Maximizing Data-Driven Decision Making in Education

Business leaders understand the importance of having detailed, accessible, real-time data to help inform decisions, allocate resources and assess results. In recent years, there has been a major culture change surrounding accountability and education data at the state level. States have begun to publicly report and disaggregate student achievement and attainment data by race and income level for groups of students in each grade from 3-8 and high school. These data are intended to inform the public and the education community about the quality of teaching and learning and the performance of the education system as a whole – and spur action when interventions are needed. Most schools and districts are not accustomed yet to having access to and using real-time data to make decisions on student learning.

Still, the majority of states do not yet have the capacity to follow an individual student’s progress over time. Too many states still rely on “snapshots” of student performance and measure academic growth by comparing one year’s eighth grade class to the next rather than measuring that eighth grade class against their own progress when they enter ninth grade. At this time:
 

• Only nine states currently have P-20 longitudinal data systems in place that can track individual students' progress from preschool through college graduation and match student level records regularly
• Only five states have the capacity to identify the achievement levels in middle school that indicate if a student is prepared for rigorous courses in high school
• Only four states can use their data systems to determine which high school performance indicators, such as enrollment in rigorous courses or performance on state tests, are the best predictors of students' success in college or the workplace

The good news is that almost every state plans to create a P-20 data system, either by linking existing P-12 and postsecondary systems or by developing new systems from scratch. What is needed to make these plans a reality in many cases is leadership, the political will to work across education systems, funding for development and implementation, and technical expertise. Business leaders have a unique vantage point from which to offer guidance and support to educators and school administrators on how to use data to improve student achievement. Corporate America can help change the culture in education around data and help educators embrace data as an invaluable tool in their daily efforts to help students achieve.

Keep reading to get facts and data about the magnitude of the current challenge – and learn what schools, states and companies can do to address the challenge.