Orgametrics CEO Art Johnson (l) presents Superintendent Tom Ahart and CFO Shashank Aurora with the first Orgametrics Award.
Orgametrics works with large organizations, both public and private, to help them be more effective in aligning their work with their mission, vision and goals. Des Moines Public Schools has been working with Orgametrics over the past few years to implement measures to make sure the district is staying focused on its goals, including work around important issues such as student engagement and absenteeism.
This year the inaugural Orgametrics Award was launched, and DMPS is its first recipient. Below is the announcement from Orgametrics on why they chose to honor DMPS, one more example of our efforts to become the model for urban education.
Orgametrics® Award – Des Moines Public Schools For their ongoing use of alignment metrics to improve district performance in three key areas of focus.
Leader: Dr. Tom Ahart, Superintendent
Dr. Thomas Ahart became Superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools on March 12, 2013. He was appointed interim Superintendent on May 15, 2012 and Associate Superintendent of the school district on July 1, 2011. Prior to that, he served as principal in the district for three years.
Having experience in education and within the district he is leading has been a great advantage. Dr. Ahart knows what is happening in and around his district. So much so, that he has been able to leverage the internal systems to gain more insights that most.
The Orgametrics® survey was deployed in Des Moines Public Schools for the first time, back in 2016. (August 2016) Dr. Ahart was able to bring his team together and establish priorities based on their strengths and areas of need. The data was a way to show them the difference and provided support material to help all leaders at the district, building and even classroom level.
Dr. Ahart was able to take this a step further. The team was able to not only see areas of Alignment, but we did analysis to show correlation between Orgametrics® data and other data that they used to measure their performance as a district. They have teacher data, student data and other leader-provided data as well as metrics from the state. We found that the data is correlated. Specifically, Student Engagement, Student Hopefulness and Chronic Absenteeism. We even saw correlation between the building proficiency levels and overall Alignment scores.
This allows the leadership team to measure their performance and take specific action based on the results they are looking for. It also allows them to communicate to everyone in the district, from the school board to families in the community, what they are doing to make Des Moines Public Schools stronger in all areas. They can share progress and inspire everyone in the district to bring their best with common goals in mind and now, within reach.
