This guidebook is designed to support state and local leaders in the first step in the improvement process, the development and facilitation of a needs assessment. The guidebook does the following: (1) Reviews some of the major school-improvement-related needs assessment requirements found in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as…

This tool and its supporting resources are intended to help education leaders understand and assess equitable access data to support a root-cause analysis and, ultimately, draft a State Plan to Ensure Equitable Access to Excellent Educators. The activities in this tool introduce metrics, address staff capacity for analyzing equitable access data,…

Never before has the link between a college education and postgraduate job prospects been more important. College graduates are employed more often and, on average, earn significantly more than those without college degrees. During recent years, as students have moved into a challenging job market, a college education has remained the most…

Education data are growing in quantity, quality, and value. When appropriately used to guide action, data can be a powerful tool for improving school operations, teaching, and learning. Education stakeholders who possess the knowledge, skills, and abilities to appropriately access, analyze, and interpret data will be able to use data to take…

School improvement might be initiated by state or district mandate, or it might be motivated by the concerns of school personnel. Teachers and administrators frequently enter the process with some idea of what needs to be reformed or improved, but issues can be overemphasized or overlooked if the process does not begin with a comprehensive needs…

The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE), a unit within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), is responsible for advising the Assistant Secretary for Children and Families on increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of programs to improve the economic and social well-being of children and families. In collaboration…

What people know about higher education may depend on which data they look at and how they examine them. Responsible analysts should present a full picture of their sources of data and the limitations of those sources, restricting their conclusions to those that the data genuinely warrant. When new research conflicts with previous results, enough…

In these times of high-stakes accountability, all professional educators must learn how to gather, analyze, and use data to improve teaching and learning, becoming efficient generators and consumers of data. The intended audiences for this book are school and district administrators and teacher leaders who recognize the need to use data to…

This guide discusses combining qualitative and quantitative research methods in theses and dissertations. It covers a wide array of methods, the strengths and limitations of each, and how they can be effectively interwoven into various research designs. The first chapter is "The Qualitative and the Quantitative." Part 1, "A…

This book outlines the basic elements of longitudinal qualitative data, focusing on micro-levels of change observed within individual cases and groups of participants, and presents 16 questions through which researchers can approach the analysis of longitudinal qualitative data. The chapters are: (1) "Longitudinal Qualitative Studies, Time, and…

Data can help identify solutions to some of the biggest problems in schools. Yet few schools use data effectively. The purpose of this book is to help schools become aware of the advantages of collecting and using data (data analysis) for overall school improvement. The book begins with an overview of the current state of education and the…

This handbook is designed to help beginning evaluators of teacher recruitment programs. It addresses the information and assessment needs of teacher recruitment programs. It takes a hands-on approach and includes worksheets and instructions for using them. After presenting tips for getting started, the handbook offers eight steps to successful…

Discusses two tools necessary for the successful practice of human performance technology: gathering data and interpreting data. The focus is on what data to gather, how to gather it, and how to interpret the data. (Author/JKP)

Institutional comparison groups can be selected in several ways, depending on the comparison issue. The method chosen involves both technical and political considerations. (Author/MSE)

The Education Commission of the States conducted interviews in six school districts in five different states (California, Colorado, Iowa, Maryland, and Texas) to understand how districts can use data most effectively. These districts had used data to dramatically improve student achievement. Districts that make wise use of data have strong…