APS has set out four goals in its new strategic plan, Emerging Stronger. The district says it will track its progress toward achieving them over the next five years. But one may be more difficult to measure than the others.
The district says all four are “SMART goals,” which stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.
How goals one through three would be measured seems pretty clearcut. The first two are to improve proficiency in reading and math for certain students by 10 points. The third is to have more students earn college credits, an industry certification or bilingual proficiency by graduation.
But measuring the fourth goal isn’t as straightforward. Over the next five years, the district wants to “increase the percentage of students who demonstrate the skills, mindsets and habits most aligned to life success.” It goes on to highlight characteristics like perseverance, self-regulation, self-efficacy and social awareness.
President of the APS Board of Education Yolanda Montoya-Cordova said the district is still figuring out how it’ll gauge its success.
“On that particular goal, we didn’t have it articulated as a SMART goal just yet,” she said.
She said the district will likely use student surveys, but will also need to find other, unique ways to measure behavior change. She said APS will likely end up using a variety of metrics to do that, like reductions in absenteeism, bullying and safety concerns.
“If we start to create cultures on school campuses where students want to be and they thrive — that’s also another indicator for me,” she said.
She said the district believes achieving the goal will lead to more engaged students who challenge themselves and are more likely to graduate.
