Survey Shows Nearly All States Can Track Data on Students

Survey finds better use by policymakers

Nearly all states now have comprehensive data systems that allow them to track students’ academic careers over time, and state officials are starting to dig into using the mountains of information, according to the sixth annual national survey on the subject.

The Data Quality Campaign , a Washington-based nonprofit group that promotes data use in education, released the report last week. For the first time, the survey focused on governors’ perspectives on state longitudinal-data systems, as opposed to the systems’ technical capacity.

“Leadership is critical,” said Aimee R. Guidera, the executive director of the campaign, noting that in the past year, Idaho and Maryland “leapfrogged many states that had been building along slowly,” thanks to statewide data-use programs launched by Idaho schools Superintendent Tom Luna and Maryland...