Using data well “ensures that students aren’t just counted but that each student counts,” says Data Quality Campaign (DQC), a nonpartisan, nonprofit advocacy organization that works for changes in policy and practice around data flow. To serve students, data must move from being a “a tool of compliance” to one that enhances lives, empowers people and fuels continuous improvement.
That’s easier said than done. But DQC has a healthy resource bank that provides ways to support and join its advocacy efforts. Resources include informational and actionable resources, including fact sheets, research reports, infographics and more. They can be searched by audience type, issue area and document type.
Additionally, DQC has determined five action issues: data systems that work, strong teachers and leaders, empowering families and communities, safeguarding data, and federal policy.
Because it’s imperative that the government do its part, DQC has also outlined what it says are the top four policy priorities to make data work for students.
- Measure what matters: Be clear about what students must achieve and have the data to ensure that all students are on track to succeed. Recognize that data is more than test scores, accountability and compliance for government agencies.
- Make data use possible: Provide teachers and leaders flexibility, training and support—which are all often lacking—so they can be effective and take action.
- Be transparent and earn trust: Ensure that communities understand how their schools and students are doing, why data is valuable, and how it is protected and used. Clear, steady communication about data is necessary.
- Guarantee access and protect privacy: Provide teachers and parents timely information on their students; often, those closest to the students are least connected with the data. Policy can go a long way to making sure information is kept safe and out of the wrong hands, but it must evolve with the same alacrity as technology, DQC says.
