Auburn Hills, Mich. – April 17, 2018 – Munetrix, a public sector solutions provider offering data management, analytics and reporting tools for states, local governments and public school districts, has released its new Munetrix Educator Evaluator tool to simplify customer compliance with Michigan Public Act 173, which governs educator evaluations for teachers and administrators in the State of Michigan. The announcement was made by Munetrix President Bob Kittle.
Signed into law in 2015, PA 173 requires that educator evaluations be conducted annually, and that they incorporate student growth data as a significant component, beginning with 25% of the evaluation in the 2015-2016 school year and growing to 40% in 2018-2019. Teachers and administrators with three consecutive years of highly effective ratings may receive biennial reviews in place of annual reviews, making the 2018-2019 results particularly critical.
The Munetrix Educator Evaluator tool was introduced to simplify the onerous task of manipulating data from multiple sources while performing teacher evaluations in the 2018-2019 school year. The Munetrix Educator Evaluator is foundationally based on the Michigan Department of Education’s model. Integrated into the Munetrix platform using the company’s data science expertise, the tool also allows school administrators to load their own data and immediately obtain results.
Without the tool, teachers will have to spend hours performing yet another reporting requirement that takes time away from the classroom. Based on recent reports on student growth declines in Michigan, school districts cannot afford to spend time doing this manually.
The Munetrix Educator Evaluator can be used for any assessment data that provides Student Growth Percentiles (SGP), making it easy for users to calculate teacher evaluations with data from NWEA, STAR and M-STEP. Fiscal year 2018-1019 will mark the first time that M-STEP data can be evaluated for the required three consecutive years, so the release of the tool is timely.
“Our customers trust the integrity of the Munetrix web-based platform to help them meet important state compliance requirements, in addition to serving as a fiscal wellness indicator and strategic planning and data analytics tool,” Kittle said. “The Munetrix Educator Evaluator is another example of Munetrix bringing additional value to school districts in anticipation of future needs. Munetrix allows districts to meet data driven state mandates in a comprehensive, timely and cost-effective manner.”
Since its founding in 2010, Munetrix has continued to build its reputation among government and school district leaders. Munetrix is one of only two approved vendors prequalified by the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget to provide data analytics tools for reimbursement to both Michigan public school districts and cities and is the only resource provider that generates a fiscal wellness measure. In 2016, the company received “Readers’ Choice Top Products” recognition for the second consecutive year from K-12 leaders’ education trade publication, District Administration. Munetrix has also been named a GovTech100 company for three consecutive years, an annual index by Government Technology magazine that highlights the top 100 companies in the country serving government in unique, innovative and effective ways.
