Introducing the KY Strategic Dashboard

In Spring 2021 the Kentucky Board of Education charged Commissioner Jason E. Glass with setting ambitious goals to advance student learning across the Commonwealth. So, in coordination with the Kentucky Board of Education (KBE), the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) established the following five goals:

1. Build positive working relationships and obtain feedback from education policymakers, KDE staff, practitioners and education policy/advocacy groups.
2. Lead a statewide initiative to achieve consensus on the future of education.
3. Work with legislators and the Governor’s Office to secure passage of legislation aligned with the KBE/KDE legislative agenda.
4. Expand KDE’s support and dissemination of resources aligned with the KBE’s resolution on anti-racism and equity.
5. Provide transparent reporting of PreK-20 indicators and long-range goals related to student outcomes, the educator workforce (including the diversity of the teacher workforce) and students. 

In order to achieve goal #5, Dr. Glass directed leaders across KDE to build this, his strategic data dashboard. The KDE leadership team worked together to set goals across eight academic and five non-academic indicators that will be updated annually in the strategic data dashboard below to monitor progress toward these goals.

The academic indicators are:

1. National ranking on the National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP)
2. Academic proficiency gap on statewide end of year reading and math assessments
3. Equitable enrollment in advanced placement courses
4. Equitable enrollment in dual enrollment courses
5. National ranking on ACT test performance (compared to states with universal testing)
6. National ranking on 4-year graduation rate
7. Postsecondary readiness (coming soon)
8. Universal skills (coming soon)

The non-academic indicators are:

1. Educator engagement, as measured by the Impact KY survey
2. Recruitment and retention of teachers of color
3. Equitable access to resources
4. Student Engagement (coming soon)
5. Family and community engagement (coming soon)

The purpose of this dashboard is to promote transparency and accountability for these goals. However, it has not all been straightforward. Setting goals during a pandemic when little, if any, data has been available or easy to interpret has been a challenge. In addition to growth, many of these goals require turning the trend around in monumental ways. 

So how might we use this dashboard to maximize its effectiveness? Click through the images below to learn more.

In order to serve students across the commonwealth we will need to stay attuned to their needs. This strategic data dashboard will help us monitor progress and effectively adjust course.