Data Accessible, Training Limited

Teachers’ access to student information increased over the past several years as districts made more data available electronically, fulfilling one of the mandates of the federal No Child Left Behind Act. But the most accessible of that information may be too basic, and many teachers lack the training and some necessary tools to support the kind of data-driven decisionmaking that leads to instructional change and improved achievement, a report from the U.S. Department of Education says.

“The assumption of current policymakers is that the use of data from student-data systems will lead to positive impacts on instruction and student achievement,” says the report, which was released this month. “But an examination of current practice suggests that the use of electronic student-data systems and instructional decisionmaking are not fully integrated.”

As federal, state, and local officials work to collect and disseminate more data on school performance and student achievement, a more systemic approach to using the information...