Sioux Falls School District

Building specialized schools: Based on research findings that students excel in more specialized school settings, the district has created three computer science immersion elementary schools, a Career and Technical Education Academy, and a New Tech High.

Creating meaningful professional development opportunities: There are professional development teams at every school site, supported by 34 instructional coaches who leverage Swivl technology, which provides meaningful opportunities for classroom observation and online collaboration.

Prioritizing data-driven decisions:  The district is committed to monitoring progress, student growth, school culture, and teacher and leader engagement through multiple measures, including Smarter Balanced Assessment, AP Scores, ACT Scores, LexiaCore5 Intervention Scores, NWEA Measurement of Academic Progress, and district-created assessments that track interim progress and annual goals. In addition to achievement metrics, the district analyzes student and staff engagement and school environment metrics through the Gallup Poll Engagement tool and a district climate/safety survey.