This document is part of a series of guides designed to help school district leaders address one of the toughest challenges in American education: dropout rates of 30 percent nationwide, 50 percent in many big cities, and 60 percent or more in the lowest-performing schools. It includes tools for data analysts to drill down into the data and use…

This paper describes and evaluates a computerized system, MATCH, which is being used in South Carolina to match or link student records from year to year. The functioning of MATCH and its specific features are described, and its use in matching student test scores is detailed. The problem of mismatched records and the use of visual editing to…