The Challenge: Improving the Quality, Accessibility and Use of Education Data

For decades, federal, state and local entities have mandated that schools collect information on school expenditures and other inputs. Only in the last 15 to 20 years of the “standards movement” have states reported academic achievement data broadly to the public. Yet too many states remain data rich but information poor.

Most states have built their data systems around accountability reporting requirements, focusing on test data collected at a single point in time, rather than longitudinal data that may be used to track and help individual students achieve at high levels and meet key benchmarks along the education pipeline, including graduating from high school and enrolling and succeeding in college. Educators at the local level also recognize the value of better information as an essential tool for improving schools, but too often lack quality, real-time data system with multiple measures, along with the technical know-how to leverage necessary data.

Building Better Statewide Data Systems

To take full advantage of the power of data, states need systems that can exchange information within and across P-12 and postsecondary and employment systems and within and across districts and states. This will allow states to continue monitoring achievement as students move through the education pipeline and beyond. P-20 longitudinal data systems provide districts and states with the opportunity to analyze the impact of a host of education inputs – such as curriculum, course-taking, remediation, teacher experience and effectiveness – on student achievement. With this type of system, states can:

• Follow students' academic progress as they move from grade to grade;
• Determine the value-added and effectiveness of specific schools and programs
• Identify consistently higher-performing schools so that educators and the public can learn from best practices
• Evaluate the effect of teacher preparation and training programs on student achievement
• Identify students' readiness for high school, college and the workplace

Developing a robust and accessible P-20 longitudinal data system requires a major commitment of time, money and technical expertise from states and districts. According to the Data Quality Campaign, a national partnership aimed at having longitudinal data systems in place in every state by 2009, only one state, Florida, has incorporated all ten of the essential elements they have identified as necessary for state data systems. While many states are making progress in developing comprehensive longitudinal data systems, it is imperative that states receive external support and expertise to ensure the systems are built intelligently and efficiently.

Using Data for Improvement in Classrooms and Schools

Just as business leaders use data to inform future investments and strategic plans, educators can benefit from quality education data to make decisions about instruction, curriculum, assessments and assistance for struggling students. When states collect relevant data and match individual student’s records over time, they can begin to change practices systemically. Access to these data gives teachers the information they need to tailor instruction to help each student improve; gives administrators the resources and information to effectively and efficiently manage; and enables policymakers to evaluate which policy initiatives show the best evidence of increasing student achievement.