Many Missing Pieces

 State longitudinal data systems are designed to track the full span of a child’s educational experience. They can direct positive changes in teaching instruction, increase learning opportunities and guide policy decisions. According to a new brief by the New American Foundation, many states are missing early childhood data, causing an insufficient portrait of children’s educational progress over time.

The implications of this gap in data are vast, according to the report. Teachers need the data in order to identify students who need additional help as early as possible, researchers need data in order to analyze the effectiveness of education programs and policymakers need data to determine where future investments should be directed. In the past five years, the federal government has designated about $515 million to expand states’ data systems. Recently, $250 million was allocated in May 2010 to 20 states and required states to make linkages between early childhood programs and the traditional K-12 system.

According to the report, despite these investments, most states still don’t collect adequate early childhood data, particularly on children who attend Head Start or federally-subsidized child care. The report concludes with a number of recommendations for states who opt to integrate early childhood data into their longitudinal data systems.

The report was published in October 2010 by the New America Foundation’s Early Education Initiative, which promotes high-quality and continuous education for all children, birth to age 8.

Read the report (pdf).