Your team can solve riddles like these … with the right evidence

Choose a riddle

K-5 math

Are any districts with kids like ours seeing better math results in elementary grades?

Evidence needed

Which districts have kids like ours … grade level scale scores compared … a few years of results to see if pattern is consistent.

English learners

Are we setting the right pace for advancing EL students to English fluency?

Evidence needed

Percent of “ever-EL” students at each grade level who have been reclassified as fluent English proficient (RFEP) … comparability to other districts with ELs like ours …

Grad rate gender gap

Is our district the only one where more girls than boys have graduated?

Evidence needed

Boys’ and girls’ graduation rates … knowledge of districts with students like ours … ability to compare over a few years’ time to check for consistency …

The right evidence requires the right tools

The right tools for analysis should … turn raw data into polished evidence so you can interpret it correctly and quickly … visualize patterns so you can work without mastering deep math skills … make comparisons to similar districts and schools possible so you can see where you stand … and help you persuade others so you can build agreement for those big decisions.

“We set aside our own set of comparison districts, and used yours instead to make decisions and set targets. Yours was especially useful in stakeholder and board meetings. In fact, it drove our discussion around data.”
Mike Heffner, Ex-Chief Academic Officer, Carmel USD

The right tools enable you to identify weak and strong spots

How are we doing at creating A-to-G classes in all core subjects?

Which districts or schools should we be compared to in order to see how we’re doing?

Combined with the right support

Let’s be honest. Tools aren’t magic, and interpreting evidence is not simple. To realize the full analytic power of decision-support tools, you get our support in human form. In person and online. Scheduled and on-demand.

Learn how we work with you

There are just three steps. We’re with you for each one of them.

We identify similar districts or schools whose students are most like your own.

We build for you two portfolios of evidence visually comparing your district and schools to similar ones.

We help you apply the evidence to the riddles you care most about, and discover the most effective solutions.

“I had a chance to really dig into the Assessment Explorer yesterday, and I think it’s an incredibly powerful tool for us. As a result, I reached out to my most similar schools here in Orange USD, and intend to bring a few teachers to visit them on a field trip …”
Susan Astarita, at Newport-Mesa USD

What makes our approach different?

Measurement is a science

We think about measurement differently. We think it’s based on the principles of psychometrics and statistics. Our team includes people who actually practice those professions. We make sure their knowledge guides all visual expressions of education data.

We trust your intelligence

Our job is to turn scientific measures into evidence educators can see, understand, think about and act upon. We don’t expect you to become scientists to do that. And we don’t believe you need us to simplify the evidence to red, yellow and green. We do believe you’re capable of interpreting complex evidence once we express it intelligently.

Conventional measures are often wrong

The interpretation of schools’ and districts’ vital signs is often wrong, especially when interpreting the progress of student learning. Browse our blog posts that explain the errors baked into the CDE’s Dashboard … the illogic of measuring ELs … the flaws in the foundations of accountability.

Visual evidence is what we build

In an era when everyone is counting everything about schools, you should be in command of what those numbers mean. We help you take command by building visual evidence that reveals patterns, so you can think about it without a calculator. And we enhance your power by making that visual evidence interactive.

“The visual expressions of longitudinal and comparative data that SWP provides gives us perspective and confidence in our decisions. And it helps us to communicate more effectively with our stakeholder groups.”
Glen Webb, Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment, Morgan Hill USD