The state of Hawaiʻi received the 2017 Frank Newman Award for improvements in public education by the Education Commission of the States, a national organization that advocates for education. Hawaiʻi was recognized for numerous initiatives including focusing school accountability on students’ college and career readiness, supporting teachers and education leaders, developing a comprehensive longitudinal data system and investing in data literacy.
“Hawaiʻi worked diligently to positively change the landscape of education in the state and dramatically improved and enhanced the structure of education in its schools, as well as outcomes for its students,” said Jeremy Anderson, president of Education Commission of the States.
The partnership between the University of Hawaiʻi and Hawaiʻi State Department of Education (HIDOE) was key to many of the accomplishments noted in award. The development of the statewide longitudinal data system, coordinated by the Hawaiʻi Data eXchange Partnership (DXP), a division of Hawaiʻi P–20 Partnerships for Education, has been instrumental in providing the data used in HIDOE’s accountability system, including the data reported in the annual College and Career Readiness Indicators Reports, which measure key indicators of student readiness for college and careers including college enrollment rates, earning college credits before graduation, Advanced Placement participation and completion of career pathways.
Hawaiʻi DXP’s reporting has also led to policy changes that have reduced remediation rates at UH. This work, along with many other initiatives led by Hawaiʻi P–20, aligns to Hawaiʻi’s statewide education goal, 55 by ’25, which is to have 55 percent of working age adults hold a 2- or 4-year college degree by the year 2025.
