States Make Progress On Linking k-12 Data To College Success

A new analysis from the Data Quality Campaign (DQC) finds that states could empower stakeholders to make education decisions with data, but haven’t yet. Every state now has capacity to empower all stakeholders to use data to inform decisions that will improve student outcomes and system performance, including robust longitudinal data that extend beyond test scores. Thirty-six states provide information on students’ past performance that could allow teachers, parents, and students to make informed decisions about individual students. Thirty-three states produce reports that measure growth of individual students over time, and 30 states aggregate this information — 23 of which make this aggregated information publicly available. In 2011, DCQ found that states are better positioned to inform policy discussions that promote readiness for kindergarten and college than for careers.  States have built longitudinal data systems and established governance bodies, but these bodies have not yet tackled the full scope of what DQC characterizes as issues of “turf, trust, technical issues, and time.” The analysis credits states with tremendous progress, but says the hardest work remains: “The stakes have never been higher as policymakers and educators are asked to deliver all students a world-class education with fewer resources. The education sector will never reach this goal without effective data use and the political leadership to get us there.”
See the report: http://dataqualitycampaign.org/resources/details/1471 via PEN.

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