NCLB Focuses on Data Tools

The demands of the No Child Left Behind Act are spurring states to invest in data-management technologies.

In every Catawba County, N.C., public school, teachers can sit down at a computer and find out just about anything they need to know about their students.

They can check grades from the current and previous years, scores on state tests, and other student-achievement data. They can track attendance, family history, and other social factors that could affect their students’ test scores. They can read health records, and check up on learning or physical disabilities that may need to be addressed in the classroom.

“It gives us all the information that we have on a student,” says Ann Y. Hart, the superintendent of the 17,000-student district, located about 60 miles northwest of Charlotte. “The more information you have and the easier it is to access the information, the easier it is...