How to Use the Commit Data Dashboard

In public education, there is no shortage of data available on enrollment, attendance, academic achievement, and college readiness. But translating government-issued spreadsheets into actionable insight for families, students, and voters is simply impossible for all but the most dedicated.

This is the situation the Commit Data Dashboard was created in order to address. Our analytics team has been engaged in an iterative process with district partners and state leaders to arrive a wealth of accessible information that could prove useful to parents, educators, and policymakers alike. And you don’t have to be a data analyst to use it. Here’s how:

• Visit www.commitpartnership.org/dashboard. Here, you can view public education data for the most critical areas in a student’s journey by different geographies: 
  • School districts (the default setting) 
  • Counties 
  • Texas House and Senate Districts
  • The state of Texas
• Select a category by clicking one of the five icons
• Select a specific district or county from the dropdown bar below them (not applicable for statewide data)  
• Now, you can see how student achievement in school and/or legislative district matches up to county/statewide averages across five key benchmarks: 
  • 3rd Grade Reading
  • Algebra I
  • High School Graduation
  • College Enrollment
  • College Completion
• All but the last metric are disaggregated for race and socioeconomic status.

Why were these benchmarks chosen?

Learn more about the significance of each of our academic benchmarks by visiting our Sources & Methodology page.

What else can I learn by exploring the dashboard?

So much! Beyond the initial tool found on the dashboard homepage, you can click on Dashboard Gallery to find a wide array of data visualizations that also use geographical categories and dropdown toolbars to arrive at personalized data sets. These tools are arranged in the following categories:

• Legislative Data
• Demographics
• Disparities in Access to Resources
• Hope Charts (exploring campuses and districts that are overcoming achievement gaps)
• Public School Locations

And be sure to check our blog, where we explore several of these maps and charts individually to further explore the important insights they contain.

How can I share / save what I’ve learned?

You can always feel free to share the link to our dashboard page, as well as any specific tools, on social media. Additionally, you can download information from the dashboard itself. Simply click the “Download” icon (see figure) in the bottom right hand corner of the tool and select your file format.  

From left: Download, Full Screen

File Formats: Image, Data (HTML), Crosstab (Spreadsheet), PDF, PowerPoint, Tableau Workbook

Can't Find the Data You're Looking for?

Commit is happy to help supply that information to you or point you in the right direction. Please fill out the data request form with as much detail as possible, and a Commit employee will follow up with you as soon as possible. 

Data Request Form

Have Feedback?

Is something not loading properly? Is the correct data not displaying? Have an idea on how to improve the site? 

Please let us know. We strive to continuously enhance our Data Dashboard, and your feedback can help make it happen. Please let us know your thoughts here.

Feedback Form

Having Trouble or Need Help?

Still having trouble? Feel like you need a tutorial on how to use the dashboard? Would you like to host or attend a dashboard presentation? Please contact Commit here.

Contact Commit

Additionally, you can send an email directly to our Data Dashboard curator Azzy at asenath.francis@commitpartnership.org. 

Thank you so much for your interest in using data to improve public schools and the lives of children across our state.