Open Letter to Minneapolis Public Schools Strategic Initiatives Executive Director Sarah Hunter and Research, Assessment, and Evaluation Director Kate Parkinson

The Irresponsible Lack of Data on the Minneapolis Public Schools Website for Data Report Card--- and the Lack of Updated Data for Public Data Dashboard--

November 11, 2024

Sarah & Kate--- 

As of 1:15 PM on this afternoon of 11 November 2024, the Minneapolis Public Schools Data Report Card is still not functional for the provision of Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment (MCA), Graduation, or Behavior & Discipline data, nor is the following message and link responsive  >>>>>

>>>>> 

If you have any questions about the data shown here, please contact our data visualization team at REATableauSupport@mpls.k12.mn.us.

<<<<< 

Bad enough has been the unavailability of any data at all on the Data Report Card site for September and October in this 2024-2025 academic year; even while the site is being updated during these months in most academic years, the prevailing data (extending from academic years ending in 2014 forward) has been available.

Further, the most recent data given for all manner of categories on the Public Data Dashboard is for the 2022-2023 academic year (academic year before last).

You must provide not just me but the public an explanation on the Minneapolis Public Schools website;  in a context in which much verbiage is spent with regard to such bromides as "transparency" and "accountability," the lack of ready availability for the data of reference is irresponsible in the extreme. 

Please respond to this email immediately.

If I do not get a response today, I am going to enter this as an open communication to the two of you on my blog, which has up to 50,000 readers each month, from the United States to Germany, Israel, Singapore, and many such international locations.  And I am increasingly likely to include this matter for discussion in the second edition of Understanding the Minneapolis Public Schools:  Current Condition, Future Prospect. 

With best regards-- 

Gary

Gary Marvin Davison, Ph.D.

Director, New Salem Educational Initiative

2507 Bryant Ave North

Minneapolis    MN     55411

http://www.newsalemeducation.blogspot.com

Author,

Understanding the Minneapolis Public Schools:  Current Condition, Future Prospect (New Salem Educational Initiative, second edition, 2024)

Foundations of an Excellent Liberal Arts Education (New Salem Educational Initiative, 2022)

A Concise History of African America (Seaburn, 2004)

The State of African Americans in Minnesota 2004 (Minneapolis Urban League, 2008)

The State of African Americans in Minnesota 2008 (Minneapolis Urban League, 2004) 

Tales from the Taiwanese (Libraries Unlimited, 2004)

A Short History of Taiwan:  The Case for Independence (Praeger, 2003)

Culture and Customs of Taiwan ([with Barbara E. Reed] (Greenwood, 1998)

A World History:  Links Across Time and Place ([with six other authors] (McDougal Littell, 1988)