Early education leaders--inside and outside of government--are looking for new ways to improve quality, accountability, and efficiency across many different programs serving young children and their families, and they see investment in data systems as a pivotal part of that effort. However, it can be challenging to develop and implement effective…

This guidebook provides an introduction to Instructional Improvement Systems (IIS) for State education agency (SEA) managers and program leads. Functional components of a theoretical IIS model are discussed and used as a reference point for the introduction a seven-step planning and implementation cycle designed to guide SEAs in the development of…

This document, "Book Three of Four: Effectively Managing LDS Data," is the third installment of this Forum series of guides on longitudinal data systems (LDS). This third book in the guide series discusses organizational issues aimed at moving the project forward and ensuring that the data are of high quality so that users may leverage…

This document is the first installment of this Forum (National Forum on Education Statistics) series of guides on longitudinal data systems (LDS). This book focuses on the fundamental questions of what an LDS is (and what it is not), what steps should be taken to achieve a sound system, what components make up an ideal system, and why such a…

This document is the fourth and final installment of this Forum series of guides on longitudinal data systems (LDS). One goal of the National Forum on Education Statistics (the Forum) is to improve the quality of education data gathered for use by policymakers and program decisionmakers. An approach to furthering this goal has been to pool the…

The content of this guide was derived from ongoing work of a working group on growth models coordinated and facilitated by the SLDS Grant Program's State Support Team. The Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS) Grant Program was asked by several states to review current growth models with the goal of determining the impact of different models…

Cities around the country are building systems that seek to make the most of public and private resources to provide widespread, high-quality, out-of-school time opportunities. Local officials are leading these efforts because participation in OST programs not only benefits young people but also the cities in which they live, with the potential to…

The American Institutes for Research (AIR) and Mathematica Policy Research (MPR) developed this guide to help you consider evaluation issues likely to arise as you launch ARRA-funded initiatives and other educational reform activities. Many states are already involved in evaluation, so many of the ideas presented here may be familiar. The authors…

In the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the immediate demand for data about displaced students overwhelmed many school districts that had gained or lost students because of the disasters. The scale of these crises and their effects on school operations and management were in many ways unprecedented. This guide reflects "lessons…

While states have made tremendous progress building the capacity to collect longitudinal data, developing the systems and practices to tap into P-20W data remains a nascent effort in most states. This primer aims to provide policymakers with information and recommendations to propel states' progress toward using P-20W data to prepare…

This document, "Book Two of Four: Planning and Developing an LDS", is the second installment of this Forum (National Forum on Education Statistics) series of guides on longitudinal data systems (LDS). This second book in the guide series delves into the planning, implementation, and evaluation phases of a longitudinal data system (LDS)…

Longitudinal cohort analysis is a powerful tool for helping colleges understand student performance. It involves tracking students as a group or cohort over a specified period of time. The results allow administrators, faculty, and staff to identify groups of students who are succeeding or falling behind and the points in the educational pipeline…

If you're serious about providing a level playing field for all, it is time to do more than identify and lament the reasons for educational disparities and why they persist. John Robert Browne II shows how Culturally Courageous Leadership by all school community stakeholders can help you achieve equitable learning opportunities and outcomes for…

This handbook has been designed as the national standard for state and local education agencies to use in tracking and reporting financial data for school districts to use in preparing their comprehensive annual financial reports (CAFRs). The purpose of the handbook is to ensure that education fiscal data can be reported in a comprehensive manner.…

The paper examines the use in special education of computerized data management systems (CDMS). CDMS are electronic report generators and databases that provide individualized records (Individual Education Plans or IEP) in a structured format. Examples of software functions and hardware required are cited. Three major sources of software for IEP…