Linking Teacher and Student Data

Researchers have demonstrated the powerful effects that teachers can have on increasing student achievement. However, distilling how teachers influence learning is much more difficult, and even impossible, if teacher, school and student data systems are not linked. Fortunately, many states are providing clear roadmaps to build longitudinal teacher data systems that are connected to student information and are illustrating the benefits of these analyses to improve teacher and teaching quality.

In this brief, the Data Quality Campaign identifies 10 essential elements of a longitudinal data system:

1. A unique statewide student identifier that connects student data across key databases and across years.
2. Student-level enrollment, demographic and program participation information.
3. The ability to match individual students’ test records from year to year to measure academic growth.
4. Information on untested students and the reasons they were not tested.
5. A teacher ID system with the ability to match teachers to students.
6. Student-level transcript information, including information on courses completed and grades earned.
7. Student-level college readiness test scores.
8. Student-level graduation and dropout data.
9. The ability to match student records between the P–12 and higher education systems.
10. A state data audit system assessing data quality, validity and reliability.

Closing the ‘Degree Gap’

Hitting Home: Quality, Cost and Access Challenges Confronting Higher Education Today, by the Making Opportunity Affordable Project, compares the production of degrees in the United States with those of the country’s top international competitors. Based on the percentage of citizens with college degrees in those countries, the report estimates that the United States needs to educate an additional 15.6 million people (with either bachelor’s or associate degrees) by 2025, a 37 percent increase over current production. The report also addresses the issue of the racial and ethnic make-up of those potential new graduates, and suggests that the United States will not be successful internationally if it continues with current patterns in which African American and Latino students lag in college attendance and graduation.

Native Speech Key for Preschoolers

A new study by the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at UNC Chapel Hill finds that Spanish-speaking preschoolers are better adjusted in class when their teachers speak at least some Spanish. This key finding tends of refute conventional wisdom that English-only pre-kindergarten programs help close achievement gaps among children from different racial, ethnic and socioeconomic groups. Compared to English-only teachers, researchers found that teachers who included Spanish said their Spanish-speaking students rated higher in social skills, and experienced less aggression, bullying and teasing by their classmates. Spanish-speaking teachers also spoke more often with the children and had better teacher-student relationships.

The Path of Many Journeys

The Path of Many Journeys: The Benefits of Higher Education for Native People and Communities, by the Institute of Higher Education Policy in collaboration with the American Indian Higher Education Consortium and American Indian College Fund, outlines the challenges of college participation as well as the benefits of investing in higher education for American Indians. This report argues that access to quality education in general, and higher education in particular, is one of the main drivers of economic and social development for all American Indian communities. It also discusses the forces that have shaped the challenges American Indians face, and the role of tribal colleges and universities on reservations and their contribution to the well-being of tribal communities.

The Whole Child

The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) calls on parents, educators, policymakers, and communities to join forces to ensure that our children become productive, engaged citizens. Children deserve an education that emphasizes academic rigor, as well as the essential 21st-century skills of critical thinking and creativity. ASCD proposes a broader definition of achievement and accountability that promotes the development of children who are healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged. The Compact asks local, state, and national policymakers to ensure conditions that support comprehensive approaches to learning — for engaging the whole child.

Leaders and Laggards: A State-by-State Report Card on Educational Effectiveness

A recent report by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Leaders and Laggards: A State-by-State Report Card on Educational Effectiveness, finds that despite decades of reform efforts and trillions of dollars in public investment, student achievement has remained stagnant and our K–12 schools have stayed remarkably unchanged. The conclusion of this report card is unambiguous - states need to do a far better job of monitoring and delivering quality schooling, the academic performance of every state needs to improve, and reliable data must be obtained, compiled and monitored if we are to succeed in improving student performance.

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