What common data report formats are most useful to district personnel?
District personnel use data to report results to federal and state agencies, most notably NCLB and state assessments. Data also helps district personnel determine the appropriate allocation of district resources, plan professional development, analyze district level interventions to achieve desired results, create school improvement plans, and assess the overall progress toward strategic goals. To use data more effectively in decision making, district personnel need access to data across information systems, for example: linking financial data with student assessments helps to refine resource allocations, connecting human resources with student assessment helps identify professional development needs, etc. The data must be available in both aggregate and disaggregate formats, allowing administrators to drill down by school, department, classroom, student demographics, etc.
