Evidence-based policymaking can transform the delivery of education services, restore public trust in schools, and improve outcomes for students. It can cut through the noise of political and cultural divisions and give decision makers clarity on how to prioritize the use of limited resources. And it can help build a shared understanding of where…

Learning analytics promise significant benefit to online education providers through improved, better-targeted student services. Much has been written about the potential of analytics and how they might be technically implemented, and various ethical considerations are published highlighting the significant potential risk of gathering,…

The Evidence to Action project (2019-2021), led by MDRC and the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO) and supported by Arnold Ventures, initiated a body of work designed to disentangle the barriers that exist between research and state-level higher education policy and partnered with state higher education agencies to…

We study university admissions under a centralized system that uses grades and standardized test scores to match applicants to university programs. In the context of this system, we explore affirmative action policies that seek to narrow the gap between the admission rates of different socio-demographic groups while still accepting students with…

This case study identifies college outcomes data transparency and accountability beliefs held by policy-makers, higher education associations, advocacy groups, think tanks, and other actors in the federal higher education policy domain, as well as how these beliefs have changed since the last reauthorization of the Higher Education Act in 2008.…

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…

Forty states, including the District of Columbia, have established state longitudinal data systems (SLDS). The data included, intended functions, and methods for establishing SLDS vary from state to state. Further, forty-nine states and the District of Columbia have received one or more federal grant to support SLDS development. The adoption of…

This paper is based on: (1) a literature review focussing on the impact of learning analytics on supporting learning and teaching; (2) a Delphi study involving international expert discussion on current opportunities and challenges of learning analytics; as well as (3) outlining a research agenda for closing identified research gaps. Issues and…

Robust partnerships between state chief academic officers (SAOs) and institutional chief academic officers (CAOs) align administrative procedures and foster a shared vision for student achievement that leverages the benefits of state and institutional coordination. This report outlines how four states--Louisiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, and…

Data collected from across the child care and early education (CCEE) field, both during and prior to COVID-19, have been critical in helping policymakers identify and scale public resources to meet the increasing needs of children, families, early educators, and providers. Much of the data collected throughout the global health crisis has shown…

This qualitative case study examines how board members make sense of federal accountability policies and how their sensemaking shapes their use of assessment data as a policy instrument. Deviating from previous work on practitioner sensemaking, the participants' interpretations of assessments did not align with their ensuing use of the data.…

Large-scale learning assessments can be used to generate performance and contextual data on student learning outcomes. The UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP-UNESCO) has conducted a qualitative study to explore both how and why learning assessment data are used in six sub-Saharan African countries. This Information Sheet…

This study focus on how administrators in districts approach data and data use in education differently. Based on data material from local policy documents, interviews with district administrators and observations from meetings with district administrators, school leaders and teachers, we reveal how different views on learning outcomes manifest in…

Amid efforts to address the ongoing crisis of high costs, high debt burdens, and decreasing confidence in the value of higher education, TICAS [The Institute for College Access & Success] commissioned leading academics to write a series of papers to inform the policy conversation about how to implement effective, equitable, and sustainable…

Data use has gained policy traction at the federal, state, and local levels in the United States and internationally, and is now embedded in teacher, principal, and district leader standards in the U.S. However, many decisions implemented in policy and practice are being made on insufficient evidence and assume a relatively straightforward,…