipline, and social factors that contribute to workforce development, the creation and sustainability of living wage jobs and overall community well-being.

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Data Sources

The dashboard integrates data from multiple sources, primarily:

* Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (ODEW): This includes student performance metrics, demographic enrollment data, and district-level reports from the Advanced Reports system and School Report Card data.

* National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) Research Center: Provides data on student postsecondary outcomes, including college enrollment, persistence, and completion rates. This includes tracking high school graduates who enroll in college within two years and those who complete a degree within six years of high school graduation. The NSC offers national benchmarks and insights into student pathways across institutions.  

* U.S. Census Bureau Tiger/Line Shapefiles: These are used for mapping geographic data, including school districts, counties, workforce development regions, legislative districts, and Ohio Department of Education and Workforce regions.

* National Center for Education Statistics (NCES): Provides methodologies for geographic coding and pairing school district geographies to smaller and larger geographies available from U.S. Census Tiger/Line shape files.

* Center for Disease Control PLACES Data (Census Tract): Information regarding adults living in the community and their physical health, mental health, and participation in assistance programs such as food stamps and other public services.

* Social and Economic Factors Relating to Student Performance: Includes data from the US Census, American Community Survey, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Ohio Means Jobs, and partner data portals. Sourced from available federal, state and county-level reports where applicable.

 

Metrics Included

The following indicators are used to track performance trends over a multi-year period:

• Demonstrating, Approaching or Emerging Kindergarten Readiness 

• Third-Grade Reading Proficiency

• Eighth-Grade Mathematics Proficiency 

• Four Year Longitudinal High School Graduation Rates 

• College Enrollment and Completion Rates

• Exclusionary Discipline Incidents

• School Day Attendance Rates

• Social & Economic Factors

• Public Health and Social Determinants of Health

 

Geographic Sorting

To facilitate a regional understanding of student performance and district health, data is sorted and aggregated based on:

School Districts (building blocks of analysis) 

State Legislative Districts: Ohio House of Representative & Ohio Senate 

Counties 

Ohio Workforce Development Regions 

Ohio Department of Education and Workforce Regions

 

Methodology

Data is collected, cleaned, and processed to allow for accurate visualization of trends over time. The steps include:

• Data Extraction: Reports are sourced from publicly available state and federal databases.

• Data Cleaning: Irregularities such as missing values and inconsistent reporting are addressed.

• Joining: Necessary joins between datasets are established, e.g. linking enrollment and performance data or connecting census tract geographical IDs to school district geographical IDs. This process ensures that different datasets are effectively integrated into a unified dataset, allowing for a comprehensive analysis of educational and community trends. 

• Visualization: Dashboards are designed to present trends clearly and intuitively for stakeholders.

 

Limitations

While this dashboard aims to provide a robust view of student performance trends, there are key limitations:

• Small Demographic Group Data Masking: Per FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) or HIPPA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), any demographic category with fewer than 10 students (<10) within a district or smaller geography may be masked. When multiple instances of <10 populations occur within a large geography consisting of multiple smaller geographies, the opportunity for data loss or manipulation is possible. The model prioritizes the user's ability to compare, contrast, and evaluate multiple individual districts within the same report leading to a possible exacerbation of this limitation as geographies become larger. This may require users to further reference reports provided by the Ohio Department of Education, CDC, National Student Clearinghouse, American Community Survey, Bureau of Labor Statistics, or United States Census for the most accurate records for larger geographies. This method ensures that trends and comparisons at the district level are as accurate as possible while respecting data privacy laws.

• Data Availability and Reporting Gaps: Some social and economic indicators are not consistently available across all districts.

• Changes in Data Collection Methods: Reporting methodologies may change over time, impacting comparability across years.

• Community Feedback & Updates: The dashboard is a living tool that undergoes ongoing community scrutiny. Updates and modifications will be logged publicly to ensure transparency.

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Ongoing Review & Public Input

Stakeholders, including educators, policymakers, and community members, are encouraged to provide feedback. As new data becomes available or adjustments are made, changes will be documented publicly to maintain credibility and accuracy.