New Brief: Effectively Linking Teacher and Student Data

Posted by on August 13, 2010

Essential issues in linking student and teacher data

Given the current emphasis of state and federal reform initiatives on statewide longitudinal data systems to improve student achievement, a new brief from the Data Quality Campaign outlines the critical challenges facing states and districts as they develop and implement policies that link teacher and student data. According to the authors, policymakers must understand the importance of defining the purposes for and developing the policies to support a valid and reliable teacher/student data link. This brief provides guidance on emerging best practices for effective implementation, and makes several suggestions. States must first determine how data from the teacher/student link will be used, which should drive the conversation around how states will define teacher of record. Although IT and data staff are critical to developing the technical solutions for capturing appropriate data, policymakers and educators must own the process from the beginning, since they are best positioned to resolve issues relating to the appropriate attribution of student learning to educators. Teachers must also have means to periodically review their rosters to ensure they are linked to the correct students. States and districts must work together collaboratively on all aspects of the teacher/student data link.

See the brief: http://dataqualitycampaign.org/resources/details/993