Optimizing State Longitudinal Data Systems: Four Recommendations for States

The REMIQS project is one way of answering those questions and others.

Instead of using accountability systems to punish underperforming schools, we promote using data and systems to find out where bright spots exist. By learning from our most impactful schools, we can share and scale their effective strategies with the field.

The REMIQS research team is working with several states from across the U.S., each representing different regions and populations, to collect Statewide Longitudinal Data System (SLDS) data. We have merged and matched statewide longitudinal data with other data sources, such as common core and workforce commission data, to get a fuller picture of how schools impact students while they are in school and after graduation. With this approach, we’ve learned a lot about how states use data and ways to enhance our understanding of school quality.

Four things states should consider for optimizing their State Longitudinal Data Systems

1. Invest more in Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems to achieve equity
2. Use SLDSs to learn more about how to improve schools
3. Leverage SLDSs to address the challenges exacerbated by the pandemic
4. Partner with the research community to solve problems of practice

We share further detail on each of these recommendations in a recent KnowledgeWorks article. These changes, alongside the work we’re doing at REMIQS, can help redefine conversations about school quality to support students. We all have a responsibility to students everywhere to shift the conversation around school quality to one that tells us more about the inner workings of schools, uplifts populations that have been historically resilient and marginalized and inspires all schools to strive for equitable outcomes.