Resources: Maximizing Data-Driven Decision Making

Here is an annotated list of major reports from national organizations that both make the case for using reliable and high-quality data when making decisions in education reform and provides some essential data to best understand where education currently stands in the U.S.

Quality Counts 2007: From Cradle to College
Education Week, 2007
Quality Counts, published each year by the weekly education newspaper, Education Week, is a state-by-state analysis that provides a report card for each state based on their efforts to improve public education. The 50 state approach allows those interested to compare state data on a host of indicators, including assessment and achievement scores, graduation rates, and efforts to improve teacher quality. For the first time, in 2007, Quality Counts has expanded its focus to track state efforts to create seamless education systems from early childhood to the world of work.

Implementing Graduation Counts: State Progress to Date
National Governors Association, August 2006
In 2005, all 50 state governors agreed to adopt a common, comparable method for calculating their graduation rates by signing the “Graduation Counts Compact.” Before the Compact, states used a variety of different calculations, which tended to inflate the number of students who make it to high school graduation in four years. This report, published by the national association of state governors, monitors the progress each state has made in developing a graduation rate based on longitudinal, student record-driven data one year after signing the pledge. The NGA finds that 39 states are already collecting the data or have plans to do so within four years; only two states have no plans to adopt the Compact formula. The report also offers specific recommendations for calculating fair and comparable graduation rates, including how to best count transfer, special education, and English language learner students.

Measuring Up 2006: The National Report Card on Higher Education
National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, 2006
Every two years, the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting postsecondary achievement and attainment for all students, publishes Measuring Up to provide the public and policymakers with the state-specific and national information needed to improve postsecondary education throughout the states. The website provides the opportunity for users to compare any state with the best-performing states in each performance category, compare indicator scores and state grades for any performance category, obtain source and technical information for indicators and weights, and download the reports.

Diplomas Count: An Essential Guide to Graduation Policy and Rates
Education Week, 2006
In 2006, Education Week published its first annual edition of Diploma Counts. This analysis provides detailed data on graduation rates from the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and America’s 50 largest school districts. The 2006 edition includes feature stories on the cost of high dropout rates and states’ progress in developing comparable graduation rates. Education Week’s website offers an interactive map for users to compare graduation rates across states and districts.

Measuring What Matters
Achieve, Inc. &  The Data Quality Campaign, 2005
This white paper highlights the reasons why state data systems should incorporate longitudinal data to maximize the quality of information used in education and offers ten essential elements that are necessary for longitudinal systems to impact education outcomes directly. The paper also notes how many states already have implement each element and offers action steps for policymakers to facilitate the adoption of all ten elements in a timely and efficient manner.

Data Use in Urban High Schools
Education Alliance at Brown University, 2004
This research paper presents the initial findings of a case study of five low-performing, urban high schools that have undergone systemic high school reform. These schools established personalized learning environments, shifted to standards-based curriculum and instruction, and began to use data to support continued progress. The paper highlights conditions and practices that promote or impede the use of data by school staff, discusses how disaggregated data are used for improvement in restructuring low-performing high schools, and examines the policy and practice implications of achieving data use.