If our destination is improved student achievement, we cannot get there without valuing and effectively using data in education. Central to reaching this goal is building trust among all those who have a stake in education that individual student data, such as attendance, course taking, grades, and test scores, are being collected for meaningful…

Schools use data for different purposes, which have different degrees of impact on a student's educational experience: administrative, instructional, assessment and measurement, and optional/noneducational. To the extent feasible, parental choice policies should be structured according to the use of the data in question. Parents should have more…

High education expectations--and the tools to ensure that they are being met--empower educators, students, parents, and policymakers to support student learning and make the best decisions to improve education. Most states have voluntarily adopted the Common Core State Standards to serve as their education expectations. To consistently and…

Policymakers need information about the schools in their state. What programs are the most cost effective and work best for students? How can states attract and retain great teachers? What information do parents need to ensure that their kids are on track to graduate? For answers to questions like these, policymakers need high-quality data.…

District and state data systems are constructed to ensure that individuals can access only the data that are appropriate for their role. Still, questions from the public about how these data systems work and how student privacy is protected have been increasing. A recurring concern is the feared existence of a "permanent record"--a…

Teachers need longitudinal student-level data, such as attendance history, course-taking patterns, grades, and test scores, to tailor instruction to individual students' strengths and weaknesses. This factsheet uses the findings from the "Data for Action 2013" analysis to discuss how states can provide teachers with student-level…

Many states collect data on students and teachers, but linking teachers to students by course--the teacher-student data link (TSDL)--at the state level is critical to understanding the connection between student academic growth and teacher training, qualifications, and practice. This roadmap discusses the six key areas DQC recommends focusing on…

Most personal student information stays local. Districts, states, and the federal government all collect data about students for important purposes like informing instruction and providing information to the public. But the type of data collected, and who can access them, is different at each point. This graphic shows how student data--from…

State licensure polices are meant to provide teacher preparation programs with direction about the skills teachers need to be qualified to teach, including skills to use data. This roadmap discusses the 10 key data use skills that states can include in a licensure policy with a quality focus on effective data use.

Early warning systems combine multiple data points, translate them into predictive indicators that are based on research, and proactively communicate them to stakeholders, so they can examine which students are or are not on track for postsecondary success and intervene accordingly. Early warning reports provide the student-level information…

Data are more than just test scores, and by effectively accessing and using different types of data--such as attendance, grades, and course-taking--teachers, parents, and school and district leaders can help ensure that every student is on a path for success every day, not just at the end of the school year. The 10 State Actions to Ensure…

This publication provides an overview of the current federal opportunities to help states advance their data-related activities. Although not exhaustive, this list provides a starting point for federal policymakers to support states' work in this area.

This paper presents a checklist that serves as a guide to the key considerations policymakers must address as they develop policies to improve teacher effectiveness. It articulates state roles and responsibilities, national progress toward fulfilling these demands, and the ability to chart how individual states stack up. The "National Landscape"…

As the demand for college graduates increases, it is critical (from both supply and demand perspectives) that students choose the postsecondary option that best meets their needs. Improved college readiness is an important first step to better informed choices about college. Parents and students need access to easy-to-understand data to make the…

The reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) provides an opportunity to transform how data are used in education. The 2002 ESEA requirement to disaggregate data and provide them to the public has made it possible to have greater transparency and more accurate measures of academic performance than ever. Congress now has…