This article presents a descriptive, critical analysis of the comparability of information concerning students, teachers, and school resources gathered by organisations within government jurisdiction, and the pitfalls for the unwary researcher using government data banks. Differences in the method of compiling information about citizens, and…

This article addresses school counselor evidence-based accountability practice by summarizing the findings of a hands-on evaluation of readily accessible, free online accountability software that can be used for data collection, management and analysis, and presentations. Using germane school data, four preservice counselors individually rated…

Mapping India's vast, complex, and unruly education system through the systematic generation of accurate and current data, and encouraging accountability by persuading a diverse array of actors to engage with such data, is an ambitious, if not heroic, project. Yet this is what India's Education Information Management System (EMIS), the Unified…

The 2020 election brought about legislative change across the country. New and veteran policymakers need information about the schools in their state. What programs are the most cost effective and work best for students? How can states attract and retain great teachers? What information do parents need to ensure that their kids are on track to…

We report on the implementation experience of carrying out data collection and other activities for a public health evaluation study on whether U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) investment improved utilization of health services and health system strengthening in Uganda. The retrospective study period focused on the PEPFAR…

Policymakers need information about the schools in their state. What programs are the most cost effective and work best for students? How can states attract and retain great teachers? What information do parents need to ensure that their kids are on track to graduate? For answers to questions like these, policymakers need high-quality data.…

The purpose of this study was to investigate if students are prepared to release any personal data in order to inform learning analytics systems. Besides the well-documented benefits of learning analytics, serious concerns and challenges are associated with the application of these data driven systems. Most notably, empirical evidence regarding…

The National Forum on Education Statistics (Forum) organized the College and Career Ready (CCR) Working Group to explore how state and local education agencies (SEAs and LEAs) can use data to support college and career readiness initiatives. The working group determined that high-quality data in integrated K12, postsecondary, and workforce data…

The No Child Left Behind Act increases pressure on schools and districts to use standardized state test data. Seeking to learn about the process of turning accountability data into actionable information, this paper presents findings from three case studies of small to medium sized school districts. The study examines the flow of state science…

Today, many school districts are turning to business intelligence tools to retrieve, organize, and share knowledge for faster analysis and more effective, guided decision making. Business intelligence (BI) tools are the technologies and applications that gather and report information to help an organization's leaders make better decisions. BI…

School districts often lack the capacity for turning vast amounts of existing student-performance data into useful information for helping teachers and improving classrooms. The California Accountability Project helps districts to function more systematically on behalf of children and to understand schools' pockets of success and underperformance.…

Discusses data warehousing, which provides information more fully responsive to local, state, and federal data needs. Such a system allows educators to generate reports and analyses that supply information, provide accountability, explore relationships among different kinds of data, and inform decision-makers. (Contains one figure and eight…

Learning Forward's Standards for Professional Learning have the potential to influence educational policy and practice in profound ways for the systems that are courageous enough to take them seriously, and the Data standard is a critical element systemwide. Schools are overwhelmed with data warehouses, colorful charts and graphs, and endless…

The aim of this study is to better understand the role of researchers and school leaders in supporting school improvement through data feedback in the context of more responsive forms of accountability in the Netherlands. A process evaluation was conducted concerning the first three years of a collaborative project of a multi-management group of…

This article looks at a school management tool that allows school managers and education district offices to review the performance of their schools and use the broad-based data to undertake orchestrated planning with districts planning delivery based on the needs of schools and in support of school improvement plans. The review process also…