City Connects matches students with out-of-school resources to provide opportunities that build on their strengths and address the challenges they face. By collecting and assessing the data on students’ strengths and needs, we can support young people as individuals and uncover the collective needs of students in any given classroom or school. If, for example, a teacher discovers several students in a class are interested in theater, they could start a drama club. Or if a principal sees many students are in need of eye exams, they could arrange a visit from a mobile vision clinic.
What if communities could do this on a grander scale? What if they could see the needs and interests of children across a whole city?
The City of Indianapolis is making this idea a reality. Yesterday, they launched ConnectIndy, a new data dashboard that showcases City Connects data from nearly 30 Indianapolis schools. The data—which can be viewed at the school-level, neighborhood-level, or city-level—is based on City Connects’ personalized student support plans and tracks students’ top strengths, needs, and interests, services received by students, and barriers to services. The dashboard also features a city-wide resource map.
A look at the dashboard shows that the top interests of students across the city are video games, cooking, and art and that students need the most support in reading, writing, and math. The dashboard also highlights that some of the most common barriers to receiving services are insurance coverage, transportation, and the need for a translator.
Communities can use this information to better serve students and their families. This could lead to investments in programs that ignite the interests of young people—like art programs or field trips to an art museum, for example. It could help the community choose critical areas for investment, like providing transportation or translators to support access to services. Leaders supporting this project see endless possibilities for how the dashboard can be used.
“The goal of ConnectIndy is to show what matters most to our students, schools, and communities,” said Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett. “From cooking classes and robotics clubs to reading and math support, our young people have a wide range of interests and needs that can be met through local partnerships with nonprofits and businesses. With the dashboard, these partnerships will be more effective by targeting already-identified needs and interests.”
This dashboard is the culmination of a collaboration between the City of Indianapolis’ Office of Education Innovation, the Mary E. Walsh Center for Thriving Children, and Marian University’s Center for Vibrant Schools.
“ConnectIndy is an innovative new way to leverage City Connects data for the collective good of students across a city. It’s exciting to consider all the ways this dashboard could benefit young people in Indianapolis, from helping policymakers to hone in on the most critical needs of the city to targeting philanthropic support for community agencies,” said Dr. Mary Walsh, Executive Director of City Connects. “This dashboard is the first of its kind, and we look forward to learning about its impacts and seeing if this model is one that should spread to more cities and towns across the nation and beyond.”
The Center for Thriving Children partnered with the Center for Vibrant Schools to bring City Connects to Indiana in 2021. They support about 60 schools implementing City Connects, impacting nearly 25,000 students throughout the state.
“Students should be able to attend school and focus on learning, making friends, and exploring their interests,” said Kenith Britt, Ph.D., chancellor and chief operating officer of Marian University. “Unfortunately, too many are dealing with issues like their parents getting divorced, how they will get to school, or where their next meal will come from. City Connects identifies these challenges and connects students and families to resources. ConnectIndy will shine a light on the great work happening in our schools and provide opportunities for the community to better support students.”
Check out the new data dashboard at connectindy.org.
