Using Profiles to Improve Schools

As part of an effort to improve Springfield (Massachusetts) public schools, School Centered Decision Making Teams (SCDMT) have been created at each school. To help the SCDMTs produce more meaningful and useful School Improvement Plans (SIPs), the school system has been working to produce a profile for each school. The availability of profiles was a way to both show the needs of a school as well as hold the school accountable to certain goals and objectives. The goal of profiles is not to allow comparisons of schools, but to enlist the support of teachers, parents, and administrators in improving instruction. The profile eventually developed included information on average student attendance; teacher absences; student, parent, and teacher attitude; academic achievement; retention percentage; and some information about student activities and plans. A school system standard, a value for th