Dive Summary:

• The South Carolina Department of Education launched a new statewide student data system that gathers several data sources, collected by school districts, in a single place for teachers, researchers and the general public.
• SLICE, or the South Carolina Longitudinal Information Center for Education, was funded by two federal grants of $5.8 million and $14.9 million, draws only on existing data, and can create in-depth profiles of the state's public education system, school districts, schools, classrooms and individual students.
• The South Carolina General Assembly committed $2.5 million in the state's budget to maintain and continue the program.
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  Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/2013/09/06/2963523/sc-launches-statewide-data-tool.html#storylink=cpy

From the article:

... Dan Wuori, chief program officer with First Steps, said the system will speed up the process of evaluating the effectiveness of programs. For example, it will make it easier to track the progress of elementary-school students who attended a First Steps’ 4-year-old kindergarten.

More efficiency means fewer costs, he said. The programs is “good for us (the state) in terms of focusing our investments and will be good for taxpayers.” ...