New School Dashboard Coming To Laguna Beach Unified School District

LAGUNA BEACH, CA — On March 15, the California Department of Education will unveil its new California School Dashboard, a new accountability and improvement system to show how California’s public schools are performing and track their progress over time.

The Dashboard is an easy-to-use online tool to access several data sources, giving parents, educators and community members a comprehensive picture of a school’s progress.

"Instead of relying exclusively on test scores, as the previous accountability system did, this new system gives a snapshot of a manageable set of indicators, including high school graduation rates, career and college readiness, English Learner progress and suspension rates, in addition to test scores," the school district said.

The additional data points in the Dashboard can help improve equity among student groups by revealing where disparities exist. By providing access to relevant information, schools and districts are able to understand where students are struggling and ensure staff are responsive with appropriate resources. Under the previous system, data about student groups focused primarily on test scores. The new system provides student group information on a variety of helpful indicators and puts it in one location.

The Dashboard provides data to inform the district’s decisions regarding the Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP). The new information will help principals, teachers, parents and community members pinpoint specific areas for growth and focus. It will also help identify schools that are excelling and can help others by sharing their methods and practices.

“Although the data in the Dashboard is not new for us, it is organized to help us engage our stakeholders in a meaningful way as we develop our LCAP for the success of all of our students,” said Dr. Jason Viloria, Superintendent of the Laguna Beach Unified School District.

For additional details regarding the California School Dashboard, view the Orange County Department of Education’s Five Things you need to know about the California School Dashboard or visit the California School Dashboard website.

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