How can schools use data to close growth gaps and enhance teaching? For the Dallas Center-Grimes Community School District, analytics helped align goals and metrics with state standards, driving a culture of continuous improvement.
Read all the stories in this series to find out how schools across Iowa are using the SAS® Education Visualization and Analytics Solution (EVAAS) to achieve these goals.
The Dallas Center-Grimes Community School District, located near Des Moines, Iowa, is committed to enhancing student outcomes through data-driven innovation. Austin Roy, the high school assistant principal, values the power of numbers but previously found state testing data, such as ISASP results, difficult to translate into practical guides for school and student improvement.
That changed with the introduction of SAS EVAAS.
“For the first time, I felt like I could quickly make actionable and articulate conclusions about what’s going on within this data,” he shared. With the district in the early stages of SAS EVAAS integration, Roy sees the tool’s potential to transform how educators engage with data and make informed decisions for their students.
Meet the school district
- Dallas Center-Grimes faced a challenge with students progressing through grades, as internal data showed a drop in student growth at the high school level. Roy noted that while the district's students were proficient, their growth did not compare favorably to similar schools.
- The district recognized inconsistencies between internal data and external student performance on the state tests, with high achievers maintaining proficiency but not advancing to higher levels. This discrepancy prompted questions about instructional practices and how they could improve student outcomes.
- Another challenge was the need for data literacy among staff, with many considering traditional testing data as "one kid, one test, one day" and seeing limited use for it in decision-making. The district sought an approach that could turn overwhelming data into practical insights that educators could trust and understand.
How SAS EVAAS helped
- The SAS Education Visualization and Analytics Solution introduced a data-driven approach that simplified complex metrics, empowering leadership and instructional coaches to make practical decisions.
- SAS EVAAS helped the district address its growth opportunities by providing scatterplot and value-added reports that highlighted areas of underperformance compared to similar high schools in the state.
- By visualizing expected growth versus actual outcomes, SAS EVAAS enabled leaders to better understand their impact on student progress and align their instructional practices with measurable goals. This shift focused on fostering meaningful academic growth rather than test proficiency.
What happened next
- The SAS Education Visualization and Analytics Solution has set the foundation for creating clear goals through progress monitoring. Leadership plans to use SAS EVAAS data to enhance differentiation and extend opportunities for advanced learners, addressing a critical component in instructional practices.
- The district is preparing for broader deployment of SAS EVAAS to teachers. Teachers are being empowered to navigate diagnostic reports, explore filters and identify growth opportunities in their classrooms, driving a culture of continuous improvement.
- SAS EVAAS helped the district design an early warning system for incoming eighth graders transitioning to high school. By integrating state test data and other metrics, the district is developing intentional scheduling strategies to support struggling students in ELA and math, maximizing their chances for success.
Remaining an example of student growth
Using the SAS Education Visualization and Analytics Solution, Dallas Center-Grimes has begun addressing key challenges by accelerating academic growth at the high school level and building literacy among staff. Leaders are using SAS EVAAS tools, such as scatterplots and diagnostic reports, to uncover opportunities for targeted interventions and to push high achievers beyond proficiency. As the district moves forward, the focus is on empowering teachers to embrace data and use it to refine instructional strategies. “If I can tell a story and then show the data behind where the story comes from, that is where we can get our staff to build in some trust. They can lock in, and then that grows that curiosity,” Roy said.
How EVAAS helps educators, families and policymakers
The Education Visualization and Analytics Solution (EVAAS) from SAS provides educators with powerful and ready-to-use insights that transform educational decision-making at every level:
- For educators: EVAAS delivers comprehensive reporting tools that empower teachers to evaluate and improve academic growth trends, personalize learning pathways and optimize curriculum design to help students meet goals.
- For principals: EVAAS helps school leaders evaluate academic program effectiveness, identify trends across student groups, support professional development planning, and make data-driven student scheduling and placement decisions.
- For policymakers: Decision makers use EVAAS analytics to measure the impact of educational initiatives, allocate resources effectively and implement data-driven policies and programs that benefit students, schools and communities.
