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Why Education Data?
What Is Student Data?
Who Uses Student Data?
Make Data Work for All Students
State Progress
Action Issues
Data Systems That Work
Education data systems only work when they provide information that students, parents, teachers, school leaders, and trusted school partners need to support student success. Data collected over time and across systems can be used to create tools and generate feedback to ensure those working closest to students have the information they need at the right time. These tools and feedback are vital to creating a culture of continuous improvement in schools. High school feedback reports provide educators and school leaders with information on how a class of high school graduates fares in postsecondary—information that can inform improvements to lesson plans and courses to better prepare future students for college. Early warning systems help educators identify students who are at risk of dropping out and need individual support from educators. Connections to data from other agencies that serve students, such as child welfare systems, help schools and educators better support students most in need of extra assistance by identifying their needs outside of the classroom. Without these linkages across states and systems, critical decisionmakers in students’ lives do not have the information they need to best support those students. Securely linking key data systems (like early childhood, K–12, postsecondary, and the…
Strong Teachers and Leaders
Strong teachers are the most important factor in a student’s academic success, and teachers are at their best when they have useful information about how their students are doing. Quality data on student performance, attendance, and other factors help teachers and school leaders support students. When combined with pedagogy, content knowledge, and professional judgment, this data can be used to improve outcomes for kids and answer critical questions like, “Which students in my class or school are on track to graduate in four years? Which may be falling through the cracks?” The programs that prepare teachers also have an important job in supporting student learning by giving aspiring teachers the best foundation possible. Preparation programs need data about how their graduates do in the classroom in order to improve for the next class of aspiring educators. In addition to using data themselves, preparation programs must teach aspiring teachers and school leaders the skills they need to use data to support student learning. Additionally, policymakers at all levels have an important role. They must use policies, resources, and supports to make sure that teachers and school leaders have access to the resources and training they need to use data in service of student…
Empowering Families and Communities
Families and communities are deeply invested in students’ success, and they need information to be empowered partners in a child’s education. Support systems outside of the classroom are crucial to ensuring that students arrive at school ready to learn and get connected with new opportunities that support learning and growth. When all of the adults in their lives are informed—and share a vision for their education journey—students excel. All parents should have a robust picture of their children’s successes and challenges, the educational options available to them, and how the school system is performing overall. They should also have a clear understanding of how student data is used and protected. And because data doesn’t always speak for itself, families deserve training and support to understand what they can do to help their children once they have this information. Communities have a rich set of supports—afterschool programs, college mentors, summer job programs—that bolster student learning and open up new pathways to higher education and the job market. To be effective, these need to be closely coordinated with families and schools. Only by sharing information can schools and communities match students with the additional supports they need, identify high-quality programs, and ensure…
Safeguarding Data
Student data is crucial for educators, families, and policymakers to help students excel. And safeguarding data — and building trust in how it is used—is an essential part of using data effectively to support student learning. Policymakers and education leaders must implement strong data privacy and security policies around this information (which includes transcripts, tests scores, attendance, demographics, progress over time, and more), while allowing data to be used for vital purposes—like personalizing the learning experience for every child. Everyone who uses student information is responsible for handling it in a legal, responsible, and ethical way. Policymakers need to communicate honestly with parents and other members of the public about the value of education data and how states and districts are protecting the data they collect. Parents, educators, and other members of the public should be able to find important information about the security and privacy of student information, such as: Why is data collected? Who collects it and for what purposes? How is data being used to help my student and my school? What policies and practices govern how data is collected, stored, shared, accessed, retained, and used? States play a critical role in developing, enforcing, and communicating policies…
Federal Policy
Federal policymakers have a significant role to play in ensuring that all students, regardless of their zip code, receive an education that enables them to reach their college and career goals. Federal policymakers must help develop the conditions, resources, and expertise needed to foster a culture that both values and uses data for continuous improvement and that empowers families, teachers, and education leaders in communities and statehouses with the high-quality data they need to make great decisions for students. Several federal laws and programs help support state and local innovation in effective, ethical data use. The nation’s primary K–12 education law, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), requires states to provide richer information on outcomes for all students, produce high-quality public reports, and rethink their accountability systems to provide transparency and value to the public. The Higher Education Act (HEA) can support state efforts to prepare their educators to use data in support of student learning, to provide meaningful information about teacher outcomes back to the program that trained them, and to enable data systems that provide educators, families, and policymakers the information they deserve while reducing burden on states. The federal government has an important role to play in…
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Why Education Data?
What Is Student Data?
Who Uses Student Data?
Make Data Work for All Students
State Progress
Action Issues
Data Systems That Work
Strong Teachers and Leaders
Empowering Families and Communities
Safeguarding Data
Federal Policy
Resources
Topic Guides
Who We Are
Team
Board Members
Partners
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Tomeka Hart Wigginton, Board Chair
Managing Director
Blue Meridian Partners
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Andrés Alonso
Former CEO
Baltimore City Public Schools
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José Luis Cruz
President
Northern Arizona University
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Cassandra Herring
President and CEO
Branch Alliance for Educator Diversity
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Tony Marshall
President
Innovative Systems Group
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Erika McConduit
Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion
Centene Corporation
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Morgan Polikoff
Associate Professor of Education
University of Southern California
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Stephen Pruitt
President
Southern Regional Education Board
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Sara Schapiro
Vice President, Education
PBS
Why Education Data?
What Is Student Data?
Who Uses Student Data?
Make Data Work for All Students
State Progress
Action Issues
Data Systems That Work
Education data systems only work when they provide information that students, parents, teachers, school leaders, and trusted school partners need to support student success. Data collected over time and across systems can be used to create tools and generate feedback to ensure those working closest to students have the information they need at the right time. These tools and feedback are vital to creating a culture of continuous improvement in schools. High school feedback reports provide educators and school leaders with information on how a class of high school graduates fares in postsecondary—information that can inform improvements to lesson plans and courses to better prepare future students for college. Early warning systems help educators identify students who are at risk of dropping out and need individual support from educators. Connections to data from other agencies that serve students, such as child welfare systems, help schools and educators better support students most in need of extra assistance by identifying their needs outside of the classroom. Without these linkages across states and systems, critical decisionmakers in students’ lives do not have the information they need to best support those students. Securely linking key data systems (like early childhood, K–12, postsecondary, and the…
Strong Teachers and Leaders
Strong teachers are the most important factor in a student’s academic success, and teachers are at their best when they have useful information about how their students are doing. Quality data on student performance, attendance, and other factors help teachers and school leaders support students. When combined with pedagogy, content knowledge, and professional judgment, this data can be used to improve outcomes for kids and answer critical questions like, “Which students in my class or school are on track to graduate in four years? Which may be falling through the cracks?” The programs that prepare teachers also have an important job in supporting student learning by giving aspiring teachers the best foundation possible. Preparation programs need data about how their graduates do in the classroom in order to improve for the next class of aspiring educators. In addition to using data themselves, preparation programs must teach aspiring teachers and school leaders the skills they need to use data to support student learning. Additionally, policymakers at all levels have an important role. They must use policies, resources, and supports to make sure that teachers and school leaders have access to the resources and training they need to use data in service of student…
Empowering Families and Communities
Families and communities are deeply invested in students’ success, and they need information to be empowered partners in a child’s education. Support systems outside of the classroom are crucial to ensuring that students arrive at school ready to learn and get connected with new opportunities that support learning and growth. When all of the adults in their lives are informed—and share a vision for their education journey—students excel. All parents should have a robust picture of their children’s successes and challenges, the educational options available to them, and how the school system is performing overall. They should also have a clear understanding of how student data is used and protected. And because data doesn’t always speak for itself, families deserve training and support to understand what they can do to help their children once they have this information. Communities have a rich set of supports—afterschool programs, college mentors, summer job programs—that bolster student learning and open up new pathways to higher education and the job market. To be effective, these need to be closely coordinated with families and schools. Only by sharing information can schools and communities match students with the additional supports they need, identify high-quality programs, and ensure…
Safeguarding Data
Student data is crucial for educators, families, and policymakers to help students excel. And safeguarding data — and building trust in how it is used—is an essential part of using data effectively to support student learning. Policymakers and education leaders must implement strong data privacy and security policies around this information (which includes transcripts, tests scores, attendance, demographics, progress over time, and more), while allowing data to be used for vital purposes—like personalizing the learning experience for every child. Everyone who uses student information is responsible for handling it in a legal, responsible, and ethical way. Policymakers need to communicate honestly with parents and other members of the public about the value of education data and how states and districts are protecting the data they collect. Parents, educators, and other members of the public should be able to find important information about the security and privacy of student information, such as: Why is data collected? Who collects it and for what purposes? How is data being used to help my student and my school? What policies and practices govern how data is collected, stored, shared, accessed, retained, and used? States play a critical role in developing, enforcing, and communicating policies…
Federal Policy
Federal policymakers have a significant role to play in ensuring that all students, regardless of their zip code, receive an education that enables them to reach their college and career goals. Federal policymakers must help develop the conditions, resources, and expertise needed to foster a culture that both values and uses data for continuous improvement and that empowers families, teachers, and education leaders in communities and statehouses with the high-quality data they need to make great decisions for students. Several federal laws and programs help support state and local innovation in effective, ethical data use. The nation’s primary K–12 education law, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), requires states to provide richer information on outcomes for all students, produce high-quality public reports, and rethink their accountability systems to provide transparency and value to the public. The Higher Education Act (HEA) can support state efforts to prepare their educators to use data in support of student learning, to provide meaningful information about teacher outcomes back to the program that trained them, and to enable data systems that provide educators, families, and policymakers the information they deserve while reducing burden on states. The federal government has an important role to play in…
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