Gates grant helps boards make better use of data
03/09 -- NSBA’s National School Boards Foundation has received a $755,603 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help school boards better understand and use academic data for decision-making.
The grant is part of a $22 million initiative in research and data systems announced by the Gates Foundation in late January. It was designed to help schools, districts, and states gather student performance data, then use that information to improve teaching and learning and create better connections between the actions of policymakers, educators, and students.
The initiative supports the Gates Foundation’s efforts to ensure all students graduate from high school prepared for higher education and able to “earn a postsecondary credential with real value in the workplace.”
Over a 15-month period, NSBA will develop training programs, online resources, and data tools. These materials will be field-tested with six school boards in three states and then rolled out to school boards nationwide.
“Through this project, we will better prepare school board members to use data consistently and effectively in their decision making, including budget setting, monitoring school and student performance, evaluating current initiatives, and strategic planning,” says NSBA Executive Director Anne L. Bryant. “School boards will be better able to communicate data to their communities that is clear, understandable, and compelling.”
This work will build on Good Measures for Good Schools, a web-based data framework for measuring school quality developed by NSBA’s Center for Public Education. It will also draw from NSBA’s Key Work of School Boards, a framework to help school boards raise student achievement with community engagement.
At the end of the project, the center will provide a self-guided tutorial for using and communicating data, online materials, and easy-to-use data tools on its website for use by school board members, parents, business and community leaders, and the public.
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