School administrators deal with multiple data reports throughout a school year that are submitted to the Indiana Department of Education. Much of the data from those reports is compiled into the annual performance report for a school district.

Those performance reports were released publicly March 18 by IDOE. The public can access a three-year trend of data in one place that otherwise would have to be accessed with several clicks of the mouse through different links online.

“It’s good for us (administrators) to be able to eyeball that three-year trend,” said Joy Goshert, director of instruction and curriculum for the Wawasee Community School Corp. She added the information is already known by administrators, but it is still a good communication tool for the public and allows them to more conveniently look at data.

The APR contains ISTEP+ results, enrollment figures, number of suspensions and expulsions, attendance rate and much more. It is a report required by IDOE.

As a corporation, Wawasee showed an increase in enrollment from 3,086 to 3,154 when comparing to 2013-14 to 2014-15. That is an increase of 68 students and reverses a trend of the enrollment decreasing. “It is nice to see, but will it be an upswing?” noted Goshert. “It’s only one year.”

She also noted she pays particular attention to the number of suspensions and expulsions. For example at Wawasee High School, the number of students suspended was at 94 in 2011-12, then 82 in 2012-13 and 58 in 2013-14. And the number of expulsions was at 11 in 2011-12, seven in 2012-13 and three in 2013-14. She commented this does not necessarily mean there are fewer students making poor decisions, but rather they have more options available to still earn credits.

Wawasee has a contract with The Crossing, an alternative school, and utilizes the sites at Ligonier and Nappanee. And students can also test and earn credits online at the Center for Academic Progress, the alternative school on the high school campus.

The attendance rate for Wawasee schools was at about 96 percent in 2013-14 for most schools, with the exception of the high school, which was at 95.3. This is pretty close to the state average of 96.1 percent.

Also of note, the high school had a 3.7 percent rate in 2013-14 for the number of students granted waivers for end of course assessments. Waivers can be granted to students who do not pass end of course assessments if they have shown they have the skills necessary through their course work during the school year. Wawasee’s rate is below the state average of 7.4 percent. “That (waiver rate) can have an impact on the graduation rate,” Goshert said.