To document their progress, many schools routinely collect statistics on the following “common measures” (compiled by Harvard University doctoral candidate Molly Schen). When Essential schools join in doing so, they make possible useful comparisons to larger databases. 

Who are we?
– Number of students
– Percentage of students of different races and ethnicities
– Percentage of students eligible for free or reduced lunch
– Socioeconomic status of the community
– Number of teachers
– Teachers’ years of experience

What are we doing?
– Teacher-student ratio
– Per-pupil expenditure
– Dollars expended on professional develop ment
– In-grade retentions
– Number of library books
– Number of minutes in school day
– Graduation requirements

How are we doing?
– Achievement test scores in reading, writing, and mathematics
– Average daily atten dance (for students and for teachers)
– Disciplinary referrals, suspensions, tardies Urbana-Champaign
– Average SAT/ACT scores, percentage of students taking them
– Four-year graduation rate, percentage of school completers
– Annual dropout rate
– College admissions rate