With accurate information, educators are better able to make effective decisions. Besides being used to assess student performance, a complete program of data collection and use can also show educators how management skills, individual learning styles, and other elements affect student achievement. This digest provides an overview of how…

Educational indicators are statistical input/output measures providing information on the health of the educational system. This report for the consideration of the Council of Chief State School Officers characterizes the current state of educational indicators as in "shambles." It proposes a three phase framework for developing a sensitive and…

This report addresses issues concerned with reporting educational results for students with disabilities, identifies principles to guide reporting practices, and offers recommendations. The report notes that there are many purposes for reporting and that reporting information on students with disabilities is important because it ensures that they…

Using a system that monitors just the process of education does not guarantee positive student outcomes. What education needs is a consistent set of accountability procedures for all students. As educators take steps toward a new and inclusive accountability system, they need to look at: (1) possible alternative approaches to accountability; (2)…

This report examines issues concerning the participation of students with disabilities in state and district assessments and offers principles and recommendations for increasing their participation. This report suggests that 85 percent of students with disabilities could participate either in the regular assessments or by using accommodations and…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has been collecting data on student achievement since 1969. It currently maintains three different assessments: long-term trends, cross-sectional national, and cross-sectional state-by-state data. Although the data are available to researchers outside the Federal Government, limited use has…

This issue looks at the different ways in which British providers of postsecondary education can weigh the quality of their provision to inform and shape improvements. The articles aim to provide a feel for current practice in internal evaluation to improve quality and to get providers thinking about some ways in which they can collect and use…

This issue presents two articles on the use of data to improve results for students with disabilities. The first paper examines how researchers supported by the Office of Special Education Programs are discovering innovative uses of scientifically derived information in instructional and administrative decision making as well as strategies for…