In the 2023 report "Colorado's Longitudinal Data Landscape. Report to the Education Committees of the Colorado House of Representatives and the Colorado Senate. Statute: 23-1-141," the Colorado Department of Higher Education (CDHE) provided a detailed overview of Colorado's long history of efforts to support more connected, longitudinal…

The purpose of this technical assistance paper is to assist education leaders and administrators in the consistent implementation of the Florida Career and Professional Education (CAPE) Act in Section 1003.491, Florida Statutes (F.S.). This technical assistance paper addresses questions on recent legislation, funding, and data reporting. [For the…

California is home to the fifth-largest population of Black people in the United States, approximately 2.8 million individuals. However, when Black Californians seek access to the state's colleges and universities, they face undue bureaucratic and financial barriers. This Equity Alert explores a legislative proposal to create a California…

Nationally, students who are parents (known as parenting students or student parents) make up nearly 1 in 5 undergraduates. Though they earn similar grades to non-parenting students on average, student parents are much less likely to complete college credentials, even when controlling for personal characteristics and institution type. There is a…

Five years ago, California's education data lagged far behind the systems in most other states. However, state leaders and education advocates undertook a purposeful engagement and design process to build a data system that represents the state's values and meets different stakeholders' needs. This case study on California's P-20W Cradle-to-Career…

Enrollment of students with disabilities in postsecondary education is rising, with a significant increase from 11 percent in 2004 to 21 percent in 2020. The growth rate of this population underscores the need for comprehensive and reliable data about their experiences and outcomes in higher education. Despite these trends, the field lacks robust…

Despite enacting well-intentioned policies to improve teacher recruitment and retention, many states continue to face significant staffing challenges, particularly in high-need schools and hard-to-staff subjects such as math, science, and special education. Two years ago, the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) set out to explore the…

Businesses use facial recognition software, fingerprint scanning, and other biometric tools in the workplace and/or commercial establishments. Concerned with the collection, use, retention, and security of biometric data, and the impact of these practices, Illinois enacted the Biometric Information Privacy Act in 2008. We designed a project that…

The prevalence of data use in education requires researchers to critically examine data-collection practices that could inform, obscure, or omit accurate representations of students. Thus, an innovative approach to accurate demographic collection and reporting can enable school districts to more accurately count and represent American…

The purpose of this technical assistance paper is to assist education leaders and administrators in the consistent implementation of the Florida Career and Professional Education (CAPE) Act in Section 1003.491, Florida Statutes (F.S.). This technical assistance paper addresses questions on the legislation, funding, and data reporting.

State legislators have the opportunity to create and support legislation that positions data as a tool to help decisionmakers at all levels take action to support student success. This checklist can serve as a guide to crafting legislation that addresses education data. It applies specifically to education data legislation which includes bills…

"The State of Career Technical Education: Credentials of Value" report draws on a 2024 national scan of state practices, a 50-state survey, and interviews with state leaders to gather insights and strategies for improving the identification, validation, incentivization, and data collection related to credentials that support learners'…

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…

This report was conducted in compliance with Senate Bill 55 (SB 55), 88th Texas Legislature, Regular Session (codified as Texas Education Code Section 61.06694): "an act relating to a study and report by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board regarding best practices for assisting students with autism spectrum disorder" (ASD). The…

Each year, state legislators craft new policies that drive data use across their states, and as part of a comprehensive review of state education data legislation, the Data Quality Campaign (DQC) keeps track. In 2022, state legislators introduced 131 bills in 35 states--42 of which became law in 17 states-- that would govern the use of data along…