Updates to Indiana GPS Enhance the Ability forFamilies to Find Schools that Best Meet their Needs

The Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) this week announced enhanced map features now available on Indiana Graduates Prepared to Succeed (Indiana GPS).

Indiana GPS is a performance dashboard providing a robust view of how Indiana students are building the necessary knowledge and skills in all grades and in all schools.

“Throughout the process of developing Indiana GPS, we have continued to make enhancements based on feedback from parents and educators. The goal is to provide data that is user-friendly and actionable in order to move the needle for students,” said Dr. Katie Jenner, Indiana Secretary of Education. “The newest features on Indiana GPS provide parents additional tools to locate schools that best meet their needs, while also allowing educators the ability to learn more from nearby schools about what is working to continue improving outcomes for their students.”

Enhancements include the ability to:

Create a custom geographical search area on the map.   In addition to being able to search by zip code, address, county or city, users can also plot their own search area, allowing for a more refined search based on their boundaries of interest. Input a route (i.e., from home to place of employment) and view schools along that route.  Users can input a start and end point and view schools along that designated route, as well as each school’s respective data. This helps families to consider both outcomes data as well as convenience when finding a school that best meets their needs.
View the location of a school from the school summary page.  If a user is on a school summary page, they will be able to select “View on Map,” which allows them to view the location of the school geographically and in relation to their home, place of employment, or current school, for example.
Refine search results to a specific radius.   Once a user has selected their search area on the map (either by zip code, address, county or city), they will be able to further filter or expand the results by changing the search radius. For example, educators or parents may only be interested in schools within a 10-mile radius. 

In addition to the enhancements listed above, users can now also download data from schools they have selected as “favorites” to a .CSV file. This allows users to easily save and access the data on their phone or computer for further comparison and analysis.

The development of Indiana GPS follows the enactment of House Enrolled Act 1514 in 2021, which directed IDOE and the Indiana State Board of Education to develop a school performance dashboard that promotes transparency and multiple student measures, including longitudinal measures. The dashboard officially launched in December 2022, one and a half years in advance of the statutorily-required July 1, 2024 date.

The development of this dashboard is an iterative process and will continue to be improved over time, with new data and features added. To explore the dashboard, visit indianagps.com.