State law requires that Ohio's superintendent of public instruction annually report on the status of implementation of special education and related services for children with disabilities. This includes the number of children identified with disabilities and the number of identified children receiving services. The Ohio Department of Education…

This forum guide was developed to meet the need for common, widely understood, standardized course codes. The purpose of this guide is to introduce the voluntary School Courses for the Exchange of Data (SCED) classification system, including information on the structure of SCED codes, the process for ensuring that SCED remains up to date and…

"Beyond Good Intentions" provides a guide for states to craft equity-driven policies that are specific, actionable, measurable and well funded. It outlines four major steps states should take when considering and creating new policy: (1) Examine the Data to Set the Goal for the Policy: Specific types of data to consider when identifying…

This article presents theoretical and empirical support for a data-driven instructional coaching approach and emerging evidence for the contributions of an online platform in operationalizing, assessing, and facilitating the implementation of key coaching actions for both research and practice. The contributions of an online platform in guiding…

Students, families, colleges, and lawmakers need clearer information on postsecondary outcomes to make informed decisions. By leveraging data available at institutions and federal agencies, a nationwide student-level data network (SLDN) would close information gaps that persist in our higher education landscape to answer critical questions about…

There is steadily growing consensus around a critical issue in our nation's higher education system: the need to modernize our postsecondary data infrastructure. Recognizing that building the Student-Level Data Network (SLDN) outlined in pending federal legislation will require the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) to make key…

Due to rapid advancements in our ability to collect, process, and analyze massive amounts of data, it is now possible for educational institutions to gain new insights into how people learn (Kumar, 2013). E-learning has become an important part of education, and this form of learning is especially suited to the use of big data and data analysis,…

The "Forum Guide to Data Governance" highlights how data governance programs benefit education agencies and provide timely and useful best practices, examples, and resources for agencies implementing or updating their data governance programs. This resource is intended to address the needs of federal, state, and local agencies related…

Students with or at-risk for emotional and behavioral disorders pose an immense challenge for educators, and typical practices to address them are punitive and exclusionary, leading to poor academic and social outcomes for students. To address the complex needs of students with intensive emotional and behavioral needs, evidence-based practices and…

Areal data have been used to good effect in a wide range of sociological research. One of the most persistent problems associated with this type of data, however, is the need to combine data sets with incongruous boundaries. To help address this problem, we introduce a new method for identifying common geographies. We show that identifying common…

This chapter describes essential components of an all-in-one assessment system used for learning outcomes assessment. The recent review, revision, and implementation of a new general education program led to important illustrations of how this assessment system contributes to course, program, and institutional alignment, access, action, and…

This Memorandum is issued in response to the February 22, 2013, Office of Science and Technology (OSTP) Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies, "Increasing Access to the Results of Federally Funded Scientific Research." Through this Memorandum, OSTP directed all agencies with greater than $100 million in research…

For many districts, evaluation is an afterthought to implementing a new initiative. Educators participate in professional learning experiences, apply what they learn to their practice, and then, at some point, school and district staff begin wondering if the initiative is making a difference. Then they scramble for nuggets of data that provide any…

This paper seeks to chart a course for leveraging a micro-credentialing system to enable more educators to achieve the potential of professional learning. The paper uses the Standards for Professional Learning as a frame to provide guidance to everyone involved in micro-credentials to ensure that learners experience the research-based elements of…

In general, data governance refers to the overall management of the availability, usability, integrity, quality, and security of data. A sound data governance program includes a governing body or council, a definition and allocation of authority, a defined set of procedures, and a plan to execute those procedures. This brief offers best practices…