Parents need clear, straightforward information as they decide whether their child will be better served by a public or charter school. Policymakers need to be able to determine how to invest resources and shape policy to improve education quality. Communities need the means to evaluate whether their schools are succeeding. Parents, teachers, school administrators, elected officials, researchers, philanthropists—all can benefit from clear, easy-to-understand visualization of school performance data.
Every state is required by federal law to produce a report card for each of the state’s schools. But research suggests these can be challenging to interpret and are in need of improvements.
The need for greater transparency in school performance is the basis for a new competition launched yesterday by the Foundation for Excellence in Education (ExcelinEd). The competition, which offers prizes totaling up to $35,000, seeks to reimagine how school report cards are presented.
The competition was announced by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who is the Chairman of ExcelinEd. He stated, “Transparent and accessible information about the performance of our schools is critical if we want to improve the academic outcomes of all students. Ensuring parents and the public understand the quality of their local schools is the foundation of a strong accountability system.”
The competition closes on October 17th, and more information can be found here.
ExcelinEd published a series of op-eds on InsideSources earlier this year explaining how to place students at the center of an increasingly networked world.
