How education and business leaders can turn student achievement data into action that improves outcomes
Schools and states collect significant amounts of information about how students are performing. But measuring performance is only the beginning. The real value of education data comes from using it to identify where students and schools need support, direct resources and interventions, and determine whether those efforts are working.
In Connecting Data to Achievement, the third and final brief in the Assessment and Accountability Brief Series, we examine how states and districts can move from measuring performance to improving it. The brief makes the case for keeping objective, comparable student achievement data at the center of school improvement while ensuring that the information collected is useful for making decisions.
From measurement to improvement
Transparency is important, but transparency alone does not improve student outcomes. Data becomes actionable when leaders use it to understand needs, target resources, select appropriate interventions, monitor progress, and adjust their strategies when necessary.
The brief highlights several examples of what that can look like in practice:
- Mississippi: Achievement and screening data have been embedded in the state’s sustained literacy strategy, helping identify struggling readers, target training and coaching, and continuously evaluate progress.
- Houston: Houston Independent School District has used achievement and accountability data to identify schools needing support, target interventions, monitor implementation, and evaluate results.
- Lenawee County, Michigan: Employers and education partners used data to better understand workforce challenges and develop responses aimed at strengthening career pathways and connections between education and industry needs.
A role for the business community
Business leaders have an important stake in student achievement because academic success helps prepare the future workforce. The brief encourages business and community leaders to engage state and district leaders as supportive partners, asking how data informs school improvement, how interventions are selected and evaluated, and how education goals can better align with regional workforce needs.
Business leaders can also help by celebrating progress, elevating practices that are working, supporting greater capacity for school improvement, and reinforcing the importance of academic achievement to the future workforce.
Read the full brief to explore the examples and recommendations for turning education data into meaningful improvement for students.
