Most writing about strategic plan dashboards, ours included, talks about measures in general. This one follows a single measure through a single school year: the share of ninth graders on track to graduate.
The measure has a strong research base. Researchers at the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research have found that ninth graders who earn enough credits and fail no more than one semester of a core course are about three and a half times more likely to graduate in four years. A 2021 Consortium report went further: Chicago’s on-track rate rose from 58 percent in 2007 to 89 percent in 2017, and its five-year graduation rate climbed 19 points between 2011 and 2017, gains the authors attribute mainly to the on-track work. That makes it one of the few measures a board can watch move, and help move, years before graduation.
Say last year’s freshman class finished at 78 percent on track, and the plan sets a target of 85 percent by 2028.
In September, the dashboard shows the baseline, the target, and the deadline, with no current-year number yet. That’s honest. A blank cell with a date on it beats a number nobody can explain.
In November, the first marking period closes. The new class is at 74 percent, behind last year’s pace. Under status rules the board adopted in advance, the measure turns yellow. Nobody has to argue about it.
In January, with the first semester in, the number is 76 percent. The principal’s one-sentence note explains what changed: a Friday credit-recovery block for students failing one core course. The board doesn’t need a presentation. It needs that sentence and the date of the next update.
In April, the third marking period puts the class at 81 percent. Still yellow, but the trend line is the story now, and anyone in the community can see it without asking.
In June, the year closes at 83 percent: short of the target, ahead of last year, and on pace for 2028. The board’s question isn’t whether the number is good. It’s what the school will keep, change, or stop before the next class arrives in September.
That’s the whole cycle: a target set in advance, an update when the data arrives, a sentence of context, and a decision at the end. Most strategic plans have eight to twelve measures worth keeping. Each one deserves a year that looks like this.
BoardK12 puts each measure on a public dashboard the district updates as data arrives, with the evidence behind each strategy attached.