DelawareFocus Initiative Could Impact Education

Last week, the Delaware Community Foundation (DCF) launched a new community engagement initiative called DelawareFocus—a comprehensive statewide data indicator project that aims to help the community develop a data-driven, statewide civic agenda and align actions and resources. The keystone of this initiative is the website DelawareFocus.org, the project’s hub and central source of data. DelawareFocus.org features data and analyses of 71 key community indicators, ranging from quality of life to education.

Big picture, DelawareFocus is one more example of work underway to engage the public and develop solutions to improve the wellbeing of Delawareans, in education and beyond. Last month the Vision Coalition of Delaware launched Student Success 2025—a vision for education that prepares every Delaware child for a lifetime of success. The plan was developed through public collaboration and extensive state-wide engagement of community, student, business, nonprofit, and government stakeholders.

These initiatives could be aligned to support each other. Issues like child poverty, student health, and community safety affect whether students arrive at school prepared to succeed academically. Reciprocally, education benefits both individuals and society. The success of Delaware students is tied to the wellbeing of Delawareans at large as education can lead to better job opportunities, greater civic engagement, and healthier lifestyles.

The challenge moving forward is answering two questions: “So what?” and “Now what?” Now that we have data indicators on education and other issues, how do we interpret the data (“So what?”) and develop a plan of action (“Now what?”). Delaware education stakeholders will have an opportunity to engage in deeper conversations and attempt to answer those questions later this week at the Eighth Annual Conference on Education: Moving Education in Delaware Forward.

It’s not too late to join the conversation, and registration will be available on-site. The conference begins Wednesday at 7:45 a.m. from the University of Delaware’s Clayton Hall in Newark, and goes until 2:00 p.m.

Click here to see the conference agenda and learn more.