The Indiana Department of Education’s Outreach Division of School Improvement released updated data Tuesday defending its claim that there’s been an improvement to the education of more than 108,000 Hoosier students.
Glenda Ritz, Indiana’s superintendent of public instruction, released the updated data, which shows, since the creation of the Outreach Division, 193 schools have exited focus or priority status, according to the release.
“When I took office, one of my top priorities was to make sure the Department of Education delivered high-quality direct service to public schools,” Ritz said in the release. “I created our Outreach Division to do this work and to provide support and resources to all schools so that every student has access to a high-quality education. I am incredibly proud of its work and the work of dedicated school leaders and educators across the state.”
The Outreach Division focuses on helping lower-performing schools exit state intervention and preventing others from needing state intervention.
In the first year of the program, 159 schools met the criteria to exit state intervention status.
In the second year, while transitioning to more rigorous standards and assessments, an additional 34 schools exited this status, according to the release.
An additional 76,000 students now attend schools that have demonstrated significant improvement and risen at least one designation within the school accountability system.
The Department has 16 outreach coordinators that live throughout the state and work with all local schools to provide support and professional development focused on school improvement.
An informal survey by the department of focus and priority school principals showed that 98 percent of outreach coordinators met or exceeded expectations in supporting the school’s improvement efforts.
Additionally, schools reported a 95 percent overall satisfaction rate of satisfied or very satisfied with the support provided by the department, according to the release from the Indiana Department of Education.
Alyson Malinger
