Dive Brief:
- A report from the Center for Data Innovation found the K-12 system lags behind business and industry in using data to improve outcomes, and while there are valid reasons why, it’s still a missed opportunity.
- District Administration reports interoperability among different administrative departments’ data systems contributes to the problem, along with privacy concerns, whether real or manufactured, and an ongoing transition from keeping paper records to using digital systems.
- Joshua New, a policy analyst for the Center for Data Innovation, recommends districts keep interoperability in mind when making technology purchases, start data-based decision-making efforts with a question and assign data specialists and managers to focus on the data.
Dive Insight:
Even the higher education world has moved faster than K-12 in incorporating data into decision-making efforts. Schools have access to a lot of data, especially as more and more becomes digitized. Getting the opportunity to better track data should actually be a key driver for digitizing paper records in schools.
Data analytics can contribute to more personalized instructional plans for students and it can also improve operations on the administrative side of school districts. Frontline Research Institute analyzed teacher absence data and found human resources administrators tend to overestimate the number of professionally related absences among teachers, while curriculum and instruction leaders underestimate it. Getting access to the actual data can re-balance expectations and better help administrators plan.
