pan>)--The Next Generation Sunshine State Standards, Florida Comprehensive
Assessment Test (FCAT) 2.0, and the Student Success Act have pushed
Florida ahead of the curve in the nations drive to improve the quality
of education and the college and career readiness of students. But can
school districts gather, analyze and act on the data these initiatives
require using their existing systems which are frequently outdated and
disjointed?
“Florida educators are leaders in the national push to increase educator
effectiveness and improve student achievement. Districts are embracing
Performance Matters because our solutions are easy to use and they
provide a flexible, cost-effective way to meet educators evolving
needs”
One system that is making the transition easier for a rapidly growing
number of Florida districts is Performance
Matters, a web-based solution that provides an integrated platform
for student assessment, data management and teacher effectiveness.
To date, 43 percent of Florida districts have implemented the
Performance Matters assessment
and data management system with 14 of these 29 districts adding
the system in 2011. Among the most recent to purchase Performance
Matters are Hernando County School District, Clay County School
District, and the majority of school districts located in the Panhandle
area of Florida.
Florida educators are leaders in the national push to increase educator
effectiveness and improve student achievement. Districts are embracing
Performance Matters because our solutions are easy to use and they
provide a flexible, cost-effective way to meet educators evolving
needs, said Woody Dillaha, co-founder and CEO of Performance Matters.
Operating on a single, web-based platform, Performance Matters helps
school systems improve student learning by providing integrated
solutions for data-driven decision making from the individual student
level to the district level. Using intuitive, interactive dashboards and
color-coded reports, educators can easily slice and dice data to monitor
student performance and growth in real time, evaluate instructional
impact, and analyze policies and programs. With timely, actionable data,
districts can differentiate instruction and professional development,
identify and share best practices, and invest their resources where they
have been proven to have the greatest impact.
In 2010, Marion County Public Schools was one of several Florida
districts that decided to make the switch to the Performance Matters
assessment and data management system. Weve been a data-driven
district for a long time, but we were using a system that was difficult
to manage, said Dr. Diana Greene, deputy superintendent for curriculum
and instruction for Marion County Public Schools. We felt it was time
to search for a system that would be user-friendly and give our end
users the information they needed to make decisions. Ease of use
particularly for our school-based administrators and teachers was our
number one priority.
To address these needs, Marion County Public Schools purchased
Performance Matters in May 2010 and implemented it in every school, across
all grade levels. In 2011, to meet Floridas new requirements for
teacher evaluations, it added FASTe,
the Formative Action System for Teacher Effectiveness. With Performance
Matters, we now have a system thats easy to use, said Greene. Its
very user-friendly, so its easy to get whatever information you need.
About Performance Matters
Performance Matters helps K-12 school systems improve student learning
by providing comprehensive, integrated solutions for assessment, data
management and teacher effectiveness. Based in Winter Park, Fla.,
Performance Matters solutions are used by school districts across the
country. For more information, visit www.performancematters.com
or call (407) 645-1800.

Information Source: Business Wire