February 26, 2008
New district-wide initiative will empower staff with critical decision-making data to improve performance
DALLAS – Stating that the Dallas Independent School District is “taking the right approach to becoming the school system of choice in the Dallas area,” officials from the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation today announced its single largest Performance Management grant to date in Texas -- a $5 million grant to the Dallas Education Foundation to fund the critical Performance Management and Accountability work stream aimed at boosting student achievement. Ron Kirk, Dallas ISD Superintendent of Schools Michael Hinojosa, and community and business leaders attended the announcement made at Felix G. Botello Elementary School in Oak Cliff.
The Performance Management and Accountability component is one of 11 work streams emanating from the Dallas Achieves Transformation Plan, which the Dallas ISD Board of Trustees approved in April 2007. This initiative employs a revolutionary approach to gathering relevant and timely data and information– that is straightforward and easy to use – so educators can better assess and respond to students’ needs on a daily basis.
The initiative will support a culture that is focused on student performance and progress, transparency, informed decision-making and clear accountability.
“The District’s mission is to achieve academic excellence for all students so they graduate college and workforce ready,” said Hinojosa.
The Dallas ISD’s Trustees have set a goal to win the Broad Prize for Urban Education by 2010.
“This grant from the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation is hugely significant not only because of its enormous generosity, but because of the powerful ‘stamp of approval’ it represents,” said Ron Kirk, president of the Dallas Education Foundation. “The district, our principals and teachers have worked tirelessly to implement big changes to help our kids. It’s great to have an organization the caliber of the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation acknowledge that we’re making notable progress and heading in the right direction.”
The $5 million grant is the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation’s single largest Performance Management grant made in Texas (cumulative investments in Performance Management in Texas are $31M to date and $76M to education in Texas to date over the last nine years). The Dell family foundation is the first funder of this initiative.
“The strength of the approach taken by Superintendent Hinojosa and Dallas ISD – bringing together a broad base of community leaders to develop a vision for the district and its students – makes us confident they will deliver on that vision,” said Lori Fey, Senior Grant Officer, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. “Dallas ISD is taking the right approach to becoming the school system of choice in the Dallas area.”
The grant will create an innovative “data warehouse” to track a wide variety of criteria gathered on students throughout their academic years, from pre-school to graduation. The specific criteria, which will be determined within the next year, could include attendance, teacher attrition, sibling achievement and graduation rates. A pilot of the system is expected to be up and running for the 2008 – 2009 school year.
“By taking a new approach to how information is used in the district and the classroom, teachers and administrators can take action based on what’s working and what’s not working to influence student achievement and graduation rates before the child fails a grade level,” said Lori Fey, Senior Grant Officer, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. “Our work with the Dallas Independent School District demonstrates our focus on the critical one-on-one student and teacher relationship where culture and technology approaches can play a crucial role in enabling improved student performance.”
Teachers and principals will have at their fingertips a user-friendly, flexible “dashboard” view of information that can spotlight a student, a subject, a class, a grade or even the entire district. In addition, the general public eventually will have access to school “scorecards” that provide pertinent information and comparisons to other Dallas schools.
”This grant is critical to our Dallas Achieves efforts. We thank the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation for their affirmation that we are on the right track to improve academic achievement for all Dallas’ students,” said Hinojosa.
"This simplified technology will be a blessing. Dallas ISD educators currently have access to reams of information, but sorting, compiling and using the information on the current system is cumbersome and time consuming," said Clarissa Plair, principal, Felix G. Botello Elementary School. "Creation of a new system that provides instant access to vital, real-time information will allow teachers to devote more time to students in the classroom, and will bring us closer to the district's goal of educating and graduating students ready for college and the workforce.”
About The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation
The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation (www.msdf.org) is dedicated to improving the lives of children living in urban poverty around the world. With offices in Austin, TX and New Delhi, India, the Dell family foundation funds programs that foster high-quality public education and childhood health, and improve the economic stability of families living in poverty. With an endowment of $1.3 billion, the foundation has committed almost $450 million to global children’s issues and community initiatives to date.
About The Dallas Education Foundation
The Dallas Education Foundation, an independent nonprofit organization, was organized in 2006 for charitable and educational purposes to benefit the Dallas Independent School District. The Foundation receives funds from foundations, corporations and individuals in support of programs and initiatives to educate and graduate high-achieving, engaged students ready for college.
CONTACT:
Becky Mayad 214-352-1881
Cell 214-697-7745
bmayad@sbcglobal.net