By Aimee Rogstad Guidera, Lori Fey, John Bailey, Tom Vander Ark
This decade offers a historic opportunity to boost student learning. New tools are powering new schools and transforming learning, assessment,
matriculation, and teaching. Four transformational shifts underway include:
flat and sequential content to engaging and adaptive experiences
annual dipstick tests to instant feedback
cohorts to competency-based progress
individual practitioners to informed teams
Data is behind each of these shifts--the right information at the right time in the right format. What will it take to transform US education so that all
students and teachers benefit from better data? We think it will take leadership at every level.
National Leadership.
The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, the Data Quality Campaign, and Digital Learning Now! are just three of the
organizations advocating for better data systems and effective data use.
Today the Dell Family Foundation is announcing the formation of the Ed-Fi Alliance, a new nonprofit organization
“committed to distributing a superior, standards-based, educator-facing free data solution.” The Ed-Fi solution is a
vendor-neutral, open, XML-based data specification designed to integrate information from a broad range of existing sources. The Ed-Fi solution extracts
student information from a variety of educational data systems, and then standardizes, integrates and communicates it to educators and other parties
through Web-based dashboards, reports and other applications. Ten states license the Ed-Fi solution directly and four additional states benefit from
partnerships with inBloom, which uses Ed-Fi XML interchanges to support states’ and districts’ adoption of personalized
learning tools.
The Data Quality Campaign, launched in 2005 by 10 partners, now leads a partnership of nearly 100
organizations committed to realizing the vision of an education system in which all stakeholders--from parents to policymakers--are empowered with
high-quality data from the early childhood, K-12, postsecondary, and workforce systems to make decisions that ensure every student graduates high school
prepared for success in college and the workplace.
Digital Learning Now!
created a 10 element state policy framework that embraces the potential of digital learning--all 10 elements rely on a great longitudinal data system. DLN
is releasing a Smart Series paper every month on critical digital learning topics. The second paper
Data Backpacks: Portable Records & Learner Profiles
detailed next steps for states. Updated state report cards will be issued this month.
State Progress.
DQC recently issued a state policy analysis, Data for Action 2012: Focus on People to Change Data Culture. Although no
state has all 10 Actions, states made progress toward implementing each of the 10 State Actions from 2011 to 2012:
All states have at least one Action, showing a commitment to working toward effective data use.
Twelve states gained two or more Actions, making strides in supporting effective data use (Alaska, District of Columbia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky,
Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, and Wyoming).
Ten states have eight or nine of the Actions, a substantial increase from four states in 2011 (Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, North Carolina, Ohio, and
Oregon join Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, and Texas).
States have made the biggest gains in the past year on providing policy and funding support for their data systems, developing data governance structures,
and creating reports on individual and groups of students.
However, states are lagging in linking data across state agencies, providing stakeholders such as parent’s access to data, and ensuring that educators know
how to use data appropriately.
States should:
Implement all 10 DQC State Actions to Ensure Effective Data Use.
Adopt the Ed-Fi standards and join the Ed-Fi Alliance.
Adopt the 10 Elements of High Quality Digital Learning from DLN.
District and school leaders should:
Study Next-Gen school models and incorporate adaptive instruction
(see
An Inside View of Blended Integration at Rocketship Education).
Build a three-year plan as outlined in the DLN
Blended Learning Implementation Guide
.
Encourage your state to adopt the Ed-Fi solution to ease transfer of gradebook data and use of common dashboards and reporting tools.
Require from vendors data exchange capability and system interoperability and adopt the inBloom platform.
Extend access to online and blended options to all students.
Work with a vendor on a super gradebook and expanded learner profile.
As suggested by the Department of Education’s Data Initiative,
provide data to parents in a useful format.
By making data a priority, states and districts can improve transparency, system performance and, most importantly, student achievement.