When the COVID-19 pandemic drove schools online in March 2020, state education leaders were left without access to data needed to understand how best to support students. The pandemic revealed the strengths and limitations of state education data systems while inspiring new strategies for collecting, reporting and using data. In 2021, DataSmith…

The goal of the current study is to examine the impact of students' social economic status, ethnicity, and discipline infractions on their standardized test scores in Indiana, the USA. Data from this study extracted from Indiana Department of Education. ISTEP is a criterion-referenced standardized test. It consists of items that assess a student's…

Previous studies have shown that state performance funding policies do not increase baccalaureate degree production, but higher education scholarship lacks a rigorous, quantitative analysis of the unintended consequences of performance funding. In this article, we use difference-in-differences estimation with fixed effects to evaluate performance…

Demographics in the U.S. have changed dramatically over the last three decades. Indiana's demographics are changing, too--albeit less dramatically. To explore how demographic shifts are changing the composition of Indiana's schools, the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy (CEEP) uses Common Core of Data (CCD) school enrollment data from the…

Postsecondary education is a fundamental tool for achieving upward mobility and economic growth. Students with an associate's or bachelor's degree earn substantially more in a lifetime and experience better working conditions and job benefits than students with only a high school diploma. This study examines differences in public college…

This paper explores what happens to similar groups of children educated in different school districts. In this case, the "twins" in the study are groups of students who live in the same state in similar geographies and who share certain demographic characteristics. For this report, "twin districts" have very similar sizes and…

Elementary and secondary students can be impacted by a number of risk factors, all of which can have a negative influence on their academic success. To that end, the identification of risk factors is an important first step in closing achievement gaps. For example, clear evidence of an achievement gap can be found in Indiana's high school…

The proposed paper and presentation will detail the results of a full-day kindergarten (FDK)impact study in a Midwestern state. The evaluation explores the impact of FDK as compared to half-day kindergarten (HDK) by utilizing data from natural experiments occurring in districts across the state. The state in question passed legislation which…

Annually, ACT provides a snapshot of the college and career readiness of ACT-tested high school graduates. This report is offered as a service to inform policymakers and practitioners about selected indicators of effectiveness and how that translates into readiness. It is designed to stimulate discussion, inquiry, and action. This report for the…

The transition into high school is a critical point in the educational pipeline, and ninth-grade can be characterized as one of its leakiest junctures. This policy brief examines how some states and districts are currently easing the transition into high school for students. It focuses on five key challenges that states, districts and schools…