Since many children start kindergarten already behind their peers, the District’s goal was to increase the participation of students in Pre- K to provide a solid foundation and ensure school readiness. High-quality Pre-K programs can provide children, particularly poor and minority children, with a head start and help to ensure academic progress over time. The District achieved that goal with a 10% increase from the baseline year (from 8,859 in 2014-2015 to 9,772 in 2019-2020). Since children’s skill levels at school entry play a critical role in determining how they perform not just in kindergarten, but throughout their school years and their lives, this will continue to be a priority for the District.

Increasing proficiency and eliminating achievement gaps are essential to ensure all students are given the opportunity to succeed academically and graduate college- and career-ready. Below is a data breakdown that shows the performance of different subgroups in both reading and math in 2015, the baseline year, and 2019, the close-out year. There were no state assessments in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Because there is no 2019-2020 data, the District’s goal of a 2-percentage point increase per year would require an increase of 8 percentage points over four years, as opposed to a 10-percentage point increase over five years. (See Figure 2 and Figure 3 on following pages.)

ELA: the percentage of students in grades 3–10 scoring proficient increased from 52 percent in 2014-15 to 58 percent in 2018-19.

• ELA growth by subgroup:
  • Black students: from 33 percent to 40 percent.
  • Hispanic students: from 55 percent to 61 percent.
  • White students: from 74 percent to 77 percent.
  • English Language Learners: from 15 percent to 18 percent.
  • Students with Disabilities: from 20 percent to 25 percent.

Mathematics: the percentage of students in grades 3–8 scoring proficient increased from 53 percent in 2014-15 to 63 percent in 2018-19.

• Math growth by subgroup:
  • Black students: from 36 percent to 44 percent.
  • Hispanic students: from 55 percent to 63 percent.
  • White students: from 74 percent to 78 percent.
  • English Language Learners: from 27 percent to 36 percent.
  • Students with Disabilities: from 23 percent to 31 percent.

Through multiple deliberate systems of support, M-DCPS decreased the number of low-performing schools between 2015 and 2020 from 65 to 1, a reduction of 98.4%. This surpassed the goal outlined in Vision 20/20.

Language acquisition and proficiency are essential to ensure the academic success of English Language Learners (ELLs) and are used by the FDOE as the criteria for exiting the ESOL Program. An alternate method was used to determine achievement of this goal, as the FDOE no longer uses semesters when calculating time in program for ELLs. In 2014-2015, 23% of ELLs districtwide met the English proficiency criteria and exited the ESOL program based on 2015 CELLA (English Language Proficiency Assessment) data. In 2015, reading achievement data was not used as a second criteria for exiting students, which is the current practice, because it was the first year of the ELA FSA and the data was not available. In 2019-2020, FSA data was not used to analyze this objective because of the cancellation of state assessments. However, the ACCESS for ELLs was administered during the 2019-2020 school year, and 31% of ELLs met the English proficiency score required for passing. This demonstrates an 8-percentage point increase in English language proficiency among ELLs when compared to the CELLA data point of 23% for 2014-2015.

Access to high-quality instructional programs is another factor in addressing the achievement gap. In order to provide equitable access to quality instructional programs, the District has successfully expanded the portfolio of choice programs and provided students in every zip code the opportunity to access them. As a result, the number of students exercising School Choice in zip codes with the lowest participation in Magnet programs increased from 3,583 in 2015 to 6,663 in 2020 (85.96% increase over baseline). For the 2015-2016 school year, an additional objective was added to increase interest in and applications for Magnet high schools in the urban core. The number of students applying to urban core schools increased from 1,272 in 2016 to 2,289 in 2020 (79.67% increase over baseline).

Providing opportunities for economically disadvantaged students to participate in rigorous coursework is a District priority. In order to achieve this goal, the District implemented several strategies. The District leveraged partnerships with local postsecondary institutions to increase dual enrollment participation through a variety of delivery models. Advanced Placement course offerings were expanded, focusing on new AP courses such as AP Computer Science Principles, AP Seminar, and AP Research, and the Cambridge program was expanded to new schools. Parent/community workshops were conducted to increase awareness of program offerings and benefits associated with accelerated coursework. As a result of these efforts, there was an increase of 22.33% in the number of economically disadvantaged students participating in accelerated coursework such as Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), Cambridge Advanced International Certificate of Education (AICE), and Dual Enrollment (DE). The District’s efforts in expanding rigorous educational opportunities for economically disadvantaged students have received such national recognition as being first in the nation in the number of individual Hispanic students and sixth in the nation in the number of individual African-American students scoring 3+ on AP Exams and the number of AP Exams with scores 3+ taken by these student subgroups (2015, AP Report to the Nation). The District was also recognized as a “National Bright Spot in Hispanic Education” for Dual Enrollment and Advanced Placement (2016, White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics), and it was named Cambridge District of the Year in the large district category (2018, Cambridge International).

The District’s Digital Convergence initiative was launched in 2012, and significant investments in devices, professional development, and digital resources have been made over the years, thus creating both the infrastructure and the culture to transform teaching and learning. Through continuous job-embedded, hands-on, interactive, and rigorous professional development teacher leader academies, the District sought to establish a school site cadre – at every school – of digital teacher leaders who would be able to support the effective use of technology and promote technology literacy. Not only have these efforts led to the creation of digital leader cadres currently at 333 schools, but teams from all schools – consisting of teachers and administrators – have participated in hands-on technology integration professional development every summer through Synergy, expanding both teacher and administrator capacity in technology integration at every school.

In alignment with the core values of excellence and equity, M-DCPS continued to promote increased access to its nationally recognized educational programs between 2015 and 2020 by expanding the total number of choice offerings districtwide. Over the five-year period, the percentage of students selecting choice offerings grew from 56.3% to 73.7% of the student population, an increase of 27.56%. Through an annual evaluation by multiple departments within School Operations and the Office of Academics and Transformation, schools are encouraged to identify and develop specific choice programs and submit those proposals to their respective Regions for further discussion and refinement. This model has helped the District make significant progress towards ensuring educational program parity and provide opportunities for all students, while capitalizing upon the grassroots energy of school sites building upon their strengths and visions for their schools.

To afford at-risk students with additional high-quality choice offerings, the PATH Academy was established at the 500 Roles Model Academy in April 2016. Serving approximately 40 students in grades 3-5, the PATH Academy provides access to district-approved curriculum as well as intensive behavioral supports designed to effectively prepare students for a successful transition to a more traditional education setting. Recognizing the unique needs of high-school-aged students who have not earned a high school diploma, an Acceleration Academy was established in 2017 in North Miami Beach to provide this population of students the opportunity to “drop back in” to a supportive educational setting and work towards meeting high school graduation requirements. Additional Acceleration Academies were opened in Hialeah and Homestead in subsequent years, bringing the total number of these specialized education centers to three. Students enrolled at these sites benefit from research-based instructional models, including blended learning, and a wide range of wraparound services aimed at re-engaging students in the learning process.

Given the geographic span of M-DCPS' magnet programs across Miami-Dade County, the District has endeavored to eliminate the need for transportation as a barrier to student access. “Flex Stops” were developed to augment transportation services available to students residing beyond the established Transportation Zone for their magnet school. By leveraging existing bus transportation routes serving schools in their local neighborhoods, students enrolled in magnet programs at schools beyond their attendance boundaries could more easily commute to their program of choice at no additional cost to the District. Through the Flex Stops and additional reconfiguration of existing Transportation Zones in 2018-2019, M-DCPS was able to provide transportation services along 594 routes for an additional 992 students enrolled in magnet programs. Of these, 579 benefited from Flex Stops alone.

As part of the District’s efforts to raise awareness of and promote its many choice offerings, targeted professional development on effective marketing strategies for strengthening public perception, demand-driven customer service, and FTE forecasting/fiscal management in a competitive environment was provided to school leaders several times per year between 2015 and 2020. Within this time period, School Operations has collaborated with the Office of Communications to facilitate over 20 social media awareness training sessions that emphasize the appropriate use of social media as a means of promoting the programs and activities available at schools. A social media toolkit was also developed and disseminated for use by schools annually. The District’s 49 traditional middle schools were also heavily promoted and invested in as part of the Middle School Redesign initiative. This initiative places student voice and choice at the center of school-based decision-making and led to the offering of over 1,000 new electives at the middle school level. The additional offerings available at local neighborhood schools have enabled M-DCPS to compete in an increasingly competitive market of demand-driven choice. Between 2015 and 2020, parents’ level of agreement when asked about the choice of educational programs, relevance of curriculum, and overall climate and quality of education at their child‘s school increased by 11 percentage points as measured by the School Climate Survey.

Between 2015 and 2020, M-DCPS focused its efforts on rethinking discipline. This included the incorporation of character education through the Values Matter Miami initiative, as well as substantive revisions to the Code of Student Conduct to promote the provision of appropriate behavioral supports. Most notably, M- DCPS eliminated traditional outdoor suspension and implemented new programming designed to support students’ engagement in pro-social behaviors through the establishment of 11 Student Success Centers across the District. Student Success Centers provide an educational setting and safe haven for referred students (ages 11 and older) exhibiting Level III-IV behavior and (with Region approval) habitual Level II infractions of the Code of Student Conduct. The centers are staffed by teachers, counselors, and other service providers who supervise students and support them in meeting their behavioral and academic goals. In addition, counseling and wrap-around services are offered to families in need of social and/or emotional assistance. The District’s average daily attendance demonstrated growth during three years of the five-year span, with an upward trajectory from 2017-2018 through 2019-2020 (prior to school closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic). (See Figure 11.)

Between 2015 and 2020, there was a significant decrease in the number of indoor and outdoor suspensions as a result of the District’s Rethinking Discipline initiative. Through this initiative, M-DCPS provided targeted professional development for school site leaders and staff, including Student Success Center Coordinators and Student Success Center Liaisons, regarding changes to the Code of Student Conduct, corrective behavior strategies aligned with progressive discipline, Restorative Justice Practices (RJP), and the variety of wraparound services available to students and families via the three One-Stop Educational Service Centers across the District. Additionally, as part of the annual school improvement planning process, the District developed in 2018 a series of essential practices (also known as the Framework of Effective School Culture) designed to enhance and improve school culture. These practices focus on relationships; an engaging learning environment; support, care, and connections; clearly defined expectations; and physical and emotional safety. Principals and school leadership teams received ongoing development related to these practices, and they were embedded within each phase of the school improvement process.

From 2015 to 2020, M-DCPS focused on enhancing support systems for all students. This was accomplished through increased professional development opportunities for school leaders and counselors related to anti-bullying, crisis support, transgender and LGBTQIA awareness, trauma-informed practices, mental health awareness, human trafficking prevention, and community violence.
The primary goal of these sessions, which were facilitated by personnel across several departments, was to empower school-based personnel with effective strategies for responding to critical incidents that may arise within their school community. As part of these efforts, M-DCPS also coordinated training on Restorative Justice Practices (RJP) to encourage their use by school personnel when addressing behavioral infractions among students. The District also made significant investments within this five-year period to increase the number of personnel available to provide students with social- emotional support. This includes the hiring of an additional 27 TRUST Counselors and the creation of the Department of Mental Health Services, which employed a cadre of 65 Mental Health Coordinators in 2019-2020 to address the mental health needs of students across M-DCPS. The efforts of these personnel were further supported by a variety of community partners who provided referral services and ongoing support to students who needed it most.

A comprehensive database developed by School Operations now provides an overview of community organizations affiliated with schools and the resources provided to students and stakeholders. This database has three years of data collected annually from school site personnel via needs assessment surveys. It was designed to assist schools and community organizations in finding a proper match for servicing students. The need to have a districtwide view allows for better decision-making in the permeation of resources throughout M-DCPS, avoiding unnecessary duplication of services for students or the absence of services. The function of this tool allows School Operations to continuously monitor the panoply of services currently provided to leverage and expand the network of resources to more students and families.

According to the Miami-Dade Schools Police Department’s (MDSPD) Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) from 2015-2020, MDSPD-reported felony person and property offenses decreased by 79% between the years 2015 and 2020. Felony person offenses include all person offenses in the following categories: homicide, negligent manslaughter, rape, fondling, aggravated assault, and aggravated stalking.
Property crimes include UCR incident categories defined as property offenses by the FBI, which include robbery, larceny, motor vehicle theft, arson, and burglary.

Between 2014-2015 and 2019-2020, the number of districtwide law related educational programs increased as a result of the expansion of the MDSPD Explorer and Youth Crime Watch programs. A total of 343 educational programs were held in 2014-2015, and 588 were held in 2019-2020. Student participation in program sessions declined after March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The increase in the number of educational programs correlates with improvements on the overall perception of school safety among stakeholders surveyed on the School Climate Survey from 2014-2015 to 2019-2020. While the overall perception among students and staff that schools have issues with violence, gang activity, and student drug and alcohol use remained the same (13% average agreement), several of the indicators demonstrated improvement. The increase in students’ perceptions that drug and alcohol use are problems at their schools correlates with an increase in reported incidents of e- cigarette use between 2015 and 2020. Parents’ level of agreement that schools and law enforcement work to keep schools free of violence, gang activity, and substance abuse increased by 13 percentage points, from an average of 72% in 2014-2015 to an average of 85% in 2019-2020.

Between 2015 and 2020, M-DCPS made significant investments to enhance overall safety measures in its facilities. Among these was the expansion of surveillance cameras, which help deter potential crime and collect data that may be used for follow-up investigations. As of 2020, there were over 16,000 cameras across M-DCPS, all of which are monitored at the MDPSD Police Command Center in real-time. In addition to surveillance cameras, M-DCPS began leveraging a centralized visitor registration/management system that captures visitor information from locations districtwide and feeds it directly to the Police Command Center to quickly identify individuals who may pose a threat to students and/or staff. Through these and other efforts, MDSPD experienced a 63% reduction in calls for service between 2014-2015 and 2019-2020.

Between 2015 and 2020, school sites and departmental offices across M-DCPS leveraged a variety of media to enhance two-way communication between the District and its stakeholders. Through social media; email, voice, and text messaging via school communication platforms; dedicated hotlines; and inter-departmental referrals, M-DCPS as an organization has utilized a more customer- service-oriented approach to increase engagement with parents, employees, and students. The impact of these and other related efforts is reflected in the 7-percentage point increase in agreement on customer-service-related indicators captured on the District’s School Climate Survey.

As part of the District’s efforts to raise awareness of and promote its many choice offerings, targeted professional development on effective marketing, strategies for strengthening public perception, demand-driven customer service, and FTE forecasting/fiscal management in a competitive environment was provided to school leaders several times per year between 2015 and 2020. Within this time period, School Operations collaborated with the Office of Communications to facilitate social media awareness training sessions that emphasized the appropriate use of social media as a means of promoting the programs and activities available at schools. Additionally, a social media toolkit was developed and disseminated for use by schools annually. The District’s 49 traditional middle schools were also heavily promoted and invested in as part of the Middle School Redesign initiative. This initiative places student voice and choice at the center of school-based decision-making and led to the offering of over 1,000 new electives at the middle school level. The additional offerings available at local neighborhood schools have enabled M-DCPS to compete in an increasingly competitive market of demand-driven choice. Between 2015 and 2020, parents’ level of agreement when asked about the choice of educational programs, relevance of curriculum, and overall climate and quality of education at their child‘s school increased by 11 percentage points as measured by the School Climate Survey.

The Strategic Educational Marketing Department is responsible for conceptualizing and executing the District’s overall marketing strategy, including administrative and Board-approved priorities. The Department oversees:

• Design, development, and production of marketing materials, including brochures, flyers, e-newsletters, meeting presentations, and social media content;
• Design and management of multi-media awareness campaigns and digital content via email marketing campaigns and social media platforms;
• Development of school toolkits to support schools in promoting their programs and increasing enrollment; and
• Collaboration with District departments to further promote District offerings.

Emphasis has been placed on community news outlets to increase media coverage of schools and the District. During the 2015-2016 school year, there was an increase of school and District stories by approximately 10% over the previous year. Since 2015, M-DCPS has published a weekly Spanish column in Diario las Américas. In 2018, the District partnered with Community Newspapers for a monthly column, which has expanded to a weekly submission. In 2018, the District began producing M-DCPS Voices, a weekly radio program on WMBM hosted by staff. Additionally, there has been increased participation on 99 JAMZ, HOT 105, WEDR, and WIOD radio. During the 2019-2020 school year, the Office of Communications managed 156 TV segments and radio interviews, an increase of 63% from the prior year. News conferences were strategically scheduled to increase media attendance. Contact information for new media outlets was captured, providing additional opportunities to expand the District’s reach. In addition, to further promote and market schools, students, programs, and initiatives, the District collaborated with NBC6 to launch weekly Education on 6 and Brag About Your School segments in 2014, with the Students Making a Difference segment added in 2015. The Super Teacher segment on the CW network was added in 2016. These collaborations are ongoing.

The Office of Communications remains steadfast in its commitment to bring greater national exposure to the District. In 2015, new English and Spanish national media outlets and contacts were added to the Office of Communications media list, demonstrating an increase of more than 6%. In 2016-2017 there was a total of 998 M-DCPS stories and mentions covered by national media. In 2017-2018, there was a total of 2,343 stories and mentions, increasing the District's national profile by 43%. During the 2019-2020 school year, the Office of Communications prepared and distributed more than 234 news releases in three languages to promote school and District news and create awareness of initiatives and programs. These releases were sent to 313 national media contacts. The District’s national reach continues to increase through the fostering of relationships with media representatives who have contacted the Office of Communications throughout the years (i.e., New York Times, Washington Post, Politico, PBS, and The 74).

Upgrades and improvements to the dadeschools.net website have been ongoing. Beginning in 2015, a School Mobile Admin (SMA) website template was launched for schools, allowing schools to build their websites without having a technical background. In 2017, a Website Management Solution (WMS) website template was launched for District offices. The templates are mobile-friendly and compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and they provide enhanced functionality to address the needs of District offices, which are different from schools. In addition to the updates to the dadeschools.net website, the Dadeschools mobile app has also been upgraded.

In order to enhance parent engagement, access, and advocacy, it was essential to provide parents with the tools necessary to easily obtain school information and make informed decisions about their child’s education. District staff felt it was important to go beyond a school’s letter grade and provide information about school culture, programs, electives, clubs, sports, and school awards. For that reason, the District launched the M-DCPS School Dashboard, which is a comprehensive overview of student enrollment, academic performance, teacher characteristics, school culture, and other services and programs provided at each school. It was designed to aid individuals looking to learn more about a particular school all in one place. School dashboards are periodically updated to include the most recent school figures. Dashboards also include the school’s contact information, which can be used to obtain even more information on a particular school of interest. (See Figure 35 on following page.) Additionally, the Office of Charter School Compliance and Support created the Charter School Annual Report and the Charter School Compliance and Support Fact Sheet for parents and other stakeholders.

In order to enhance parent engagement and empower families across the District with the tools, information, and training that can assist them in making informed decisions about their child’s education, it is necessary to afford parents the opportunity to access these resources and information close to home. To that effect, M-DCPS established the goal of increasing the number of Parent Academy sites throughout the District. As a result, since 2015, six Parent Academy sites have been established across the District – Everglades Migrant Education Center, Henry H. Filer Middle School, Miami Jackson Senior High School, North Miami Senior High School, Parkway Educational Complex, and Ruben Dario Middle School. Collectively over the past five years, the Parent Academy sites averaged 845 parent visits per year.

In an effort to respond to the ever-changing needs of the families in M-DCPS, the District not only continuously expands program offerings but also develops innovative methods to provide parents with access to valuable information. By 2019, an additional 12 workshop offerings had been developed in English, Spanish, and Haitian-Creole for schools and agencies to request in-person sessions at their sites. Additionally, The Parent Academy (TPA) sessions have been recorded and can be accessed virtually through the online Virtual Campus. The videos are also available on-demand through the TPA mobile app or through the TPA Channel on the Dadeschools TV website.

In 2017, the District began a partnership with Scholastic Education as part of the two-year Schools of Hope grant to rethink family engagement. Family engagement trends and practices were assessed at five school sites by surveying stakeholders, and intensive family engagement professional learning with teachers, administrators, community involvement specialists, parents, and community members was conducted. In 2018, the partnership with Scholastic was expanded to include middle schools as part of the Middle School Redesign initiative.

Parents play an important role in the academic success of their children; however, mothers are often viewed as the primary caregiver. The Office of Community Engagement (OCE) focused on strategies to engage fathers in education to increase parental engagement throughout the District, resulting in a 900% increase. In partnership with the Fatherhood Taskforce of South Florida, The Parent Academy, and other community organizations, OCE provided engagement opportunities throughout the year as part of a Family and Community Engagement Framework developed for all school sites. Examples include Dads Take Your Child to School Day (DTYCTSD) in partnership with the FDOE; Fathers in Education Day (FIE); and Fathers in Action and Advocacy (FIAA) week, all of which provide enrichment opportunities for fathers and opportunities for schools to honor the role of fathers and father figures in education. Additionally, OCE provided schools with toolkits that served as a roadmap for ease of implementation. In collaboration with The Parent Academy, an on-demand video in English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole entitled “Fathers: Be the Link” was created. Through partnerships with community-based organizations, various enrichment opportunities to support their child’s growth and development were also provided to fathers. Schools and community groups can access all resources associated with this initiative via its dedicated webpage at: https://www.engagemiamidade.net/fathersineducationday.

The number of entities offering internships increased by 232% from 2015 to 2020. In 2016, several District bureaus (Academics, Operations, Attorney’s Office, Risk Management) formed a working group led by OIAGACE and enacted the following programmatic changes:

• Combined Career Opportunity Experience (CEO) program formed under Secondary School Reform (SSR) with Honors and Executive Internship Program (HEIP) to form the honors Academic Year Internship Program (AYIP).
• Increased eligibility for high school students’ participation by lowering the unweighted GPA from 3.0 to 2.5.
• Changed course codes to honors.
• Streamlined internship provider approval process.
• Leveraged community partners and municipalities by working with multiple District offices and community-based organizations to identify internship opportunities.
• Designed new marketing materials and resources to increase awareness of the program.
• Collaborated with Summer Youth Internship Program (SYIP) staff to develop an online internship clearinghouse for the honors AYIP which launched in 2020-21.

The primary goal of the District's School Volunteer Program and its mentoring initiatives is to provide identified students with a mentor to assist them in achieving their potential and discovering their strengths, both academically and personally. Between 2015 and 2020, the Office of Community Engagement formalized agreements with additional mentoring organizations (i.e., Guitars Over Guns, 100 Black Men of South Florida, etc.) to recruit and match mentors with students. Additionally, community partners were encouraged to provide employees as mentors (i.e., City of Miami, Hispanics Inspiring Students’ Performance and Achievement (HISPA), Shane Battier Foundation) as part of the national My Brother’s Keeper Initiative. Schools were also encouraged to develop their own internal school- based mentoring programs.

An Everybody Mentors toolkit was provided to assist all partners in program development. The number of individuals advocating on behalf of students as mentors increased by 78% from 3,254 mentors in 2014-2015 to 5,806 mentors in 2019-2020.

In addition, the District continued its collaboration with Big Brothers Big Sisters Miami, Take Stock in Children, Women of Tomorrow, and other partner organizations whose missions focus on mentoring.