- Gates Grant Complements Dell Family Foundation Initiative That Empowers Dallas ISD with Critical Decision-Making Data to Manage Performance -

AUSTIN, Texas – The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation is pleased to welcome the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s entry into efforts to transform the Dallas Independent School District (Dallas ISD). Today’s announcement from the Gates Foundation builds upon the Dell family foundation’s 2007 grant to fund Dallas ISD’s critical Performance Management and Accountability initiative aimed at boosting student achievement through increased visibility to actionable data.

Nationwide, the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation has committed $90M to date to support performance management initiatives including more than $36M in Texas. These initiatives focus on supporting the critical one-on-one student and teacher relationship by giving educators insight into what’s working and what’s not working, which students need help, and enabling action that improves student performance.

“The user-friendly, flexible dashboards developed through our grant are empowering educators with information that highlights areas of strength and challenge for a student, a subject, a class, a grade or even an entire school, and helps focus attention and support more effectively,” said Janet Mountain, executive director, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. “We’re thrilled that the Gates Foundation funding builds upon this momentum and validates our shared commitment to improving public school performance in Dallas and nationally.”

The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation’s $5M grant to Dallas ISD, a two-year grant which began in November 2007, has produced a set of tools that provide insight into school performance to educators, parents and communities in a user-friendly way and that empower action by those best positioned to help students succeed. These tools include:

• Campus scorecards give an annual report of school performance and progress toward the district’s goals for student achievement. The easy to use report consolidates important information on academic performance including student growth in critical subject areas along with key indicators of school and student success such as graduation rate, on track to graduation rate, and measures of learning environment effectiveness. While it is useful to educators, it is designed for parent and community use in understanding school performance and making informed decisions about their child’s academic future. Scorecards are available for all Dallas ISD schools through the district’s website and are provided in English and Spanish.

• Supporting these annual scorecards are a series of on-line dashboards with interim indicators that serve as a monitoring and early warning system for teachers and principals that highlight, for example, students performing up to expectations and those needing additional support to achieve their academic goals. In addition, educators can track critical indicators like discipline referrals, student absences and classroom achievement across subjects. Dashboards are currently being piloted in 21 schools, including 12 high schools, seven middle schools and two elementary schools, with plans for district-wide implementation in the 2010-2011 school year.

“The work with the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation has provided instant access to vital, real-time information, allowing teachers to devote more time to students in the classroom, and brings us closer to the district's goal of educating and graduating students ready for college and the workforce,” said Orlando Riddick, principal of WT White High School, one of the schools piloting the dashboards.

“The initial investment from the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation has positioned Dallas ISD to do breakthrough work to change the course of students.” said Tom Luce, former Assistant Secretary of U.S. Education and current CEO of the National Math Science Initiative. “The Dell family foundation has been a national leader in making performance management and data use practical and useful for educators. It is exciting to see two such progressive foundations dedicated to improving each student’s opportunity for a successful future.”

The Gates Foundation today announced a package of grants totaling $22 million in investments in research and data systems. The grants are intended to help schools, districts and states in Texas and around the country gather and effectively use data to have maximum impact on teaching and learning and create evidence-based links between students, educators and policymakers. Included in the announcement was a grant to Dallas ISD for $3.8 million over three years.