Multiple measures of school quality

Defining school quality with community & equipping families with well-rounded information on our city's schools

Closing opportunity gaps in Minneapolis is possible—it starts with empowering families with school quality information

Help define school quality

While Minnesota collects extensive education data – from capturing mastery on state standards to college completion – our community lacks access to reliable or well-rounded information on school quality.

School performance ratings, or "SPRs," empower communities to define school quality, together. They also provide a meaningful, comparable, and understandable definition of school performance across a variety of measures, including academics, culture, and equity.

Our objectives

  • Engage families and community members in the development of a holistic, multi-measure school performance rating
  • Replace Minneapolis School Finder academic rating with the above well-rounded school performance rating
  • Strengthen the information families and community have on local schools

Last year, 35,000 unique visitors accessed school quality information through Minneapolis School Finder. We're committed to supporting families with stronger, more holistic information on our city's schools.

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Help us develop a new school rating for schools across Minneapolis!

Are you interested in learning more? Do you want to provide feedback on and help develop the new multi-measure school performance rating for Minneapolis School Finder? Email us!

Possible elements of a school performance rating

  1. Academic achievement on the MCAs by school and student demographics, as well as college and career readiness, ranging from enrollment in advanced courses to college remediation rates and continuation
  2. School climate and culture via surveys and student attendance and teacher retention data, for example
  3. Equity—academic gaps, student enrollment in advanced courses, educator demographics, etc.

Explore sample SPRs

DC

DC Public Charter Schools

Chicago

Chicago Public Schools

Denver

Denver Public Schools

Minnesota excels at collecting data

This includes the MCAs, our state’s single tool to gauge if students are learning standards and if we’re closing gaps for Indigenous, Black, Latinx, and Asian students.

A multi-measure school performance rating is an opportunity to make sense of the data that already exists—and make use of it.

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Timeline

2021—convene Minneapolis families, community organizations, and school communities; listen to what information they would prioritize including in a school performance rating

  • 100 families participated in four workshops held in English, Somali, Spanish and Hmong
  • 15 community, data, content, and advocacy experts helped launch our school performance rating Working Group

2022–first half—include a prototype of a SPR on the Minneapolis School Finder site, and collect broad community feedback

2022–second half—continue feedback collection, refine prototype and include final SPR in Minneapolis School Finder, 7th edition

Minneapolis School Finder is the only guide that provides families with information on schools across our city

This transparency is critical as families explore school options or advocate within a school that their children attend.

We're excited to partner with community and broad stakeholders to make this resource even better for families. In the meantime, explore the school finder today!

Resources