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A major move toward becoming a data-driven district
1/15/2019Dear Colleagues,
While developing our core strategies since our October planning retreat, the Division of Instruction and School Communities outlined Five Bold Steps. I am pleased today to announce a major move forward in developing one of those strategies, by accelerating our organizational capabilities to become a truly data-driven district.
Every PPS school and classroom generates a wealth of both qualitative and quantitative data every day. But the usefulness and power of data is limited--if not altogether wasted--without the organizational understanding, processes and tools to leverage the enormous amount of information in our hands. We need all instructional staff to utilize the same set of protocols and processes and to develop data-informed practice. That’s why I have asked DeWayne Davis to serve as Assistant Superintendent on Special Assignment to lead a cross-functional project to develop the district’s related capabilities.
I believe that DeWayne has the right skillset to lead this project, given his successful track record doing similar work at the school and district levels during his career. DeWayne will spend the next six months as the lead in developing an assessment system and culture at PPS. His deliverables will include:
- Identifying and building a consensus on data protocols, reports for our newly upgraded dashboard and system practices to best serve our most important end users.
- Developing a project plan for implementation and professional development, and determining how best to apply an instructional lens and our racial equity and social justice lenses to the entire process.
DeWayne will report directly to me and will work closely with many others, including Joe Suggs, Chief Cuellar, Chief Valentino, Chief Martinek and our soon-to-be announced Chief Technology Officer. While the work will be collaborative, DeWayne will ultimately be responsible for doing the heavy lifting on the project. He will be working toward a number of concrete, timed milestones, all of which will be delivered by the end of the academic year.
It would be difficult to overstate the importance of this work, the significant benefits of which will be many. With the right protocols, training, development, and proper tools in place, Portland Public Schools will soon be able to identify, understand and use data more like researchers. We will be able to improve instruction in the short term and we will eventually gain the ability to provide personal educational plans to every student we serve.
I am excited about this project and prepared to provide whatever is needed to see it through successfully. The next six months will serve to position Portland Public Schools to take full, clear, comprehensive, student-centered advantage of the data we have, turning it into information that we understand and can utilize to improve instruction and supports for all students. There are few things more important or more central to the mission we are all privileged to share.
Dr. Yvonne Curtis
Deputy Superintendent, Instruction & School Communities
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