Resource Allocation and District Action Reports: RADAR MASBO Fall Institute October, 2018

AGENDA Agenda 1 2 3 Overview of RADAR An example of using RADAR Review and wrap-up

1 Using state data to support resource analysis Overview of RADAR 1

There are three RADAR packages available to districts Change over 5 years State context Per-pupil expenditure Staffing per 100 students SPED enrollment SPED staffing Class size by grade and subject area (district and school) Class size/courses Security portal Special education Benchmarking Public website SPED enrollment/placement District profile – 5 years Students identified for or moving off services, by grade Four year trajectories for students by placement

How can you access the three different RADAR tools? RADAR Benchmarking RADAR Special Education RADAR Class Size/Courses On the DESE website: http://www.doe.mass.edu/research/radar/ Supporting materials on the webpage: Online tutorial (introduces reports; includes an example of using them) Slides from summer workshops Introductory video One-page handout Security Portal Dropbox Central RADAR Dropbox You need RADAR Dropbox permission assigned to your user ID by your data coordinator

RADAR is visual, comparative, longitudinal Why did DESE develop Resource Allocation and District Action Reports (RADAR)? RADAR is visual, comparative, longitudinal Data collections from districts hold much useful information DESE analysts can mine that data to provide reports RADAR has new metrics about resources

Resources are people, time and money 70-80% of district budgets are for staff District leaders in every standard area are familiar with staffing positions and scheduling DESE has more complete data about personnel, especially teachers, than about spending EPIMS and SCS are very detailed data sets This data can be looked at from different lenses

Districts have used RADAR to support decision-making Benchmark Communicate Cite an outside source Connect plan and budget Reallocate resources

2 An initial look at RADAR An example of using RADAR 2 Suggest that you follow along with your own selection of districts as well

RADAR Benchmarking: Home Selecting comparisons – an art not a science This is RADAR Benchmarking

RADAR SPED: Home RADAR SPED has additional information on Home Page and in other reports – for today, we are working with RADAR Benchmarking reports, but we used this to look for districts with performance results that made us want to track them in the resource analysis

An exercise in analyzing SPED results and resource allocation Focus on goals for students with disabilities Student math performance, especially growth Inclusion Look at comparison districts, starting with SWD performance and growth Let’s track Bristol and Point Hope as we go through other reports District SGP M/E Expectations Ashmont 49.2 9% Bristol 52.3 15% Point Hope 53.2 8% Range 41.6-53.2 6%-16% Can we learn something from looking at higher performing districts? Focus on Bristol with higher growth and performance; Point Hope has high growth this last year – will they increase performance over the next couple of years? Are they making changes that might be relevant to Ashmont?

Identification rates Ashmont has a moderate percentage of SWDS, close to the state and below several others in the group. How might ID rates in Bristol (low) and Point Hope (high) influence our thinking about performance results? Next step is to understand similarities and differences in SPED programs as outlined in summary reports on SPED enrollment and staffing Ask for shout-outs on how to think about ID rates for Bristol and Point Hope

Inclusion placement rates Ashmont’s inclusion rate is proportionally higher than most other districts. We are making progress in meeting our goals around inclusion. How might inclusion rates in Bristol (high) and Point Hope (low) influence our thinking about performance results? Ask for shout-outs for this and succeeding questions

SPED teachers Ashmont’s SPED teacher staffing rate seems to be above the norm in this group, and in the state. Does this data tell us what an optimum staffing level is? How might staffing rates in Bristol (low) and Point Hope (average) influence our thinking about performance results?

SPED paraprofessionals Our paraprofessional staffing level is higher than most of the group and the state. What questions might we want to ask about how paras are deployed in our SPED program, and in Bristol and Point Hope?

SPED staffing trends and state comparison Over five years Ashmont has been increasing its teacher staffing rate, as well as its paraprofessional staffing rate. The state average is fewer teachers and even fewer paraprofessionals than Ashmont. What more would we like to know?

Looking at our resources more broadly… Ashmont spends less per pupil than almost of of these districts - $12,874 How might spending rates in Bristol (low) and Point Hope (above average) influence our thinking about staffing and performance results?

Staffing level of teachers and paras (non-SPED and SPED) Though we are lower spending, our staffing level of teachers is in the middle of the group. We seem to have fewer SPED teachers though. Do we think our reporting is accurate, consistent with other districts?

RADAR SPED: a quick look at placement trajectories RADAR SPED has additional resources that can influence your comparison of district SPED programs – example is trajectory report

2 An initial look at RADAR Review and wrap-up 3

Step back, review, determine next steps What have we learned about the data in our example? What do we infer about SPED programs from the data? What are three options for next steps in this analysis?

Using RADAR in your district What opportunities do you see? What questions do you have? What suggestions do you have for DESE?

Contact radar@doe.mass.edu Thank you Contact radar@doe.mass.edu http://www.doe.mass.edu/research/radar/