As the Data Quality Campaign says, Data is Power. CoSN helps schools and districts move beyond data collection in response to accountability mandates and focuses on the opportunities to use data to inform instructional practice and personalize learning. Using data for decision-making is a key component to personalizing learning and developing instructional strategies.

Closing the Gap: Turning Data into Action

In the current era of accountability, educators are increasingly called upon to make classroom-level data available and usable. As part of the Closing the Gap: Turning Data into Action initiative, CoSN, AASA, and Gartner, Inc. developed resources to help school systems select and utilize student information systems (SIS) and learning management systems (LMS).

• Education Community Attitudes Toward SIS/LMS Solutions—Learn teachers and administrators’ attitudes toward education data and how it is currently used to improve classroom practice and student learning.
• Implementation and Selection Approaches Toward SIS/LMS Solutions—This report aggregates information on selection and implementation practices for school districts of all sizes.
• SIS/LMS Industry Reports—In addition to an overview report, there are vendor product summaries and detail reports for SIS and LMS:
  • Summary of LMS vendors
  • Summary of SIS vendors
  • Details of LMS vendors
  • Details of SIS vendors
• Selection and Implementation Templates—Tools that address key issues in using data to enhance instructional efforts, including the importance of involving a variety of stakeholders and delivering comprehensive role-based and systemic training.

Videos

Fairfax County Public Schools' 11-year commitment to creating a data-driven environment is reaping benefits. Now teachers, parents, and students can easily access performance data that helps facilitate key discussions about each student's academic achievements.

In the Katy, Texas school district, teachers are proactively using data in more efficient and effective ways through the use of a new integrated SIS. School districts can learn from Katy's essential steps to successfully deploy their own solution selection and implementation project.

With an SIS in place since 2008, the Henry County Schools had little trouble collecting data, but moved to meet the challenge of getting information into the hands of teachers. A partnership between IT and school leaders is making this vision of using data in the classroom a reality.