Expanding access to high-quality, affordable early childhood services is key to state efforts to support families' well-being, ensure that children are ready to succeed in school, and sustain a strong economy. Right now, early childhood data is typically housed in different, disconnected state and local systems. State leaders seeking to provide…

State postsecondary education data systems are vital assets for policymakers, researchers, and the public. The State Higher Education Executive Officers Association's (SHEEO) Communities of Practice project builds upon SHEEO's efforts to measure the capacity and effective use of state postsecondary data systems and provides states with…

The COVID-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented challenge for state, district, and school leaders across the country. Whether states and districts mandate or choose an in-person or remote model or a hybrid model, which includes some aspect of virtual learning, ensuring that vulnerable students and teachers have a remote learning option has…

The COVID-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented challenge for state, district, and school leaders across the country. Whether states and districts mandate or choose an in-person or remote model or a hybrid model, which includes some aspect of virtual learning, ensuring that vulnerable students and teachers have a remote learning option has…

State and local education agencies across the country face challenges related to understanding and managing their teaching staff to best help students learn. Statewide longitudinal data systems (SLDSs) offer valuable information about teacher labor markets that can be used to analyze supply and demand, inform budget and staffing decisions, and…

To evaluate interim progress toward the State-identified Measurable Result (SIMR), states require access to high-quality data from local education agencies (LEAs) and early intervention service providers. In a review of 2017 Phase III State Systemic Improvement Plans (SSIP), 43 Part C states noted limitations or concerns related to data and…

Many states struggle with collecting reliable and valid data that can be easily analyzed at the state level. This can be particularly challenging in states where schools and districts have local control over the selection of their assessment tools. This state spotlight presents the strategies that the Iowa Department of Education (IDE) used to…

When done reliably and efficiently, measuring school climate can help improve schools' vital signs and help state boards of education realize their goals and objectives for the system as a whole. Moreover, because it is as consequential to schools as checking heart rates and blood pressure are to humans, schools should always use climate measures…

One goal of Extension is to provide practical information that makes a difference to producers. Cow Herd Appraisal Performance Software (CHAPS) has provided beef producers with production benchmarks for 30 years, creating a large historical data set. Many such large data sets contain useful information but are underutilized. Our goal was to create…

This report is intended to help governors, legislators, department secretaries, and advocates find information on ways to strengthen the structure and function of their existing cabinets, or create a new cabinet. The survey in this report is the nation's only survey of state child and youth policy coordinating bodies. The biennial survey assesses…

Postsecondary institutions are under increasing scrutiny to provide evidence of student learning. Despite efforts to increase the number and frequency of assessments of student learning, many colleges and universities need help to make good use of assessment results for the improvement of teaching and learning. To address this need, in February…

The Division of Community Colleges of the Iowa Department of Education has a variety of diverse programs that enhance Iowa's educational system. Adult Education has a rich history in Iowa of providing services that assist adults in improving their skills, achieving their educational goals, and transitioning to further education or employment.…

The Main Library Service Desk is a one-stop academic help center located between a newly renovated student-focused space called the Learning Commons and the library collections. Services began with the first day of classes, August 26, 2013, and assessment has been ongoing, in part due to the availability of data. Staffing levels, staffing hours,…

The purpose of this document is to provide an overview of Response to Intervention (RtI), including essential components. Iowa's RtI document is designed to provide the state with common language and understanding of RtI, why RtI is important for improving student results, general timelines for implementation and answers to Frequently Asked…

The author had been an elementary administrator for about nine years when she first heard about the SAM (School Administration Manager) project. SAM is a national pilot project funded by The Wallace foundation to better understand how principals spend their time and to develop strategies to help principals focus more of their time on teaching and…