This Toolkit presents lessons learned from the process of implementing a new system for collecting student-level work-based learning (WBL) data in high school career and technical education (CTE) programs. As part of a study on career academies and WBL, a research team worked closely with a district CTE office and school staff to design and…

The Data Culture Framework is a high-level guide designed for institutional leaders who want to create and sustain an effective data culture on campus. The Framework offers a set of practices designed to help institutions of higher education create and maintain an effective data-informed community among institutional leaders, faculty, and staff.

"Using Education Indicators: A Forum Guide for State and Local Education Agencies" was developed to provide timely and useful information on education indicators, how their collection and use have changed over time, and how agencies use them strategically. Since the publication of the 2005 document "Forum Guide to Education…

Systems for learning and producing knowledge, such as career and technical education (CTE), often reproduce inequities unless an equity-focused lens is used when designing, implementing, and evaluating programs. This framework presents guidance for conducting CTE research with an intentional focus on equity. Developed by the CTE Research Network's…

This guide is designed for use by school, district, and state education agency staff to improve the effectiveness of efforts to collect and use discipline data, including reporting accurate and timely data to the federal government. It explains the importance of collecting discipline data, identifies key considerations for agencies implementing…

This guidance is for program and agency staff who have identified the need to develop a new data system or make major enhancements to an existing system. Key considerations are presented as questions to help guide staff through the initiation and planning process. The system initiation phase requires a broad team with the expertise and knowledge…

"Leading Thoughtful Conversations about School-by-School Spending Data" is a product of a federally-funded study to support the US Department of Education and the field more broadly to understand what data visualizations work to fuel thoughtful conversation among district and school leaders on financial strategy and management. This…

The purpose of this resource is to unpack Part B State Performance Plan/Annual Performance Report (SPP/APR) Indicator 3D to better understand how to use it to improve outcomes for children with individualized education programs (IEPs). Indicator 3D is a new subcomponent of Indicator 3 in the Office of Special Education Programs' (OSEP) FFY…

"School Law and the Public Schools: A Practical Guide for Educational Leaders" provides comprehensive, practical information on relevant topics that impact the organization and administration of public schools. Students learn how to apply specific legal knowledge to real issues of daily life in the classroom and school through…

Before developing a school- and community-wide work plan around preventing bullying and harassment, school administrators should employ data collection tools to determine their specific areas of focus. Successful bullying prevention efforts must be driven by local data and rooted in research on effective practices. These policies must undergo…

Family-school collaboration has proven benefits for students' social, emotional, behavioral, and academic functioning, yet many schools struggle to create and sustain effective partnerships with families. This timely resource provides an equity-focused, culturally responsive framework for embedding family collaboration within multi-tiered systems…

The Forum Guide to Data Quality provides best practices from districts and states for maintaining quality data as these agencies regularly review and revise their methods for working with data, as well as their expectations for all staff who are responsible for education data and their quality. This resource is intended to help districts and…

"Champions of Literacy" is a guide designed for Alaska school board members. This guide recognizes school board members as Champions of Literacy in their local education ecosystem and provides them with the tools to plan strategically, analyze school and district data, understand key approaches, and deepen their commitment to…

This exciting new book provides school leaders with a highly effective framework for culturally responsive and equity-driven leadership. School culture is how you lead, how your core values are represented in the work you do daily, and how stakeholders are impacted by what you choose. Author and educator Shauna McGee helps you grapple with the…

This playbook provides ways in which Higher Education Agencies (sometimes referred as the State Higher Education Executive Officers) and teams can blur the lines between high school, postsecondary education, and the workforce. Higher Education Agencies (HEAs) play a significant role to Raise the Bar for student success by developing an…