Giving Compass' Take:

• Understanding a problem is key to addressing it, and data is the best place to start.

• What is the most important data to collect? How can data best be leveraged for impact in schools?

• Find out how one foundation created a better data culture. 

The Brightmoor neighborhood in the western edge of Detroit—ravaged by poverty and gang violence, riddled with abandoned homes and boarded-up schools, and lacking public transportation options—has no shortage of wicked problems that exasperate chronic absenteeism in its schools. In fact, there is only one high school, Detroit Community Schools, a charter school, left in the area after other district-run campuses were shut down or abandoned.

Since the introduction of a school improvement plan during the 2015-16 school year, the Detroit Community High School has seen progress in attendance—going from 30 percent of students missing more than 10 percent of school days in 2015-16, to less than 5 percent in 2016-17, according to the Michigan School Data System.

Yet, making sure students get to classes and stay in them is a constant struggle for educators.

The superintendent also believes that data can play a critical role in helping to sort through the many factors that contribute to truancy and test what interventions are most effective.

Yet in order for data to be useful for the district, Vitti says it has to be “good,” meaning accurate, action-oriented and standards-aligned.

His district has identified metrics such as student performance at grade level, growth, attendance, truancy, suspension, and how many students are eating lunch and breakfast. These indicators are tied to the district’s strategic plan, a three-year outline for improving public schools. Using the metrics, they will provide a custom dashboard to the district to use for the upcoming school year.

Read the full article on big data and school truancy by Jenny Abamu at EdSurge