Giving Compass' Take:

• Zev Eleff and Alex Jakubowski discuss why student-centered data can have a real impact on the effectiveness of community education programs.  

• How are school districts in your area utilizing student-centered data? How can donors support initiatives based on student needs?

•  Read about student-centered learning. 

We agree that schools with more engaged lay leaders and sturdier lines of communication with parents should be able to offer more services to students, and with greater efficiency. It stands to reason that schools with higher enrollments and compensation for teachers will be in better position to educate our children. It is sensible that schools that promote professional development and facilitate intra-institutional curriculum collaboration will have more success than the alternative. Yet, none of these are directly connected to student outcomes and educational goals. Instead, they are circumstantial indicators of what we think should lead to stronger outcomes.

Schools and their leadership cannot always control financial factors, and comparisons cannot be drawn with analytical precision. Inputs like tuition and outputs such as number of yearly graduates are oftentimes idiosyncratic figures and can distract from the core questions of day school education. Analogically speaking, this information focuses on the yield of a harvest and the resources used turn the soil. These factors are critically important, but they won’t tell us all that much about the quality of the tomatoes.

Education-minded goals assess the impact on students. Groups of Jewish educators are thinking along these lines.

In Chicago, for instance, the Jewish Early Childhood Collaborative, funded by JUF-Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago. The Collaborative has worked with early childhood centers of various types and affiliations to establish a framework for cooperation and insight around outcomes. Utilizing a shared parent survey and other unified tools to assess educational impact on youngsters, the Collaborative works with each institution to analyze data and produce actionable recommendations to improve performance. By coalescing professional development opportunities to structured outcome-based analysis, the Collaborative’s goal is to transform the landscape of Jewish early childhood education in Chicago. Similar initiatives have been piloted in other communities, as well.

Read the full article about student-centered data By Zev Eleff and Alex Jakubowski at eJewish Philanthropy.