LIBRARY SEARCH: RESULTS
McDonald, S., Andal, J., Brown, K., & Schneider, B. (2007). Getting the evidence for evidence-based initiatives: How the Midwest states use data systems to improve education processes and outcomes (Issues & Answers Report, REL 2007-No. 016). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Regional Educational Laboratory Midwest. Retrieved from http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs.
The purpose of this report is to describe the data use practices of states in the Midwest Region (i.e., Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin) to demonstrate how to use data systems to improve educational outcomes. The authors maintain that these states are developing innovative approaches for collecting and using data for educational decision making. These practices include establishing longitudinal student-level and teacher-level data collections and connecting data across the educational data system. These states, however, also experience challenges in meeting their data use goals, as data management staff are limited and sometimes inexperienced, and federal and state regulations may not permit key data to be collected. The authors conclude that regional benchmarks should be established to provide a framework for states working towards better data use, and that districts should also attend to specific state requests for various resources and create related training materials when needed. Individual chapters describing each state's exemplary practices are included.
Benchmark Assessment, Data Systems
