"Pathways to Implementation" highlights innovative strategies and effective models in career pathways policy, implementation, and programming, as well as challenges states encounter in this work. This seven-part series addresses the key elements of Bellwether's framework for career pathways policy implementation. Each brief defines the…

In the 2023 report "Colorado's Longitudinal Data Landscape. Report to the Education Committees of the Colorado House of Representatives and the Colorado Senate. Statute: 23-1-141," the Colorado Department of Higher Education (CDHE) provided a detailed overview of Colorado's long history of efforts to support more connected, longitudinal…

While there are many different types of education data, policymakers and education leaders often place heavy emphasis on data from large-scale quantitative measures, such as annual state assessments. But data from these sources alone do not provide a complete picture of learning and are often not well suited to informing improvements at the local…

"Using Education Indicators: A Forum Guide for State and Local Education Agencies" was developed to provide timely and useful information on education indicators, how their collection and use have changed over time, and how agencies use them strategically. Since the publication of the 2005 document "Forum Guide to Education…

This guide is designed for use by school, district, and state education agency staff to improve the effectiveness of efforts to collect and use discipline data, including reporting accurate and timely data to the federal government. It explains the importance of collecting discipline data, identifies key considerations for agencies implementing…

Education can be transformed if we eradicate our fixation on big data like standardized test scores as the supreme measure of equity and learning. Instead of the focus being on "fixing" and "filling" academic gaps, we must envision and rebuild the system from the "student" up--with classrooms, schools and systems…

State legislators have the opportunity to create and support legislation that positions data as a tool to help decisionmakers at all levels take action to support student success. This checklist can serve as a guide to crafting legislation that addresses education data. It applies specifically to education data legislation which includes bills…

Each year, state legislators craft new policies that drive data use across their states, and as part of a comprehensive review of state education data legislation, the Data Quality Campaign (DQC) keeps track. In 2022, state legislators introduced 131 bills in 35 states--42 of which became law in 17 states-- that would govern the use of data along…

State policymakers are confronting well-documented intersecting crises -- medical, economic, and racial -- with especially dire implications for educational equity. State education leaders face a moral urgency to both understand and respond to the challenges students are experiencing and to do so in ways that address burgeoning equity gaps.…

In spring 2020, nearly all school districts across the nation transitioned to virtual education during extended school closures caused by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. K-12 education agencies pivoted to virtual education in a short amount of time with limited options available for developing a virtual education program. This…

The overwhelming majority of families rely on public education for a foothold in the American Dream, making it perhaps the most consequential expression of America's core value of opportunity for all. State policymakers are the constitutional stewards and primary funders of America's public schools. They have the awesome responsibility of guiding…

Over the last decade, state efforts to build stronger data infrastructure and integrate data about early childhood services have continued to grow. A stronger data infrastructure supports states in more easily linking data across programs, which in turn makes it easier to analyze and use that data to answer important policy questions. An Early…

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress enacted several programs that provided federal funds specifically to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus in elementary and secondary education, or provided funds that could be used for that purpose. These programs include the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund,…

"Fostering Youth Transitions 2023: State and National Data to Drive Foster Care Advocacy" is a unique compilation of data designed to inform federal and state policy efforts aimed at making a difference for young people in foster care. This overview brief and detailed profiles of the latest available data from all 50 states, along with…

There is a broad impetus across policy and institutional domains to expand public engagement and involvement with emerging technology research and innovation. Yet innovative theory, methods, and practices to critically explore algorithmic system controversies and democratic possibilities are still in nascent form. In this paper, we bring together…