Policymakers need information about the schools in their states to help inform policy decisions. Likewise, everyone involved in a child’s education needs timely, accurate data to provide insights and drive improvements for students. Since data has become a critical part of education policy conversations everywhere, this resource is meant to bring policymakers up to speed on the major topics they need to know about. The Data Quality Campaign (DQC) has selected eight of the most pressing topics and have provided the following for each:
- a basic overview of the topic
- why it matters
- the “state of play” on the latest progress states and others have made in that area
- recommendations to take action in your state
- additional resources to help build your understanding of data topics and policies
For help bringing these ideas to life, see our Four Policy Priorities to Make Data Work for Students, a set of recommendations for policymakers to transform data from a tool of compliance to one that empowers people and fuels continuous improvement.