"The Forum Guide to Strategies for Education Data Collection and Reporting (SEDCAR)" was created to provide timely and useful best practices for education agencies that are interested in designing and implementing a strategy for data collection and reporting, focusing on these as key elements of the larger data process. It builds upon…

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…

Data--done right--has the power to put schools on the path to true change. Rely on this research-backed resource to help you kickstart, implement, and sustain data-informed school-wide transformation. There are many ways to use student data, and the author's 10 steps offer practical, clear methods for establishing a data team, collecting relevant…

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…

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…

"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…

In spring 2020, nearly all school districts across the nation transitioned to virtual education during extended school closures caused by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. K-12 education agencies pivoted to virtual education in a short amount of time with limited options available for developing a virtual education program. This…

In this new edition of a bestseller, school counseling scholar and advocate Trish Hatch and National School Counselor of the Year Julie Hartline provide school counselors with new ways for moving from reactive to proactive and from random to intentional counseling. By using data to determine what all students deserve to receive and when some…

Even in "routine" years, the principal's attention to climate matters for wellness, and it matters for outcomes. School climate is a critical factor supporting the quality of student learning, particularly in times of stress. As a result, districts across the nation have dedicated considerable resources to tools used to assess climate,…

Regular attendance is essential to providing students with opportunities to learn. State and local education agencies (SEAs and LEAs) play a crucial role in tracking, measuring, and addressing student attendance. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic affected the way that many SEAs and LEAs collect attendance data. This resource highlights…

Head Start, the largest early learning program in the United States, provides free federally funded, high-quality early learning for children alongside wraparound supports for parents. Its mission includes helping families achieve self-sufficiency and economic security, such as by helping parents access and succeed in college and workforce…

The "Forum Guide to Metadata" presents and examines the ways in which metadata can be used by education agencies to improve data quality and promote a better understanding of education data. Supported by metadata-related case studies from state and local education agencies, the guide highlights the uses of metadata from a technical point…

As the education and workforce development community looks more and more to CTE to help ensure students are both college and career ready, understanding and using CTE data and research becomes increasingly important. This is the first in a series of six practitioner training modules developed as part of the Career & Technical Education (CTE)…

Head Start provides access to high-quality, affordable early learning opportunities for children alongside wraparound supports for parents which can help families achieve economic security by helping to facilitate parents' attainment of college credentials. Head Start-college collaboration can also bring important benefits to colleges and…