Creating a community-wide culture of responsibility for education is of vital importance to SALT and also to Article 31. Putting useful and understandable information into the hands of all citizens is a first step toward fulfilling this goal. To this end, RIDE and its partners have created school and district reports published for the first time this year as Information Works. The reports are designed to promote school – community dialogue by focusing public attention on student achievement successes and gaps, the necessity of closing those gaps, and the practices associated with high student performance. Much greater public responsibility and support will be required as this information is put to use. No state-level support or intervention, no matter how well-done or sophisticated, can improve education in a local school for the long-term without the community’s attention, leadership and support. Local citizens must charge themselves with looking at the new information on their schools as it becomes available and with using that information in responsible and constructive ways. New and more detailed information is being released about every school in the state via Information Works and the other aspects of SALT. Not all of this information is flattering, but it all can be used to establish and advance school and district improvement goals. Communities should judge their schools by the actions they take based on this new information, rather than by what this baseline year shows. Schools are now faced with a very different task – helping all students, rather than only some, reach high standards. Continuous improvement is attainable, immediate success is not and should not be expected. All Rhode Islanders must contribute the patience, support and push required to create, and more importantly to use, the wealth of information needed to support sustained school improvement. Together, we will learn more about the kinds of information that are the most important and valuable. Over time, RIDE will drop information deemed unhelpful and will add and strengthen information deemed useful. Information Works is very much a work in progress. Ultimately, we will have rich information on student performance, school practices and financial expenditures that will allow us to act in thoughtful and informed ways, to build systems that better support students, teachers, schools and families. Cristopher T. Cross, Amy Rukea Stempel. (1996). "Where are we going? Policy implications for data collection through 2010," in From Data to Information: New Directions for the National Center for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education, p. 2-17. Return to the Statewide Analysis Home Page || Return to the Information Works Home Page |
