Use of Data

National Assessment of IDEA | Comments, Please!

The Institute of Education Sciences at the U.S. Department of Education (ED) has announced its proposal to collect information to determine how states, districts, and schools are identifying and supporting children and youth with disabilities. The study is one component of a Congressionally-mandated National Assessment of IDEA.

Purpose? To develop an up-to-date national picture of how states, districts, and schools are implementing IDEA in order to provide ED, Congress, and other stakeholders with knowledge that can inform the next reauthorization of IDEA and, ultimately, how services are provided to children.

The comment period ends June 14, 2019. Read more about the Department’s proposed plan, download a PDF of the plan, and find out where to submit your comments.

Finding the Data

Education data are critical to understanding whether or not America’s children are getting the education they deserve and the education that will prepare them to be successful. Transparency in education data can help stakeholders celebrate well-deserved school successes and inform conversations about efforts to improve our schools.

Finding the Data : A State-by-State Assessment of Education Data Transparency provides a systematic and deeper understanding of how state education agencies compare across a set of 3 broad dimensions of education transparency: accessibility and access, quality, and disaggregation for key student groups. Parents, advocacy organizations, researchers, and other stakeholders need this information to understand the performance and quality of schools in their state.

Read more about the report and access it here.

Fostering Youth Transitions

(2018, November) | Useful to Parent Centers, organizations, and policy makers working with youth in foster care. ___________ Fostering Youth Transitions: Using Data to Drive Policy and Practice Decisions (10 pages) comes from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The brief discusses: the challenges that young people face while in and exiting care; how foster youth are […]

Video | Using Data to Help Children in Critical Populations

This 5-minute video highlights the benefits of Minnesota’s Early Childhood Longitudinal Data System and how it came to be developed and used to improve outreach to underserved, critical populations and to connect those populations to needed services.

According to the staff at local and state organizations, combining data from different programs and agencies that serve young children allows policymakers and program decision makers to better answer critical questions about the needs of families in their communities, as well as questions about services and programs. Building the data system or developing a process to link existing data was the important first step in this video. After the data were integrated, they were analyzed and interpreted to improve programs, services, and policies.

Read more information about, and connect with, the video and its accompanying materials.

Digest of Education Statistics 2016

(2018, February) | Useful to Parent Centers and all stakeholders in public education. The Digest of Education Statistics is an annual publication of National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), compiling statistical information that covers the broad field of American education from prekindergarten through graduate school. The Digest provides data on a variety of topics, including the […]

Building Stakeholder Knowledge about Data

Data play a role in virtually every aspect of administering early intervention programs (IDEA Part C) and preschool programs (Part B 619). State lead agency staff partner with stakeholders for a variety of purposes, including collaborating to improve programs and preparing annual reports on how programs are implemented. This toolkit from the DaSy Center orients stakeholders to IDEA data and other data-related topics to help them meaningfully participate in conversations about important programmatic issues and decisions.

The toolkit is a resource for IDEA Part C and Part B 619 stakeholders, such as representations on the State Interagency Coordinating Council (SICC) and the State Advisory Panel (SAP), who provide input on issues and decisions that relate to or affect programs that serve young children with development delays and disabilities and their families. Stakeholders can use this toolkit independently, or Part C/Part B 619 staff can work through the toolkit with stakeholders in a facilitated manner.

Learn more about and access the toolkit, including the 7 sections it contains and the questions that guide how information and learning are organized in each section.

Module 10: Initial Evaluation and Reevaluation

by Lisa Küpper and Theresa Rebhorn NICHCY | National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities March 2007 (see Editor’s Note, below) **Este módulo está disponible en español: Evaluación Inicial y la Reevaluación _____________________ Editor’s note | January 2018 | NICHCY no longer exists, and most of its materials have moved here, to the Center for […]

School Discipline Data Indicators: A Guide for Districts and Schools

(2017, April) | Useful to educators, schools, and districts in identifying and addressing racial/ethnic disproportionality in discipline practices. Also useful to Parent Centers involved in their state’s ESSA planning with respect to disproportionality. This guide from the Institute of Education Sciences is designed to supply educators with a means to identify whether racial/ethnic disproportionality in […]

ATLAS: Analizar información

Aprender a analizar información es una herramienta para guiar a los educadores en el descubrimiento de qué comprenden y cómo razonan los estudiantes, los educadores y el público en general. Esta herramienta da un formato estructurado de diálogo que libera al grupo y lo ayuda a poner su atención en lo que es más importante. Vea […]

A Guide to the Implementation Process: Stages, Steps, and Activities

(Published 2014, March) | Useful to Parent Centers and SSP staff involved in SSIP work and the implementation of evidence-based practices for systems change Implementation science is the study of the processes needed to bring new practices into widespread use. These recommendations and process described in this guide are based on findings from implementation science. […]