WASHINGTON—March 27, 2014—The Data Quality Campaign (DQC) awarded two additional state and local leaders as part its 2014 Recognition Program Awards. These education leaders have demonstrated a focus on using education data (which include student attendance, demographics, and college-readiness scores) at all levels to support families and educators in their efforts to improve student achievement.
“State departments of education and advocacy organizations play a unique role in making sure that the right people have the right information to ensure our young people graduate from high school prepared for college and careers,” said Aimee Rogstad Guidera, executive director of the Data Quality Campaign.
State Data Leader: Chris Woolard, Director of Accountability, Ohio Department of Education
Woolard received DQC’s 2014 State Data Leader Award for his work to ensure that Ohio educators have easy access to timely, relevant student data, as well as training in how to appropriately and meaningfully use those data to improve results for students.
Ohio has become a leader in the nation in providing educators access to longitudinal student-level data, due in large part to Woolard’s focus on quality implementation of data systems and constant communication for continuous improvement. Woolard is currently an Agency Fellow for the Strategic Data Project at the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University and his peers across the country look to him for guidance on how to create data tools that meet the needs of educators. Woolard and his team at the Ohio Department of Education have provided teachers with data tools in the form of dashboards that allow teachers to view student performance data, growth data, and more. These data help teachers identify students that may need additional resources—to better meet the unique needs of every student.
Advocacy Organization: The State Collaborative on Reforming Education
The State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE), an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy and research institution founded by former US Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, received the inaugural 2014 Advocacy Organization Award for using data as one of four pillars to their advocacy. SCORE’s work promoting effective education data use across the state has contributed to a culture at state, district, and classroom levels that prioritizes using data to improve student achievement.
The organization’s annual SCORE Prize is a celebration of what is possible in education in Tennessee—and data are a foundational piece of the SCORE Prize. The organization uses state student achievement and growth data, as well as other data about school populations, location, and more, to select finalists for its annual accolades.
Contact: Dakarai Aarons, daarons@dataqualitycampaign.org, 202-997-6519
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