State, District and School Performance Data

A number of Web-based resources offer state-, district-, and school-level data. This performance information will help you determine how your community stacks up in terms of education performance. You can use these data to highlight the need for action and to shape targeted strategies for improvement at the local, state and national levels.

Achieve State Profiles
Achieve has created a PowerPoint presentation for each state, identifying key indicators for each state's education system with a particular focus on how prepared students are for college and work. These presentations highlight, for example, how many 9th-graders are graduating from high school on time, how many are enrolling immediately in college and how many are earning college degrees in each state. Achieve also summarizes state action plans to address cracks in the education pipeline and areas where there is still work to be done.

Diplomas Count
Based on research conducted by the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center and published by Education Week newspaper, Diplomas Count is an annual report comparing the graduation rates of the 50 states, Washington, D.C. and the nation's 50 largest school districts. The EPE Research Center has created a new online mapping service, allowing you to zoom in on individual school districts and create a special report for that district, including comparisons with state and national figures.

Education Needs Index
The Education Needs Index is a county-level study of education, economic and population pressures that influence education policy and planning. It is compiled and administered by the University of Tennessee. The index uses an econometric model that assesses education, economic and market conditions and trends for all 3,140 U.S. counties (or their equivalents), allowing you to make comparisons across a variety of indicators, including education attainment, unemployment rates, the earnings capacity of residents and disaggregated population trends and projections. There is a corresponding report for each state analyzing its index rating, putting in a national context, and highlighting geographic areas where policy interventions are most critical.

GreatSchools.net
GreatSchools.net is a Web-based resource that provides parent-friendly profiles for more than 120,000 schools nationwide. This site offers information on each school's standardized test performance, teacher statistics and student composition and provides parents and other community members with the opportunity to write reviews of their schools. GreatSchools also lets users compare schools based on selected indicators.

 School Data Direct
School Data Direct is a Web-based resource, presenting state-, district- and school-level data in order to empower, engage and educate parents, policymakers and business and community leaders on the major issues in education reform. This site offers information on a wide variety of indicators for the nation's public schools, including standardized test performance (on both achievement tests and college entrance exams), student and teacher composition, graduation rates and per pupil expenditures. You can find local schools by zip code, make comparisons across states, sort the comparisons by any available indicators and create unique data tables based on these comparisons.

Quality Counts
Quality Counts, published annually by Education Week newspaper, is a state-by-state analysis and report card of state efforts to improve public education. You can compare state performance and policy data on a host of indicators, including student achievement, standards and accountability, efforts to improve teacher quality, school climate, state resources (based on spending and equity) and testing policies.