In our work with organizations in the Education sector, stakeholders almost always describe their need for more "data".  However, as they expound on their challenges, it becomes clear that their interest is not in obtaining more data.  In fact, they're often swimming in data.  What schools truly want and need is more information.   

Teachers need more timely, precise information about student performance so they may make adjustments to their curriculum or teaching strategies in "real time". Administrators need to know that their teachers are effective and that the school culture is conducive to learning.  And districts and states need to know where schools are succeeding and where they are struggling so that they can provide better support and make more effective use of their resources.

We can collect all the data in the world, but if it is merely tabulated and regurgitated in tables and pie charts, it does little good.  State report cards are fine as a historical record of performance, but they do little to advance change.  As education stimulus funds find their way through the system, it is imperative that we don't just create a more robust compliance reporting system.  While knowing how we've performed in the past is undeniably important, Schools are already overburdened collecting and reporting data.  Knowledge of past performance is not the biggest challenge. We need to ensure that new systems and processes result in actionable information which facilitates school improvement in real time.

Teachers and school leaders know they need more information.  But year-end report cards provide little insight and evaluative studies are neither timely nor always applicable and actionable.  Education is not a research project.  While we certainly applaud the increased investment in education data systems, let's be sure that the data ends up as information in the hands of the people who truly need it.