Sneak Peek from Accents Online Jun 23, 2016
All students deserve a quality education, but that education should also be relevant for their life after high school. A new report from the Data Quality Campaign (DQC) highlights actions policymakers at the federal, state, and local levels can take to help students excel in school and beyond.
These recommendations expand on the following four policy priorities from DQC’s Time to Act: Making Data Work for Students:
Measure What Matters: Be clear about what students need to achieve. Have the data to keep them on track for success.
- Establish a governing body with the authority and responsibility to make decisions about district data use as well as protection policies.
- Design data systems that align with school community needs, improve teaching, personalize learning, and measure progress.
Make Data Use Possible: Provide teachers and school leaders the flexibility, training, and support needed.
- Promote a culture that uses data to measure and achieve district-established goals.
- Create policies, practices, and trainings to ensure all stakeholders know how to use data effectively.
Be Transparent and Earn Trust: Ensure community understanding of school and student progress, the value of data, and how it is used and protected.
- Provide data relevant to identified community needs. Communicate how data are safeguarded.
- Engage families in meaningful discussions about their children’s data. Keep them involved with planning and governance activities.
Guarantee Access and Protect Privacy: Provide information in a timely manner to teachers and parents while ensuring the data is secure.
- Establish clear public processes regarding student data privacy.
- Provide teachers, parents, and trusted school partners with student data that are tailored to meet their needs.
“It is critically important for school districts to have the tools they need to ensure they and their employees implement the strategies and practices that support school and district missions related to teaching and learning,” according to Noelle Ellerson, associate executive director of policy and advocacy at Alliance for Excellent Education. “The day-to-day role of data in education is constantly evolving, and it is important that stakeholders at the district, state, and federal levels work to have aligned policies that support effective data use.”
Get the full report.